Best Public Schools in Winfield, IL

Winfield, Illinois, has three schools serving pre-K through grade 8: Pleasant Hill Elementary School (583 students), Winfield Central School (189), and Winfield Primary School (122). The clearest comparison is in grades 3–5, which both tested schools serve. In those shared grades, Pleasant Hill’s strongest distinction is consistently higher ELA proficiency: it led Central by 12 points in grade 3, 9 points in grade 4, and 16 points in grade 5.

Pleasant Hill stands out overall in the shared grades, and its ELA and math results were above state results in every reported grade 3–5 comparison. Math was less one-sided: Central led grade 3 by 10 points, while Pleasant Hill led grade 4 by 22 points. Central’s grade 7 ELA was 44%, 14 points below the state; its results vary more by grade and subject. Both schools were above the state in grade 5 science: Pleasant Hill had 58% proficiency and Central 55%, compared with 48% statewide. SchoolDigger ranked Pleasant Hill at the 75th percentile for 2025–2026, compared with Central at the 61st percentile.

Recent all-grade scores rose at both tested schools, but ELA gains did not keep pace with the state: ELA increased by 2 points at each school, while the state rose by 3. Math increased by 3 points at Pleasant Hill and 2 at Central, compared with a 1-point state increase. SchoolDigger’s rankings fell from 83rd to 75th percentile for Pleasant Hill and from 74th to 61st for Central; Pleasant Hill kept its 4-star rating, while Central went from 4 stars to 3. Class-size context differs too: student–teacher ratios were 13.7 at Pleasant Hill, 9.6 at Central, and 10.6 at Primary in 2024–2025. That year’s reported measure, free/reduced lunch eligible, was 40% at Pleasant Hill, 30% at Central, and 35% at Primary; these figures describe context, not a cause of results. Chronic absenteeism was below the state’s 24% at all three schools in 2025–2026. Primary has no test results listed, and Central’s grade 5 math result was suppressed by the state.