Summary:
Oakland, Illinois, has two schools in Lake Crest Elementary School (prekindergarten–grade 8) and Oakland High School (grades 9–12), both part of Oakland CUSD 5. The clearest current bright spot is the high school’s grade 9 science result, while Lake Crest’s reported all-grade ELA and math results are below state rates.
In 2025–2026, Oakland High’s grade 9 science proficiency was 56%, 9 percentage points above the 47% state rate—the strongest current reported result in the area. Lake Crest’s all-grade ELA was 42%, 14 points below the state’s 56%, and its math was 21%, 19 points below the state’s 40%. Its weakest reported result was grade 5 science in 2024–2025: 0% proficient versus 41% statewide; the current-year grade 5 result is suppressed. Oakland High also had strong 2024–2025 ACT results: grade 11 proficiency was 85% in ELA, 69% in math, and 85% in science, exceeding state rates by 33, 30, and 36 points, respectively. Because the schools serve different grades and have different tests, these results do not support a fair overall ranking of the two schools.
Lake Crest’s results improved relative to state rates in ELA and grade 8 science: its ELA gap narrowed from 23 points below the state in 2024–2025 to 14 points below in 2025–2026, and its grade 8 science gap narrowed from 17 points to 11. Math moved the other way, with the gap widening from 18 to 19 points. SchoolDigger’s 2024–2025 rankings were 19th percentile (one star) for Lake Crest and 47th percentile (two stars) for Oakland High; both schools’ rankings have moved up and down over time. Attendance is another important difference: chronic absenteeism was 14% at Lake Crest and 38% at the high school, compared with 24% statewide, while Oakland High’s graduation rate was 93% versus 90% statewide. In 2024–2025, Lake Crest had a 9.7 student-teacher ratio and 47% free/reduced lunch eligible; Oakland High had a 5.8 ratio and 20% free/reduced lunch eligible.
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