27 public K-12 schools in Elgin from NCES Common Core of Data: enrollment, grade span, demographics, and Civil Rights Data Collection statistics for every active campus.
National city placement
According to NCES CCD 2024-25, Elgin has more public-school enrollment than 91% of the 4,487 US cities in this directory. Elgin's average Resource Investment Index falls in the lower portion of the 4,487-city comparison set. The index is a resource snapshot, not an academic grade: it reflects the federal staffing, counselor, gifted-program, and attendance fields available for local campuses. The most useful next step is to open the individual schools below and identify which component is pulling each score down, because the same city average can hide very different campus-level constraints.
14 of Elgin's 27 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.
The 33-point gap between Elgin High School and Hillcrest Elem School shows the range hidden by Elgin'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.
Elgin school enrollment ranges from 3 students (lowest) to 2,576 students (highest), a spread of 2,573 students. That ratio is an extreme outlier spread — among the widest gaps observed anywhere in this dataset. 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
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 Variation between sub-units within Elgin is typically wider than the Elgin-aggregate figure suggests.
| # | School | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Elgin High School | 49 |
| 2. | Prairie View Grade School | 49 |
| 3. | Larkin High School | 47 |
| 4. | Prairie Knolls Middle Sch | 46 |
| 5. | Country Trails Elem | 46 |
| 6. | Illinois Park Elem School | 45 |
| 7. | Elgin Math and Science Acad Chtr | 39 |
| 8. | Creekside Elem | 39 |
| 9. | Ronald D O Neal | 37 |
| 10. | Abbott Middle School | 34 |
| 11. | Mckinley Elem School | 34 |
| 12. | Otter Creek Elem School | 33 |
| 13. | Coleman Elem School | 32 |
| 14. | Highland Elem School | 32 |
| 15. | Hilltop Elementary School | 31 |
| 16. | Ellis Middle School | 31 |
| 17. | Kimball Middle School | 30 |
| 18. | Larsen Middle School | 29 |
| 19. | Harriet Gifford Elem School | 29 |
| 20. | Channing Memorial Elem School | 27 |
| 21. | Washington Elem School | 26 |
| 22. | Century Oaks Elem School | 25 |
| 23. | Garfield Elem School | 22 |
| 24. | Huff Elem School | 20 |
| 25. | Lowrie Elem School | 20 |
| 26. | Lords Park Elem School | 18 |
| 27. | Hillcrest Elem School | 16 |
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.
Elgin High School has the highest Resource Investment Index among the Elgin schools in this federal-data comparison at 49/100. The index summarizes reported staffing, counseling, gifted-program, and attendance inputs; it is not an academic rating.
Elgin has 27 public schools with a total enrollment of 17,428 students. 1 are charter schools. Average student-teacher ratio: 16.2:1.
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.
