Best Public Schools in Kirkland, IL

The city of Kirkland, Illinois is home to two schools - Hiawatha Elementary School PreK-5 and Hiawatha Junior/Senior High School, both part of the Hiawatha CUSD 426 district. While the elementary school shows relatively strong performance in English Language Arts and Science, the high school lags behind in proficiency across all core subjects, with concerning SAT scores.

At the elementary level, Hiawatha Elementary School PreK-5 outperforms the district and state averages in ELA and Science proficiency, particularly in 5th grade. However, the school struggles with relatively low Math proficiency and a high chronic absenteeism rate of 25.4%. In contrast, Hiawatha Junior/Senior High School underperforms the district and state in ELA, Math, and Science proficiency, with only 20% of 11th graders proficient in ELA and 8% in Math on the SAT.

Despite the high school spending more per student ($17,932) compared to the elementary school ($15,391), and both schools having relatively low student-teacher ratios, the academic performance gap between the two schools is significant. Additionally, the higher percentage of free/reduced lunch recipients at the elementary school (50.23%) compared to the high school (42.18%) may be a contributing factor to the differences in academic outcomes. Addressing the chronic absenteeism and improving overall academic performance, particularly at the high school level, will be crucial for the Kirkland school system to better serve its students.