Summary:
Forest Ridge School District 142 has four schools: two elementary schools serving grades 1–5, a middle school serving grades 6–8, and an early childhood center serving PK–K. The three schools with tested grades have 2025–26 IAR results, and chronic absenteeism at all four schools is below the statewide figure. The clearest standout among the tested elementary schools is Kerkstra Elementary School, especially in grade 5 math, where 61% of students were proficient compared with 36% statewide.
Kerkstra had the strongest 2025–26 All Grades results among the two elementary schools: 60% in ELA and 53% in math, compared with Lee R. Foster Elementary School’s 54% and 45%. Kerkstra was also ahead of Foster by 14 points in grade 5 ELA and 25 points in grade 5 math, and exceeded the state in every reported grade 3–5 ELA and math result and in grade 5 science. The weaker results are more specific than a single school-wide ranking: Foster’s ELA was 54%, 2 points below the state, while its math was 45%, 6 points above. Jack Hille Middle School had the lowest All Grades math result, 38%, which was 2 points below the state; however, its grade 7 and 8 math results were above the state.
Recent changes separate the schools: from 2024–25 to 2025–26, Foster fell 10 points in ELA and 8 in math, while Kerkstra rose 6 and 7 points, respectively, and Jack Hille rose 2 and 4. SchoolDigger’s percentile for Foster also declined from 76 in 2023–24 to 48 in 2025–26; the district is rated 2 stars and is at the 41st percentile. As context, the schools’ 2024–25 free/reduced lunch eligible measures ranged from 44% at Kerkstra to 49% at Foster; their student-teacher ratios were 13.7 and 13.9. Ridge Early Childhood Center has no supplied test scores, so it cannot be compared on achievement.
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