New Trier Is Top High School In Suburban Cook County: Ranking

WINNETKA, IL — New Trier Township has the top-ranked high school, the second-highest ranked elementary or middle school and three other schools among 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.

New Trier Township High School, with 2,960 students and $15,535 spent per pupil was ranked as No. 1 in the Cook County suburbs. Chicago Magazine noted New Trier's extensive extra-curricular offerings, with more than 150 clubs and 35 sports on offer, "from fencing to bass fishing."

The 84 percent of New Trier students meeting or exceeding state standards on the SAT exam was the highest in any suburb, regardless of county, according to Chicago Magazine. Only Chicago Public Schools with selective enrollment had higher standardized test scores.

Four schools in districts that feed into New Trier High School were also ranked among the top in suburban Cook County.

Greeley School, a K-4 school in Winnetka Public Schools District 36 with 233 students was ranked No. 2, spending $12,454 per student and with 81 percent meeting or exceeding PARCC testing standards.

Middlefork School, the Northfield school in Sunset Ridge District 29 with 201 students in preK to 3rd grade, was ranked third in suburban Cook County. It had 79 percent of students meeting or exceeding testing standards and spent $17,148 per pupil annually.

Other New Trier feeder schools to make the top 20: District 29's Sunset Ridge School was ranked No. 7, Wilmette's Marie Murphy School in Avoca Schools District 37 was ranked No. 9, and the Joseph Sears School – the only school in Kenilworth Public School District 38 – was ranked No. 19.

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 using data from the 2016-17 school year, the most recent available.

Read full rankings from Chicago Magazine