Kendall area school districts again fare well on Illinois Report Card

Most schools in the Kendall County area are more than making the grade.

That’s according to data from the 2024 Illinois Report Card, released Oct. 30 by the Illinois State Board of Education.

Most of the schools are listed as either exemplary or commendable. Exemplary is a school whose performance is in the top 10% of schools statewide, with no underperforming student groups.

Commendable is a school that has no underperforming student groups, a graduation rate greater than 67% and whose performance is not in the top 10% of schools statewide.

Oswego CUSD 308

Of the 21 schools in Oswego SD308, one school – Wolfs Crossing Elementary School – is listed as exemplary. Last year, three of the district’s schools – Wolfs Crossing, Churchill Elementary School and Homestead Elementary School – were listed as exemplary.

Sixteen schools are listed as commendable and three schools – Fox Chase Elementary School, Long Beach Elementary School and Old Post Elementary School – are listed as targeted. A targeted school is a school in which one or more student groups is performing at or below the level of “all students” groups in the lowest performing 5% of schools.

The three schools are targeted to support the achievement of children with disabilities. Brokaw Early Learning Center does not have a designation.

Yorkville CUSD115

The majority of Yorkville’s 10 schools are listed as commendable. Only one school – Circle Center Grade School – is designated as a targeted school. It also was designated as a target school last year.

In a news release, district officials note that students’ English Language Arts proficiency is above the state average as measured by the Illinois Assessment of Readiness in grades 3-8 and the Scholastic Aptitude Test in Grade 11.

“Steady progress continues in mathematics as measured by the SAT, and performance on the IAR is consistent with state results,” officials state.

Officials also note that 9th Grade on Track is at 93.6%, exceeding the Illinois average of 88.2% and up from the 2023 District 115 metric of 91%. In addition, the district’s graduation rate of 96% surpasses the state average of 88%.

The school district’s student attendance increased to 93.2%, exceeding the state average daily attendance of 91.6%.

Plano CUSD 88

All of Plano’s five schools are listed as commendable, which was the case last year as well. That pleases Meghan Kerr, director of academic affairs for the district’s middle and high schools.

“We were excited to see that all five of our schools were rated commendable again,” Kerr said. “That was very encouraging.”

She was also pleased with Plano High School’s graduation rate of 94%, which is above the statewide rate.

“Our teaching staff and our guidance staff do a really nice job of finding what interests the students and what they want to be involved in for their classes as well as after school activities,” Kerr said. “Last year, Plano High School started a new initiative to really support students who were struggling in their classes. And we’ve seen tremendous growth from that program.”

The chronic absenteeism rate at the high school of 24.1% is also below the statewide average of 26.3%. Chronic absenteeism is defined as the number of students who miss 10% or more of school days per year either with or without a valid excuse.

“I know our high school does a really nice job – the administrative team but also the teachers and the guidance counselors – of really connecting with all of the students and making sure that the kids feel welcome at school and want to come to school,” Kerr said.

Newark Community Consolidated School District 66

The district has two schools – Newark Elementary School and Millbrook Junior High School. Both schools received commendable status this year, the same as last year.

The district as a whole scored 58.8% in English Language Arts proficiency, well above the statewide average of 39.4%. However, the district’s proficiency rate in math was 27.5%, slightly below the statewide average of 27.9%.

Other school districts across the state also reported low proficiency rates in math this year. The district’s proficiency rate in math last year was 25.2%.

“We did not grow as much as I hoped,” Superintendent Demetra Turman said. “This year, I have a new teacher at our junior high level and I have new curriculum that’s been implemented in grades 1 through 8. And I actually have a math coach that’s being sponsored by our Regional Office of Education with grant money. So I’m very excited and hopefully those will turn around for everybody, but for us too in the next year or two.”

Turman said she already has seen some positive changes.

“I’ve already seen some differences in the last eight weeks of school in the way kids are talking about math in the classroom,” she said. “They’re not just sitting there listening to the teacher, they’re actually talking about math, which is awesome.”

Newark Community High School District 18

The district has one school, Newark Community High School. The school is rated as commendable, which is a downgrade from last year’s rating as exemplary.

The school has 175 students and a 100% graduate rate.

Sandwich Community Unit School District 430

All of Sandwich’s six schools are listed as commendable. The district spends an average of $16,000 per student and has a 90% high school graduation rate.