Summary:
Elmwood Park CUSD 401 has four schools—two elementary schools, one middle school and one high school—serving 2,908 students from elementary through high school. In 2025–2026, both elementary schools were above state results in all-grades IAR English language arts (ELA) and math, while middle and high school results varied by subject and grade. The clearest takeaway is that families will find different strengths across subjects and grades, rather than one school that leads across the board.
Elm Middle School stands out in ELA and eighth-grade science: its results were 71% and 68%, respectively, 14 and 16 percentage points above state levels. But its all-grades math result was 34%, 6 points below the state. Among elementary schools, John Mills Elementary School led all-grades ELA, 62% to 59% at Elmwood Elementary School; Elmwood led math, 51% to 45%. Those overall differences hide sharper grade-level contrasts: Mills led fourth-grade ELA by 13 points, while Elmwood led third-grade math by 20. At Elmwood Park High School, 11th-grade ACT ELA and science were 6 and 3 points above state results, but ninth-grade PreACT math and science were 7 and 12 points below.
Several results improved year over year: Elm Middle’s all-grades math rose from 29% to 34%, narrowing its state gap from 10 points to 6, while the high school’s 11th-grade ACT math increased from 35% to 40%, nearly matching the state. A notable exception was ninth-grade PreACT science at the high school, which fell from 50% to 35%. SchoolDigger gives all four schools three stars; their 2025–2026 statewide percentiles range from 54 at Mills to 60 at Elm Middle, and all four fell from the prior year. For context, 2024–2025 free/reduced lunch eligible shares ranged from 58% at Elmwood Elementary to 63% at Elm Middle; student-teacher ratios ranged from 13.0:1 to 13.8:1. The high school combines a 93% graduation rate with 37% chronic absenteeism, compared with 24% statewide.
Thank you for your feedback!