Local Schools Named Among State's Best Private High Schools

Two local private high schools, one in Oak Park and one in River Forest, were ranked among the best in Illinois in a recent report from Niche.com.

Fenwick High School and Trinity High School made the list, ranking No. 23 and No. 65, respectively.

The report ranked 3,880 private high schools based on three factors: Academics, Student Culture and Diversity and Survey Responses from current students, parents, alumni and administrators.

The factors were chosen to ”represent a healthy balance between statistical rigor and practical relevance in the ranking,” according to the website. A high ranking in academics indicates that students are happy with the quality of education, they perform well on standardized testing and they leave the school ready for college and careers.

Academics account for 60 percent of each school’s Niche “grade,” with 30 percent for student culture and diversity and 30 percent for survey responses.

Fenwick High School received an overall grade of B+, with other grades:

• B+ in Academics
• A- in Educational Outcomes
• B+ in Extracurriculars
• C in Food
• C in Sports and Fitness
• B- in Student Culture and Diversity
• B in Teachers

Trinity High School received an overall grade of B-, with other grades:

• B- in Academics
• B- in Educational Outcomes
• C+ in Extracurriculars
• C+ in Food
• B- in Sports and Fitness
• B in Student Culture and Diversity
• C+ in Teachers

One Niche user gave Fenwich High School four out of five points for academics and wrote,

“The classes are very structured and all of the teachers do have an outward passion for what they’re teaching; I never saw a case where a teacher sat down with a newspaper and just didn’t teach. The teacher’s aren’t all 100% perfect personality-wise, I had a couple teachers who were really condescending and one who was just flat-out rude. However, most of them were fair and approachable for help. I wish there had been a couple more classes offered but I liked the way the course tracks were set up so we didn’t fall into the trap of realizing we couldn’t apply to a college because we only had, say, one lab science credit.”

Teacher reviews for Trinity High School seemed mostly postive, and one user wrote,

“The teachers show a real interest in helping the students at this school. They acknowledge the hard work put into doing assignments or projects.”

Read more commentary and find out more about the methodology at Niche.com.
See what other schools finished in the top 100.

Images via Facebook. Lauren Traut (Patch Staff) contributed to this story.