Lake Bluff Middle School Ranked Among Top 30 In Illinois

LAKE FOREST, IL — Several elementary and middle schools in Lake Forest and Lake Bluff have been ranked among the best in Illinois, according to a new rankings released Tuesday by U.S. News & World Report.

For the inaugural list of the nation's best public elementary and middle schools, U.S. News published rankings and data on more than 80,000 K-8 schools across the United States.

Schools are ranked at the state and district levels as middle schools and elementary schools. The best charter schools and best magnet schools are ranked as stand-alone categories. Schools that include both elementary and middle school-aged schools are included in both categories. The list does not included private or religious schools.

U.S. News ranked Lake Bluff School District 65's middle school above Lake Forest School District 67's, but ranked District 67's elementary schools above those in the other Lake Forest Community High School 115 feeder district.

The top-ranking elementary school in either town was Cherokee Elementary School, 475 Cherokee Road, Lake Forest, which came in in 77th position, while the top-ranked middle school was Lake Bluff Middle School, at 31 Sheridan Place, Lake Bluff, which was ranked 27th overall in the state and eighth among public middle schools on Chicago's North Shore.

Here’s a look at how other schools in District 65 ranked compared with others in the state:

Elementary schools:

• No. 77: Cherokee Elementary School
• No. 261: Everett Elementary School
• No. 379: Sheridan Elementary School
• No. 471: Lake Bluff Elementary School

Middle schools:

• No. 27: Lake Bluff Middle School
• No. 32: Deer Path Middle School West
• No. 168: Deer Path Middle School East

To determine the rankings, U.S. News used data from the U.S. Department of Education to analyze two areas at each school:

• Math and reading proficiency — or how well students perform on state assessments.
• Math and reading performance — or how well they perform compared with expectations.

The state assessment data used in the rankings is from the 2018-19 school year and, therefore, predates any effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on test-taking.

Nationally, California has 5,534 ranked elementary schools — the most of any state — followed by Texas at 4,446; New York at 2,211; Florida at 2,128; and Illinois at 2,038 schools.

California also has the most ranked middle schools with 2,319, followed by Texas at 1,942; Illinois at 1,243; New York at 1,219; and Florida at 997.

See the complete list of 2021’s Best K-8 Schools.

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