Best Public Schools in Montgomery, IL

Montgomery, Illinois, has five elementary schools—Lakewood Creek Elementary, Long Beach Elementary School, Boulder Hill Elementary School, Kaneland McDole Elementary School, and Nicholson Elementary School—and each serves the tested grades 3–5. The five-school average was 48% proficient in all-grades ELA, compared with 56% statewide; in math it was 37%, versus 40% statewide. Fifth-grade science averaged 49%, just above the 48% state result. These area averages mask wide differences between schools: the clearest overall finding is that results vary substantially from one school to another.

Kaneland McDole stands out most consistently: it led in all-grades ELA at 68%, math at 51%, and fifth-grade science at 72%. Those results were 25, 18, and 29 percentage points above the average of the other four schools, respectively. It also exceeded state results in all-grades ELA by 12 points and math by 12 points. At the lower end, Nicholson had the lowest all-grades ELA result at 35%, while Long Beach had the lowest math result at 29% and fifth-grade science at 35%. Results differ by grade, too: Nicholson led the area in fourth-grade math with 46%.

Average results improved between 2024–2025 and 2025–2026: ELA rose 5 percentage points, math rose 5 points, and fifth-grade science rose 14 points. ELA gains were not universal: Lakewood Creek declined 3 points, while all five schools improved in science. SchoolDigger ranked Kaneland McDole at the 70th statewide percentile, compared with the 21st–35th percentiles for the other schools. Context also varies: student-teacher ratios ranged from 10.8 at Boulder Hill to 18.0 at Long Beach. Free/reduced lunch eligible shares were 38% at Lakewood Creek, 60% at Long Beach, and 59% at both Boulder Hill and Nicholson in 2024–2025; Kaneland McDole’s reported 16% is from 2021–2022, so it is not a like-year comparison.