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DeKalb CUSD 428

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At a glance

693^rdof 738 Illinois districts▲ 74

Better than 6% of Illinois districts

Elementary 9 Middle 2 High 2Grades PK, KG-12

901 S 4Th St
Dekalb, IL 60115-4411·(815) 754-2330·All Illinois district rankings →

Statewide performance 2018–2026

2026: better than 6.1% of districts

Schools

6,771

Students

Top rankedJefferson Elementary School812^th of 1,737 Illinois elementary schools

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Biggest riser

Lincoln Elementary School up 542 spots statewide this year

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Smallest classes

Jefferson Elementary School 11.1 students per teacher

SchoolDigger ratings

3★

1★

0★

4 schools without a SchoolDigger rating (too few tested students)

Compare Illinois districts →See the top-ranked Illinois schools →

Summary:

DeKalb CUSD 428 includes 11 schools: eight K–5 elementary schools, two middle schools serving grades 6–8, and one high school serving grades 9–12. The clearest takeaway is that elementary results vary widely: the school range is 37 percentage points in ELA and 45 points in math, so districtwide averages hide substantial differences between schools.

Jefferson Elementary School stands out, leading the elementary schools in ELA (53%), math (54%), and fifth-grade science (51%). It is above the state in math and science; the other elementary schools average 31% in ELA, 19% in math, and 33% in science. At the lower end, Gwendolyn Brooks Elementary School has the lowest ELA (16%) and math (9%), while Malta Elementary School has the lowest fifth-grade science result (22%). Among middle schools, ELA results are nearly tied: Clinton Rosette Middle School leads Huntley Middle School by 0.2 points, though Huntley leads in math by 3 points. DeKalb High School is below state results in all three reported ACT subjects.

Average results generally improved from 2024–25 to 2025–26, but not at every school or in every subject. Elementary science rose 15 points on average, while ELA rose 7; math rose only 2. Lincoln Elementary School made gains in all three measures, including 21 points in ELA and 31 in science, while Cortland Elementary School declined in math and science. SchoolDigger rates Jefferson at the 53rd statewide percentile with 3 stars; other elementary schools with a listed rating are at the 25th percentile or below. For context, free/reduced lunch eligible measures in school year 2024–25 ranged from 57% at Jefferson to 80% at Brooks; these figures describe student populations, not what explains test results. Elementary student-teacher ratios ranged from 11.1 at Jefferson to 15.8 at Lincoln.

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Ranking:

E Elementary M Middle H High A Alternative P Private

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Vaccination Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2026)				Ranking (2025)				PreACT Secure English Language Arts (2026)		PreACT Secure Mathematics (2026)		PreACT Secure Science (2026)		ACT English Language Arts (2026)	ACT Mathematics (2026)	ACT Science (2026)	ISA Science (2026)		IAR English Language Arts (2026)							IAR Mathematics (2026)							Vaccination (2025-26)		Per Pupil Expenditures (2026)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/reduced lunch (2024-25)	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2026)	Statewide Rank (2026)	State Percentile (2026)	SchoolDigger Rating (2026)	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	Rank Change from Previous Year	PreACT Secure English Language Arts 9th Grade	PreACT Secure English Language Arts 10th Grade	PreACT Secure Mathematics 9th Grade	PreACT Secure Mathematics 10th Grade	PreACT Secure Science 9th Grade	PreACT Secure Science 10th Grade	ACT English Language Arts 11th Grade	ACT Mathematics 11th Grade	ACT Science 11th Grade	ISA Science 5th Grade	ISA Science 8th Grade	IAR English Language Arts 3rd Grade	IAR English Language Arts 4th Grade	IAR English Language Arts 5th Grade	IAR English Language Arts 6th Grade	IAR English Language Arts 7th Grade	IAR English Language Arts 8th Grade	IAR English Language Arts All Grades	IAR Mathematics 3rd Grade	IAR Mathematics 4th Grade	IAR Mathematics 5th Grade	IAR Mathematics 6th Grade	IAR Mathematics 7th Grade	IAR Mathematics 8th Grade	IAR Mathematics All Grades	Vaccination: Measles protection (all grades)	Vaccination: Exemption rate	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
Cortland Elementary School	Public	K-5	370 E Lexington Ave	Cortland	60112	DeKalb County	DeKalb CUSD 428	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(815) 754-2360	523	40	13.0	62.1%	195 (37.3%)	61 (11.7%)	221 (42.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	45 (8.6%)	11.4	1577^th of 1737 public elementary schools	9.2%		23.6	1588^th of 2056 public elementary schools	22.8%	11										26.2		30.7	41.2	32.1				34.2	27.3		15.5				18.8	96.2%		$25,582	$1,110	$24,472
DeKalb High School	Public	9-12	501 W Dresser Rd	Dekalb	60115	DeKalb County	DeKalb CUSD 428	No	(n/a)	No	No	(815) 754-2100	2,134	142	15.0	61.3%	733 (34.3%)	508 (23.8%)	736 (34.5%)	27 (1.3%)	8 (0.4%)	2 (0.1%)	116 (5.4%)	27.9	466^th of 620 public high schools	24.8%		34.9	484^th of 698 public high schools	30.7%	18	49.7	45.1	28.9	26.3	30.3	37.8	34.4	26.8	31.0																	98.3%		$21,670	$770	$20,900
Huntley Middle School	Public	6-8	1515 S 4th St	Dekalb	60115	DeKalb County	DeKalb CUSD 428	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(815) 754-2241	865	73	11.8	63.8%	302 (34.9%)	231 (26.7%)	255 (29.5%)	11 (1.3%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	64 (7.4%)	11	1025^th of 1126 public middle schools	9.0%		20.3	1107^th of 1368 public middle schools	19.1%	82											31.5				31.0	32.8	32.5	32.1				20.8	27.6	14.6	20.9	98.4%		$22,697	$938	$21,759
Jefferson Elementary School	Public	K-5	211 McCormick Dr	Dekalb	60115	DeKalb County	DeKalb CUSD 428	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(815) 754-2263	308	28	11.1	56.8%	111 (36.0%)	95 (30.8%)	56 (18.2%)	21 (6.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	25 (8.1%)	51.6	812^th of 1737 public elementary schools	53.3%		56.1	885^th of 2056 public elementary schools	57.0%	73										51.0		45.5	56.3	56.9				53.1	40.9	56.3	62.7				53.8	97%		$24,764	$912	$23,852
Lincoln Elementary School	Public	K-5	220 E Sunset Pl	DeKalb	60115	DeKalb County	DeKalb CUSD 428	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(815) 754-2212	272	17	15.8	62.9%	100 (36.8%)	123 (45.2%)	28 (10.3%)	1 (0.4%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (7.0%)	23.2	1307^th of 1737 public elementary schools	24.8%		12.9	1849^th of 2056 public elementary schools	10.1%	542										43.8		35.6	39.0	58.3				44.8	28.9	24.4	25.0				26.1	98.2%		$22,230	$1,301	$20,929
Littlejohn Elementary School	Public	K-5	1121 School St	DeKalb	60115	DeKalb County	DeKalb CUSD 428	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(815) 754-2258	362	24	14.9	70.7%	98 (27.1%)	51 (14.1%)	184 (50.8%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	28 (7.7%)	21.6	1350^th of 1737 public elementary schools	22.3%		26.4	1528^th of 2056 public elementary schools	25.7%	178										48.9		22.0	43.6	50.0				38.6	26.0	21.8	29.2				25.5	96.1%		$22,959	$909	$22,050
Gwendolyn Brooks Elementary School	Public	K-5	3225 Sangamon Dr	Dekalb	60115	DeKalb County	DeKalb CUSD 428	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(815) 754-9936	328	23	13.9	80.2%	53 (16.2%)	182 (55.5%)	48 (14.6%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	43 (13.1%)								(n/a)										23.8								16.4							8.9	99.1%		$27,742	$1,548	$26,194
Malta Elementary School	Public	K-5	5068 IL Route 38	Malta	60150	DeKalb County	DeKalb CUSD 428	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(815) 754-2970	293	20	14.7	65.9%	108 (36.9%)	112 (38.2%)	53 (18.1%)	6 (2.0%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (4.4%)	6.5	1672^nd of 1737 public elementary schools	3.7%		18.6	1703^rd of 2056 public elementary schools	17.2%	31										22.4		24.4	21.7	24.5				23.6	28.9						17.1	94.7%		$27,642	$1,713	$25,929
Tyler Elementary School	Public	K-5	1021 Alden Circle	Dekalb	60115	DeKalb County	DeKalb CUSD 428	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(815) 754-2389	265	19	13.9	78.9%	57 (21.5%)	148 (55.8%)	29 (10.9%)	3 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	28 (10.6%)	15.8	1476^th of 1737 public elementary schools	15.0%		10.1	1942^nd of 2056 public elementary schools	5.5%	466										30.6		27.8		40.5				32.4			27.0				19.6	95.6%		$26,829	$1,649	$25,181
Founders Elementary School	Public	K-5	821 S 7th St	Dekalb	60115	DeKalb County	DeKalb CUSD 428	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(815) 754-3800	565	39	14.5	78.1%	103 (18.2%)	167 (29.6%)	248 (43.9%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.4%)	1 (0.2%)	43 (7.6%)	8.3	1635^th of 1737 public elementary schools	5.9%		17.5	1729^th of 2056 public elementary schools	15.9%	94										31.6		21.2	30.0	30.8				27.2	21.4	15.2	20.5				19.1	97.7%		$23,443	$1,143	$22,300
DeKalb Early Learning and Development Center	Public	PK	1515 S 4th St	Dekalb	60115	DeKalb County	DeKalb CUSD 428	No	(n/a)	No	No	(815) 754-2999	281	14	20.1	—	72 (25.6%)	81 (28.8%)	100 (35.6%)	8 (2.8%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (6.8%)								(n/a)																										95.4%		$19,923	$578	$19,345
Clinton Rosette Middle School	Public	6-8	650 N 1st St	DeKalb	60115	DeKalb County	DeKalb CUSD 428	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(815) 754-2226	575	47	12.1	74.1%	151 (26.3%)	149 (25.9%)	225 (39.1%)	9 (1.6%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	39 (6.8%)	9.8	1040^th of 1126 public middle schools	7.6%		15.4	1209^th of 1368 public middle schools	11.6%	169											34.1				30.3	31.0	35.5	32.3				21.4	17.9	14.2	17.9	97.8%		$23,348	$985	$22,363
Beyond One Barb Transition Center	Public	12	530 Charter St	Dekalb	60115	DeKalb County	DeKalb CUSD 428	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(815) 754-2100	0	1	.0	—	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()								(n/a)																										100%
Dr. Leroy A. Mitchell Elementary School	Public	K-5	1240 Normal Rd	Dekalb	60115	DeKalb County	DeKalb CUSD 428	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(815) 754-8100	0			—	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()								(n/a)																		8.1								96%		$20,788	$1,015	$19,773

Districts nearby

District	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
Sycamore CUSD 427	4.84 mi	7	332^nd
Kaneland CUSD 302	7.42 mi	7	225^th
Kane ROE	7.55 mi	20
Hinckley Big Rock CUSD 429	9.6 mi	3	273^rd
Indian Creek CUSD 425	10.59 mi	4	371^st

See the top IL Illinois districts

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau, the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Illinois State Board of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.