NCES CCD 2024-25 31 schools IL

Best-Resourced Schools in Joliet, IL

Compiled from official source data by .

31 public K-12 schools in Joliet 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
31
Schools
20,526
Students
31.8/100
Avg Resource Index
15.4:1
Avg Student-Teacher Ratio

National city placement

Large, fragmented school market

According to NCES CCD 2024-25, Joliet has more public-school enrollment than 93% of the 4,487 US cities in this directory. Joliet is among the largest city school systems in this directory by enrollment, but its campuses are divided among 7 districts. That combination matters: citywide averages blend separate budgets, staffing policies, attendance boundaries, and program rules. For a family comparing schools here, the district column is as important as the city average; two nearby campuses may answer to different boards and draw on different F-33 funding pools.

The school portfolio is elementary-weighted

20 of Joliet's 31 listed schools are elementary campuses. That composition means citywide enrollment and staffing averages are influenced more by early-grade operating patterns than by the city's 5 middle and 2 high-school records. Families comparing later grades should rely on those individual rows rather than the all-school mean.

Campus spread matters more than the city mean

The 40-point gap between Thomas Jefferson Elem Sch and Lynne Thigpen Elem School shows the range hidden by Joliet'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 7%
School count
Top 8%
Resource Index average
16th percentile
Teacher staffing
49th percentile

Joliet West High School accounts for 16.8% of all Joliet public-school enrollment

That concentration means Joliet-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

Joliet school enrollment varies 24× across entities

Joliet school enrollment ranges from 142 students (lowest) to 3,451 students (highest), a spread of 3,309 students. That spread is wider than typical and predicts noticeable gaps in service quality between the highest and lowest areas. 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

Joliet operates 7 school districts — among the most fragmented governance structures in the country

Each school district has independent budgeting, hiring, and service delivery authority. The fragmentation reflects historical patterns of inter-municipal boundary lines that pre-date modern city growth, students in different parts of the same city can attend different districts with different per-pupil spending, calendars, and graduation requirements. Per-region variation is largest in fragmented systems because each school district sets its own budget, contracts, and priorities without higher-level coordination above the regulatory floor.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data

Joliet student-teacher ratio is 15.4:1 — near the typical range (US average ~15.7) — citywide staffing is neither unusually lean nor unusually crowded by this measure

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 Joliet is typically wider than the Joliet-aggregate figure suggests.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data, Public School Universe

# School Score
1. Thomas Jefferson Elem Sch 56
2. Union Elementary School 55
3. Marycrest Early Childhood Center 52
4. Eisenhower Academy 50
5. Crystal Lawns Elem School 42
6. A O Marshall Elem School 41
7. Jones Elementary School 39
8. Grand Prairie Elem School 39
9. Thomas Jefferson Elem School 37
10. Troy Craughwell School 36
11. Laraway School 36
12. Troy Heritage Trail School 35
13. Forest Park Individual Ed School 35
14. Gompers Junior High School 32
15. Isaac Singleton Elem Sch 32
16. Joliet Central High School 31
17. Taft Elementary School 30
18. Aux Sable Middle Sch 29
19. Washington Jr High & Academy Prgm 27
20. Joliet West High School 26
21. M J Cunningham Elem Sch 25
22. Carl Sandburg Elementary 25
23. Hufford Junior High School 23
24. Pershing Elem School 23
25. Woodland Elem School 21
26. Edna Keith Elem School 20
27. Dirksen Junior High School 19
28. Sator Sanchez Elem School 19
29. T E Culbertson Elem School 19
30. Lynne Thigpen Elem School 16
31. Farragut Elem School 16

Most racially and ethnically mixed schools in Joliet

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 Thomas Jefferson Elem Sch 71.8/100
  2. 2 Aux Sable Middle Sch 70.4/100
  3. 3 Troy Heritage Trail School 69.3/100
  4. 4 Eisenhower Academy 66.6/100
  5. 5 Joliet West High School 66.5/100

What do families ask about schools in Joliet?

Which Joliet school has the highest Resource Investment Index? ▼

Thomas Jefferson Elem Sch has the highest Resource Investment Index among the Joliet schools in this federal-data comparison at 56/100. The index summarizes reported staffing, counseling, gifted-program, and attendance inputs; it is not an academic rating.

How many schools are in Joliet, IL? ▼

Joliet has 31 public schools with a total enrollment of 20,526 students. Average student-teacher ratio: 15.4:1.

Other Cities in Illinois

Chicago
633 schools
Aurora
47 schools
Rockford
44 schools
Naperville
41 schools
Peoria
34 schools
Springfield
31 schools

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.