Best Public Schools in Champaign, IL

Champaign has 16 schools—11 elementary, three middle and two high schools, serving students from elementary through high school. Across grades 3–5, the nine K–5 schools averaged 37% proficiency in ELA, compared with 53% for matching state results; in math, they averaged 37%, compared with 43% statewide. Results varied widely from school to school, with grade-specific ELA and math ranges of 33 to 50 percentage points among K–5 schools. The most important takeaway is that these large school-to-school differences are obscured by citywide averages.

South Side Elementary School stands out among elementary schools: it led K–5 schools in third-grade ELA and math, at 65% and 67%, and fourth-grade math, at 65%; its third-grade math was 18 points above the state result. Vernon L. Barkstall Elementary School also performed strongly, with fourth- and fifth-grade ELA at 57%, above state results of 56% and 55%. At the high-school level, Central High School led Centennial High School in all three grade 11 ACT subjects by 18 to 20 points. At the lower end, Stratton Elementary School had the lowest available grade 3–5 ELA and math results; Washington Elementary School had 21% in fifth-grade ELA and science. Garden Hills Elementary Academy reported 18% all-grades ELA and 9% math.

Recent results show mixed progress: elementary all-grades averages rose 2 points in ELA and 1 point in math from 2024–2025 to 2025–2026, but moved slightly farther behind state results. Middle-school ELA improved at all three schools, while math dipped at Edison Middle School; the two high schools’ average ACT results fell in all three subjects. SchoolDigger’s 2025–2026 rankings placed South Side at the 67th percentile and Barkstall at the 50th, versus the 4th percentile for Stratton and 2nd for Washington; South Side had been at the 73rd percentile in 2023–2024. As context, 2024–2025 free/reduced lunch eligible figures were 43% at South Side and 43% at Barkstall, compared with 76% at Stratton and 76% at Washington; these school-level figures do not explain score differences. Chronic absenteeism also varied, from 14% at South Side to 41% at Garden Hills.