District 128 Is 2nd Best School District in State: Niche

LIBERTYVILLE, IL - As area students soon head back to school, many parents and students may be curious to see how their school district and school stacks up against others in the suburbs. With that in mind, Niche.com has again released its annual rankings of best schools and school districts in the state and country. And, as has been the case in past rankings, Libertyville High School and District 128 received high marks from Niche.

In its 2018 rankings, Niche ranked Vernon Hills-based Community High School District 128 as the second best school district in the state.

Meanwhile, Libertyville High School was ranked as the 11th best high school Illinois and came in at No. 46 in the country. Niche also ranked Libertyville's teachers as the ninth best in the state and reported the high school was the 13th best college prep public high school in Illinois.

To arrive at its best high school rankings, Niche looked at data from the U.S. Department of Education as well as test scores, college data and ratings collected from Niche users. The methodology for each category of rankings varied with some factors having a higher weight for certain categories over others.

The 2018 rankings released this month rank elementary, middle and high schools as well as school districts. For all the state's budget and school funding woes, Illinois high schools did well.

Here is how the top Illinois high schools ranked nationally on Niche's 2018 list:

• No. 1: Walter Payton College Prep, Chicago,
• No. 2: Northside College Preparatory High School, Chicago
• No. 3: Adlai E. Stevenson High School, Lincolnshire
• No. 5: Illinois Mathematics & Science Academy, Aurora
• No. 6: Young Magnet High School, Chicago
• No. 20: New Trier Township High School, Winnetka
• No. 24: Hinsdale Central High School, Hinsdale

View Niche's full public high school rankings here.

Vernon Hills-based Community High School District 128 was ranked as the 28th best school district in the country. Niche determined the school district was the safest in Illinois. District 128 came in second for the best teachers among school district in Illinois, according to Niche.

Just one Illinois district— New Trier Township High School District No. 203, which received an A+ rating — ranked among Niche's Top 25 Best School Districts In America. Locally, Township High School District 214 fared well, coming in as the 12th best school district in the state with an A rating. Find the full list here.

For the best school districts, academics grade was given the highest priority in the methodology with 50 percent of the ranking being based on this data. Niche calculated academics grade by using data from the Department of Education as well as data that was self reported by Niche users. Teachers grade accounted for 15 percent of the ranking while culture and diversity and parent/student surveys on overall experience both accounted for 10 percent of the ranking. The remaining 15 percent of the ranking was based on health and safety, resources and facilities, clubs and activities, and sports.(Click here for more information on how Niche calculates its rankings.)

Niche assigns a standardized score for each factor, which is then weighted before an overall score is calculated for each school district. The overall scores are again standardized and some districts are disqualified from receiving a final letter grade if there isn’t enough data. School districts are then ranked numerically and assigned grades.

• llinois High Schools 2017: U.S. News and World Report

Best elementary schools

No Illinois schools made the top 25 public middle school rankings, but one suburban school made the elementary school list.

Meadow Glens Elementary School in Naperville Community Unit School District No. 203 came in at No. 24, with an overall grade of A+. The school has just 447 students, according to the Niche rankings, and a student-teacher ratio of 14:1.

Locally, Oak Grove Elementary School in Libertyville was the only local elementary school t0 be ranked among the 25 best elementary schools in the state. Niche said Half Day School was the 17th best school in Illinois.

View the full Niche best elementary school rankings here. And view the best middle school rankings here.

What do you think of the rankings? Let us know in the comments below.

Image via Shutterstock

Feroze Dhanoa (Patch National Staff) contributed to this article