Summary:
LaGrange Highlands School District 106 has two schools serving prekindergarten through grade 8: Highlands Elementary School (PK–4, 565 students) and Highlands Middle School (grades 5–8, 429 students). The standout overall finding is that both schools were well above Illinois proficiency rates in every reported IAR subject and grade in 2025–2026.
The strongest school depends on the subject: Highlands Middle led all-grades ELA at 92%, compared with 86% at Highlands Elementary, a 6-point difference. Elementary led math, with 82% proficiency versus 68% at Middle, a 14-point gap. Middle’s math result was the lowest current all-grades result, but still 28 points above the state rate; Elementary was 42 points above the state in math. Middle was the only school with reported science results: 75% in grade 5 and 90% in grade 8, both above state rates. SchoolDigger ranks the district 20th of 738 in Illinois, and ranks Elementary 57th statewide and Middle 42nd; all three have five stars.
Recent results show gains in Middle ELA but declines in math at both schools. From 2024–2025 to 2025–2026, Middle ELA rose from 87.4% to 91.5%, while Elementary edged down from 86.4% to 86.0%; math fell 2 points at Elementary and 4 points at Middle. Middle science increased 16 points in both tested grades, outpacing state gains. Attendance is another positive: chronic absenteeism was 5% at Elementary and 9% at Middle, compared with 24% statewide. For context, the 2024–2025 student-teacher ratios were 12.6 at Elementary and 11.6 at Middle; free/reduced lunch eligible was 4% and 2%, respectively, in 2021–2022. These are descriptive differences, not explanations for school results.
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