Public schools in Joliet, IL

Joliet has 31 public schools with a 2024-25 address in the city: 2 high, 5 middle, 23 elementary, 1 other, enrolling 20,526 students. They are run by 7 districts and agencies; Joliet Public Schools District 86 runs 20 of them.

NCES Common Core of Data 2024-25: schools open that year with enrollment · method

The 7 districts and agencies that run Joliet's public schools

Each district decides who can enroll where; its page holds its schools, spending and teachers.

DistrictSchools in JolietDistrict students, fall 2022Spending per student, FY23
Joliet Public Schools District 86209,553$22,414
Plainfield SD 202424,856$15,896
Joliet Twp HSD 20426,918$19,282
Troy Community Consolidated School District 30-C24,012$17,369
Minooka CCSD 20114,499$13,808
Laraway CCSD 70C1437$32,027
Union SD 811115$40,757

Source: NCES Common Core of Data 2024-25: school location city and operating agency; NCES F-33 fiscal year 2022-23: district fall membership and current spending per student. Schools on a city's edge can serve students from outside it.

2 high schools in Joliet, 6,746 students

SchoolStudents 2024‑25Per teacherFree lunchDistrict
Joliet West High School3,45120.6not reportedJoliet Twp HSD 204
Joliet Central High School3,29518.2not reportedJoliet Twp HSD 204

Source: NCES Common Core of Data 2024-25 (membership, staff, lunch); level from the directory. All free (CEP): every student eats free under the Community Eligibility Provision, so the school reports no free-lunch count.

5 middle schools in Joliet, 3,908 students

SchoolStudents 2024‑25Per teacherFree lunchDistrict
Hufford Junior High School1,07213.2All free (CEP)Joliet Public Schools District 86
Aux Sable Middle School84415.1All free (CEP)Plainfield SD 202
Washington Jr High & Academy Prgm72414.2All free (CEP)Joliet Public Schools District 86
Dirksen Junior High School65314.1All free (CEP)Joliet Public Schools District 86
Gompers Junior High School61510.1All free (CEP)Joliet Public Schools District 86

Source: NCES Common Core of Data 2024-25 (membership, staff, lunch); level from the directory. All free (CEP): every student eats free under the Community Eligibility Provision, so the school reports no free-lunch count.

23 elementary schools in Joliet, 9,730 students

SchoolStudents 2024‑25Per teacherFree lunchDistrict
Thomas Jefferson Elementary School64613.0All free (CEP)Plainfield SD 202
Sator Sanchez Elementary School63512.7All free (CEP)Joliet Public Schools District 86
Pershing Elementary School62119.0All free (CEP)Joliet Public Schools District 86
Lynne Thigpen Elementary School62015.4All free (CEP)Joliet Public Schools District 86
Farragut Elementary School56816.8All free (CEP)Joliet Public Schools District 86
Jones Elementary School55314.4not reportedMinooka CCSD 201
Troy Craughwell School52613.7not reportedTroy Community Consolidated
Grand Prairie Elementary School49411.9All free (CEP)Plainfield SD 202
M J Cunningham Elementary School48414.5All free (CEP)Joliet Public Schools District 86
Troy Heritage Trail School48013.4not reportedTroy Community Consolidated
The other 13 elementary schools
SchoolStudents 2024‑25Per teacherFree lunchDistrict
Laraway School4338.2All free (CEP)Laraway CCSD 70C
Taft Elementary School42420.0All free (CEP)Joliet Public Schools District 86
Edna Keith Elementary School40216.0All free (CEP)Joliet Public Schools District 86
T E Culbertson Elementary School37724.3All free (CEP)Joliet Public Schools District 86
Carl Sandburg Elementary37118.8All free (CEP)Joliet Public Schools District 86
Woodland Elementary School36817.1All free (CEP)Joliet Public Schools District 86
Crystal Lawns Elementary School32812.0All free (CEP)Plainfield SD 202
Isaac Singleton Elementary School30410.0All free (CEP)Joliet Public Schools District 86
Forest Park Individual Ed School26318.1All free (CEP)Joliet Public Schools District 86
A O Marshall Elementary School24613.5All free (CEP)Joliet Public Schools District 86
Thomas Jefferson Elementary School2358.5All free (CEP)Joliet Public Schools District 86
Eisenhower Academy20916.1All free (CEP)Joliet Public Schools District 86
Union Elementary School14311.5All free (CEP)Union SD 81

Source: NCES Common Core of Data 2024-25 (membership, staff, lunch); level from the directory. All free (CEP): every student eats free under the Community Eligibility Provision, so the school reports no free-lunch count.

One other school in Joliet, 142 students

SchoolStudents 2024‑25Per teacherFree lunchDistrict
Marycrest Early Childhood Center1426.5not reportedJoliet Public Schools District 86

Source: NCES Common Core of Data 2024-25 (membership, staff, lunch); level from the directory. All free (CEP): every student eats free under the Community Eligibility Provision, so the school reports no free-lunch count.

How Joliet's public schools compare with Illinois's

The median Joliet school has 14.2 students per full-time teacher, more than the Illinois median of 13.1. 74% of its schools ran a schoolwide Title I program in 2021-22, against 54% across the state. Its median school enrolls 484 students (state 374).

Joliet against Illinois, schools open in 2024-25 with students
JolietIllinois
Median students per teacher14.213.1
Median school size (students)484374
Schools with a schoolwide Title I program (2021-22)74%54%
Schools where every student eats free (CEP)81%53%
Charter schools0%3.4%

Source: NCES Common Core of Data 2024-25 (membership, staff, lunch program, charter status; the 31 Joliet schools and the 3,817 Illinois schools open that year with students); Title I status CCD 2021-22. Students per teacher counts 2024-25 teachers and ratios from 3 to 99.

What to look at next in Joliet

  1. Joliet Public Schools District 86Runs 20 of Joliet's 31 public schools and spent $22,414 per student in fiscal year 2022-23.$22,414
  2. Joliet West High School, the largest high school in Joliet3,451 students in 2024-25, 20.6 per teacher.3,451
  3. Compare Joliet Public Schools District 86 with Plainfield SD 202Joliet's two largest operators side by side: enrollment, spending and schools.
  4. The largest public schools in IllinoisIllinois's 50 largest schools open in 2024-25, by enrollment.
  5. Find the school district for a Joliet addressA home's district, not its city, decides which public schools it can enroll in.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data 2024-25 (schools and their operating agencies); NCES F-33 finance survey, fiscal year 2022-23 (spending per student).

Choosing among them: how to choose a school district with the federal data, and what a Title I school is.

Other cities in Illinois

  1. Chicago629 schools
  2. Aurora47 schools
  3. Rockford44 schools
  4. Naperville41 schools
  5. Peoria33 schools
  6. Springfield31 schools
  7. Plainfield29 schools
  8. Elgin26 schools

Questions about schools in Joliet

  1. How many public schools are in Joliet, IL?
    31 public schools with an address in Joliet were open in 2024-25: 2 high, 5 middle, 23 elementary, 1 other, enrolling 20,526 students.
  2. What is the largest high school in Joliet?
    Joliet West High School, with 3,451 students in 2024-25 (Joliet Twp HSD 204).
  3. Which districts run Joliet's schools?
    Joliet Public Schools District 86 (20 schools), Plainfield SD 202 (4 schools), Joliet Twp HSD 204 (2 schools), Troy Community Consolidated School District 30-C (2 schools), and 3 more. A school's district, not its city, decides who can enroll.

These figures are for information and are not a substitute for the district's enrollment office, which confirms the school a home is assigned to.

Sources

Source: NCES Common Core of Data School directory, membership, staff and lunch files · 2024-25

Source: NCES Common Core of Data Public school search (the official record of each school) · 2024-25

Compiled from official source data by .