Summary:
Park Ridge, Illinois, has eight listed schools serving elementary, middle, and high school grades: five elementary schools, one middle school, and two high schools. In 2025–2026, the elementary schools averaged 83% in IAR ELA and 74% in math, compared with state results of 56% and 40%; Lincoln Middle School also scored well above state results. The clearest area-wide takeaway is that all five elementary schools exceeded state proficiency in both ELA and math, while the two high schools had substantially different ACT results.
George B. Carpenter Elementary led the elementary schools in ELA (89%) and math (78%), but had the lowest fifth-grade science result (64%). Franklin Elementary led fifth-grade science at 87%, 39 percentage points above the state. In high school, Maine South High School outscored Maine East High School in all three 11th-grade ACT subjects: by 17 points in ELA, 24 in math, and 22 in science. Lincoln’s IAR results were 22 points above state rates in both ELA and math, and its eighth-grade science result was 29 points above the state.
Recent changes show both progress and exceptions. Elementary fifth-grade science rose at every school, with the average increasing 15 points to 78%; ELA also rose by 4 points on average, while math fell by 2 points and remained well above the state. Maine South’s ACT results edged up in all three subjects, while Maine East’s declined in all three. SchoolDigger placed George Washington Elementary, Franklin, and Maine South at the 96th percentile statewide. School size and staffing ratios do not provide a simple explanation for the results: for example, Carpenter is the smallest elementary school, with 435 students, while Eugene Field had a student–teacher ratio of 11.7 in 2024–2025 and the lowest elementary math result. As context, the high schools’ free/reduced lunch eligible figures for 2021–2022 were 6% at South and 38% at East; these figures are older than the test results.
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