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Best Public Schools in Great Lakes, IL

New rankings! Illinois test scores for the 2025-26 school year were just released — SchoolDigger posted updated rankings this week.

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At a glance

Schools

889

Students

Top rankedLEARN Charter School 6 North Chicago Campus1294^th of 1,737 Illinois elementary schools

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Summary:

Great Lakes, Illinois, has two elementary schools in North Chicago School District 187: LEARN Charter School 6 North Chicago Campus serves kindergarten through grade 8, and Forrestal Elementary School serves kindergarten through grade 3. The latest IAR results are from 2025–2026. Because the schools serve different grade spans, their all-grades results are not a fully like-for-like comparison; third grade is the clearest direct comparison. The main takeaway is that results vary substantially by school: LEARN scores higher than Forrestal, but both schools fall below state rates in all-grades English and math.

LEARN stands out at the top of this two-school group, with 52% proficiency in all-grades English language arts (ELA) and 36% in math, compared with 25% and 23% at Forrestal. Those are school-to-school gaps of 27 points in ELA and 13 in math. LEARN is also closer to state results: it is 4 points below the state in each subject, while Forrestal is 31 points below in ELA and 17 below in math. In third grade, LEARN leads Forrestal by 8 points in ELA and 6 in math, though both remain below state results. LEARN’s strongest subject-grade result is 8th-grade ELA, at 82% versus 63% statewide; Forrestal serves no grades above third.

Recent trends give families another difference to consider: from 2024–2025 to 2025–2026, LEARN’s all-grades ELA moved from 56% to 52% and math from 39% to 36%; Forrestal’s ELA edged up from 24% to 25%, while math fell from 24% to 23%. Both schools’ gaps with the state widened. SchoolDigger’s statewide percentile rank for LEARN also fell from 57 in 2023–2024 to 26 in 2025–2026; no recent Forrestal rank history is supplied. Context measures differ: in 2024–2025, LEARN reported 61% free/reduced lunch eligible, while at Forrestal all students receive free meals (Community Eligibility), with no percentage reported. Their student-teacher ratios were 13.2 and 11.3, respectively, and 2025–2026 chronic absenteeism was 15% at LEARN and 38% at Forrestal. These observations provide context, not explanations for the schools’ results.

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Ranking:

E Elementary M Middle H High A Alternative P Private

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Vaccination Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2026)				Ranking (2025)				ISA Science (2026)		IAR English Language Arts (2026)							IAR Mathematics (2026)							Vaccination (2025-26)		Per Pupil Expenditures (2026)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/reduced lunch (2024-25)	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2026)	Statewide Rank (2026)	State Percentile (2026)	SchoolDigger Rating (2026)	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	Rank Change from Previous Year	ISA Science 5th Grade	ISA Science 8th Grade	IAR English Language Arts 3rd Grade	IAR English Language Arts 4th Grade	IAR English Language Arts 5th Grade	IAR English Language Arts 6th Grade	IAR English Language Arts 7th Grade	IAR English Language Arts 8th Grade	IAR English Language Arts All Grades	IAR Mathematics 3rd Grade	IAR Mathematics 4th Grade	IAR Mathematics 5th Grade	IAR Mathematics 6th Grade	IAR Mathematics 7th Grade	IAR Mathematics 8th Grade	IAR Mathematics All Grades	Vaccination: Measles protection (all grades)	Vaccination: Exemption rate	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
Forrestal Elementary School	Public	K-3	2833 E Washington Ave	Great Lakes	60088	Lake County	North Chicago School District 187	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(847) 689-6310	386	34	11.3	—	51 (13.2%)	121 (31.3%)	182 (47.2%)	4 (1.0%)	2 (0.5%)	1 (0.3%)	25 (6.5%)								(n/a)			25.0						25.0	22.5						22.5	97.3%		$24,236	$1,039	$23,198
LEARN Charter School 6 North Chicago Campus	Public, Charter	K-8	3131 Sheridan Rd	Great Lakes	60088	Lake County	North Chicago School District 187	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(847) 377-0600	503	38	13.2	60.8%	49 (9.7%)	116 (23.1%)	306 (60.8%)	11 (2.2%)	5 (1.0%)	2 (0.4%)	14 (2.8%)	24	1294^th of 1737 public elementary schools	25.5%		53.5	934^th of 2056 public elementary schools	54.6%	360	30.5	56.8	32.7	34.5	45.0	65.5	60.0	81.8	52.2	28.8	23.6	26.7	40.0	46.0	54.5	35.8	89.7%		$16,236	$393	$15,843

Cities Near Great Lakes

City	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
North Chicago	0.47 mi	8	771^st
Lake Bluff	1.72 mi	2	67^th
Waukegan	2.45 mi	23	736^th
Libertyville	3.05 mi	8	25^th
Lake Forest	3.14 mi	8	30^th

See the top IL Illinois cities

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau, the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Illinois State Board of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.