NCES CCD 2024-25 7 schools IL

Best-Resourced Schools in Darien, IL

Compiled from official source data by .

7 public K-12 schools in Darien from NCES Common Core of Data: enrollment, grade span, demographics, and Civil Rights Data Collection statistics for every active campus.

PlainSchools home → About this data
7
Schools
3,790
Students
44.6/100
Avg Resource Index
12.8:1
Avg Student-Teacher Ratio

National city placement

One campus shapes the city average

According to NCES CCD 2024-25, Darien has more public-school enrollment than 41% of the 4,487 US cities in this directory. Hinsdale South High School enrolls 36.1% of Darien's public-school students. That is enough concentration for one institution to pull the citywide enrollment, staffing, and Resource Index averages toward its own profile. The smaller campuses below should therefore be compared directly rather than inferred from the headline mean; their grade configurations and program footprints can be materially different even inside the same district.

Combined-grade campuses shape the local portfolio

3 of Darien's 7 listed schools use NCES's combined or “other” grade-level classification. Citywide averages therefore blend campuses serving unusually broad or nonstandard grade spans with conventional elementary, middle, and high schools. Grade configuration is a first-order comparison here, not a minor label.

Campus spread matters more than the city mean

The 21-point gap between Eisenhower Jr High School and Elizabeth Ide Elem School shows the range hidden by Darien's average Resource Investment Index. The city figure is useful for national placement, but families ultimately choose among campuses with different grade spans, enrollment, district affiliations, and reported support fields. Start with schools serving the relevant grade level, then compare the index components rather than assuming the city average describes any one classroom.

City enrollment
Top 59%
School count
Top 65%
Resource Index average
68th percentile
Teacher staffing
81st percentile

Hinsdale South High School accounts for 36.1% of all Darien public-school enrollment

That dominant concentration means Darien-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the largest entity. Grade level: High. The share measures enrollment concentration only; it does not establish how districts allocate programs, capital, or staff. Enrollment-weighted aggregates give this entity more weight than any smaller peer, while an unweighted entity average treats every record equally.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data

Darien school enrollment varies 4.4× across entities

Darien school enrollment ranges from 313 students (lowest) to 1,370 students (highest), a spread of 1,057 students. That relatively narrow ratio reflects an unusually homogeneous school portfolio for a city this size. Per-school staffing and program breadth can differ sharply at opposite ends of that enrollment range, so the city average should not be treated as a typical campus.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data

Darien student-teacher ratio is 12.8:1 — low (typically associated with smaller schools or per-school staffing investment that often correlates with stronger per-student supports)

student-teacher ratio is the simplest comparative metric but it does not capture the full picture: the ratio counts FTE classroom teachers against total enrollment, push-in specialists, English-language aides, special-education co-teachers, and counselors are not included in most reporting Lower values often correlate with smaller scale and population characteristics rather than higher resource budgets per se.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data, Public School Universe

# School Score
1. Eisenhower Jr High School 58
2. Lace Elem School 47
3. Cass Jr High School 47
4. Hinsdale South High School 44
5. Concord Elem School 40
6. Mark Delay School 39
7. Elizabeth Ide Elem School 37

Most racially and ethnically mixed schools in Darien

Ranked by the Simpson student-body diversity index (0-100) from NCES race and ethnicity data, where higher means a more evenly mixed student body. It measures mix, not quality.

  1. 1 Hinsdale South High School 68.1/100
  2. 2 Mark Delay School 62.9/100
  3. 3 Eisenhower Jr High School 61.6/100
  4. 4 Lace Elem School 60.2/100
  5. 5 Cass Jr High School 54.6/100

What do families ask about schools in Darien?

Which Darien school has the highest Resource Investment Index? ▼

Eisenhower Jr High School has the highest Resource Investment Index among the Darien schools in this federal-data comparison at 58/100. The index summarizes reported staffing, counseling, gifted-program, and attendance inputs; it is not an academic rating.

How many schools are in Darien, IL? ▼

Darien has 7 public schools with a total enrollment of 3,790 students. Average student-teacher ratio: 12.8:1.

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Side-by-side: Compare any two schools or districts in Illinois →

Data from NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 and Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) 2021-22. The Resource Investment Index uses reported student-teacher ratio, counselor access, gifted programs, and attendance; it is not an academic rating. Cities must include at least five schools to be listed. This public-data comparison is for informational purposes: verify current enrollment, attendance boundaries, and programs with the school district before acting. See the guide to understanding NCES data.