Northbrook Has Top Schools In Suburban Cook County: Ranking

NORTHBROOK, IL — Northbrook has the top-ranked public elementary or middle school, the second-highest ranked high school and several of the top 20 pre-secondary schools in suburban Cook County, according to Chicago Magazine's 2018 rankings.

The ratings were generated by a combination of income-adjusted test scores, school surveys, per pupil spending, attendance and graduation rate and grouped based on geography, with Chicago, suburban Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will counties ranked separately.

Shabonee Elementary School, with 405 students in grades 3 to 5 in Northbrook School District 27 was ranked as No. 1 in the Cook County suburbs. Shabonee has closed a 20 percent statewide achievement gap between Hispanic and white students to just 3 percent, with 83 percent of students meeting or exceeding statewide testing standards, according to Chicago Magazine.

District 27 also claimed the No. 4 spot on the suburban Cook County rankings. Wood Oaks Junior High School, with 416 students in grades 6 to 8, had 80 percent of its students meet or exceed state standards.

In Northbrook/Glenview District 30, Willowbrook School ranked No. 6, Maple School ranked No. 14 and Wescott School was No. 16, with a slightly lower per pupil price tag ($11,620) and PARCC attainment level (77 percent) than its neighboring district.

As for high schools, Glenbrook North High School ranked second only to New Trier High School and ahead of Proviso Math and Science Academy in Forest Park and Glenbrook South High School.

According to Chicago Magazine's weighted rating, Glenbrook North had 76 percent of students meeting or exceeding SAT testing standards compared to 84 percent at New Trier, which had 950 more students and spend about $1,400 more for each of them. Glenbrook South's SAT attainment was 65 percent.

Using the most recent data available – the 2016-17 school year – the ratings were generated with input from the University of Chicago and other education experts and data provided by the Illinois State Board of Education and Chicago Public Schools.

Read full rankings from Chicago Magazine