Illinois Schools Snag Top Spots On Best Public High Schools List

As the 2017-18 school year kicks off, students heading to their first day of school and their parents can see how their particular school district stacks up against others in the state as Niche.com has released its annual rankings of best schools and school districts in the country.

To arrive at the 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, taking the top three spots on Niche's Best Public High Schools In America List. One suburban Chicago district also earned a spot in the top 25 Best School Districts nationwide, and one area school made the top 25 public elementary schools list.

Best high schools

In the high school rankings, Illinois dominated the list, taking seven of the top 25 spots. The following Illinois high schools made the cut:

• 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.

Best Illinois 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.

View the full Niche best elementary school rankings here.

Best school districts

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. 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.

More: These Illinois Schools Are Among 'Best Colleges For Your Money

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

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Feroze Dhanoa (Patch National Staff) contributed to this article