Summary:
Wilmette has seven schools—four elementary and three middle schools, with no high schools—including six in Wilmette School District 39 and one in Avoca School District 37. The clearest overall finding is that every school is well above the state in both tested subjects: local results range from 80% to 93% in ELA, compared with 56% statewide, and from 69% to 90% in math, compared with 40% statewide; even the lowest local result is 24 points above the state in ELA and 29 points above in math.
Marie Murphy School leads all schools in ELA at 93%, while Harper Elementary School is lowest at 80%, a 13-point spread. In math, McKenzie Elementary School leads at 90%, and Wilmette Junior High School is lowest at 69%, a 21-point spread. Among elementary schools, McKenzie leads in both all-grades subjects, while Central Elementary School has the strongest third-grade math result at 95%. Grade-matched results also favor Marie Murphy over Wilmette Junior High in both subjects in grades seven and eight, by 8 to 22 points.
Scores rose modestly overall from 2024–2025 to 2025–2026: the school averages increased about 1 point in both ELA and math, while the state improved 3 points in ELA and 1 point in math. Individual changes varied: Marie Murphy’s math result rose 8 points and Central’s rose 5, while Harper’s fell 3. SchoolDigger rankings also shifted: McKenzie moved from 61st to 12th and Marie Murphy from 50th to 17th among Illinois schools. Student-teacher ratios range from 9.4 at Romona Elementary School and Marie Murphy to 13.5 at McKenzie. The free/reduced lunch eligible measure for 2021–2022 ranged from 1% at Central and Harper to 8% at Marie Murphy; these figures offer context, not an explanation for test results.
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