Summary:
Itasca School District 10 has two elementary schools serving different grade spans: Raymond Benson Primary School serves prekindergarten through grade 2, and Elmer H. Franzen Intermediate School serves grades 3–5. The most striking finding is that Franzen’s 2025–2026 proficiency was well above state rates in both tested subjects.
Franzen stands out in the available achievement results: 84% of students were proficient in English language arts, 28 percentage points above the state, and 74% were proficient in math, 34 points above the state. It also exceeded district rates by 3 points in ELA and 7 points in math. There is no basis to name an overall achievement leader or laggard because test results for Benson are not provided. On attendance, though, Franzen had the lower chronic absenteeism rate: 8%, compared with 13% at Benson in 2025–2026, a 4-point difference.
Franzen’s results improved over time: from 2024–2025 to 2025–2026, ELA proficiency rose 7 points and math rose 2 points, while fifth-grade science climbed 18 points. The school’s advantage over state rates widened in each measure, including by 11 points in science. SchoolDigger gave Franzen five stars and a 2025–2026 rank of 94th out of 1,737 Illinois schools, at the 95th percentile; its percentile ranking dipped from 93rd to 91st before rising to 95th. For other points of comparison, Benson had 333 students and a 14.4 student-teacher ratio, while Franzen had 322 students and a 15.4 ratio. In 2021–2022, free/reduced-lunch eligibility was 8% at Benson and 6% at Franzen. These are useful context for families, but the figures alone do not explain test results.
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