NCES CCD 2024-25 12 schools IL

Best-Resourced Schools in West Chicago, IL

Compiled from official source data by .

12 public K-12 schools in West Chicago 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
12
Schools
6,083
Students
54.7/100
Avg Resource Index
11.5:1
Avg Student-Teacher Ratio

National city placement

Broad resource and staffing advantage

According to NCES CCD 2024-25, West Chicago has more public-school enrollment than 64% of the 4,487 US cities in this directory. West Chicago lands in the upper national tier on both the average Resource Investment Index and teacher staffing intensity. Those measures come from different inputs: the index combines reported counselors, gifted access, attendance, and staffing, while the staffing percentile compares the city's student-teacher ratio directly. Agreement across both measures is stronger evidence of broad reported capacity than either score alone, though neither is a test-score rating or a guarantee about an individual classroom.

The school portfolio is elementary-weighted

7 of West Chicago's 12 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 1 middle and 1 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 37-point gap between Benjamin Middle School and Early Learning Center shows the range hidden by West Chicago'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 36%
School count
Top 31%
Resource Index average
95th percentile
Teacher staffing
92nd percentile

West Chicago Comm High School accounts for 33.5% of all West Chicago public-school enrollment

That dominant concentration means West Chicago-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

West Chicago school enrollment varies 2040× across entities

West Chicago school enrollment ranges from 1 students (lowest) to 2,040 students (highest), a spread of 2,039 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

West Chicago student-teacher ratio is 11.5:1 — 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. Benjamin Middle School 67
2. Indian Knoll Elem School 66
3. Gary Elementary School 64
4. Wegner Elementary School 61
5. Currier Elementary School 61
6. Turner Elem School 60
7. Norton Creek Elementary School 59
8. Pioneer Elem School 58
9. Leman Middle School 51
10. Trinity School 44
11. West Chicago Comm High School 35
12. Early Learning Center 30

Most racially and ethnically mixed schools in West Chicago

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 Benjamin Middle School 60.2/100
  2. 2 Norton Creek Elementary School 49.8/100
  3. 3 Wegner Elementary School 46.5/100
  4. 4 West Chicago Comm High School 44.1/100
  5. 5 Pioneer Elem School 35.8/100

What do families ask about schools in West Chicago?

Which West Chicago school has the highest Resource Investment Index? ▼

Benjamin Middle School has the highest Resource Investment Index among the West Chicago schools in this federal-data comparison at 67/100. The index summarizes reported staffing, counseling, gifted-program, and attendance inputs; it is not an academic rating.

How many schools are in West Chicago, IL? ▼

West Chicago has 12 public schools with a total enrollment of 6,083 students. Average student-teacher ratio: 11.5:1.

Other Cities in Illinois

Chicago
633 schools
Aurora
47 schools
Rockford
44 schools
Naperville
41 schools
Peoria
34 schools
Joliet
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.