Elmhurst D-205 Breezes Past Bad News

ELMHURST, IL – Elmhurst School District 205 was quick to point out the good news in its latest scores this week.

As for the bad news, there was silence.

On Thursday, the district issued a news release the minute the state released its latest batch of data for districts statewide.

The release pointed out the increases in performance.

The most notable improvement is that students from third to eighth grade made up much of the ground lost during the pandemic on the Illinois Assessment of Readiness.

But the bad news was that York High School saw another drop in its scores on the SAT, continuing a five-year trend.

York is, by no means, alone. The decreases are happening at many other high schools, including Lyons Township and Hinsdale Central and South.

At a board meeting Wednesday night, District 205 administrators gave a lengthy presentation about the latest data. (Schools had an early look.)

During the presentation, Associate Superintendent Scott Grens showed the chart that revealed the dropping rate of York students meeting or exceeding standards on the SAT.

He spoke generally about the SAT, but did not utter a word about the trend.

The next chart was for the results of the Illinois Assessment of Readiness, which showed an increase.

This time, Grens referred to what was on the screen.

"You will see in this slide an upward trajectory on the results from the spring of 2022," he said. "We're absolutely excited and thankful for the collective hard work of everyone involved that has led to this upward trajectory."

A few moments later, another official noted more Elmhurst schools were designated "exemplary," the top rating.

Superintendent Keisha Campbell asked for a pause, so everyone could clap.

"This is just a pause to celebrate," she said. "However, we're not pleased and there is still more work to be done, but we want to pause and celebrate the work that has been done."

At the end of the meeting, board President Kara Caforio expressed happiness with the results.

"There is a lot to celebrate tonight," she said. "And that did not happen by accident. That was intentional work by our leadership in this room under Dr. Campbell and our principals."

No one mentioned the falling SAT results.

That wasn't the case during Thursday's meeting of the Hinsdale High School District 86 board.

The board had an extensive discussion of Central's and South's decreasing scores.

Assistant Superintendent Chris Covino even gave a reason for the drop.

He said most colleges no longer require tests such as the SAT for admission, so students don't treat the assessment as seriously as they used to.

But he said the SAT is still important for scholarships and financial aid.

Chris Covino, assistant superintendent for Hinsdale High School District 86, on Thursday night discussed the dropping SAT scores at Central and South high schools with the school board. (David Giuliani/Patch)