Middle Schools in Palatine CCSD 15

The five middle schools in Palatine CCSD 15 all serve grades 6–8, making their schoolwide and eighth-grade results directly comparable. In 2025–2026, the schools averaged 61% proficient in ELA, above the state’s 56%; their math average was 39%, about level with the state’s 40%, and their eighth-grade science average was 52%, about level with the state’s 52%. Results vary widely from school to school, so the most important finding is that the district does not have one uniform academic profile: only two schools were above the state in both ELA and math.

Thomas Jefferson Middle School stands out most, leading all three subjects: 83% in ELA, 63% in math and 75% in eighth-grade science—26, 24 and 23 points above state rates, respectively. Plum Grove Middle School is also above state in ELA and math, at 77% and 58%, and scored 61% in science. At the other end, Winston Campus Middle School had the lowest ELA result at 43%, Carl Sandburg Middle School the lowest math result at 22%, and Walter R. Sundling Middle School the lowest science result at 39%. SchoolDigger ranked Jefferson at the 90th percentile and Plum Grove at the 81st; the other three were at the 25th percentile or lower.

Among the four schools with results in both years (Jefferson has no 2024–2025 results), average ELA proficiency rose 5 points and math rose 2 points from 2024–2025 to 2025–2026; both averages moved closer to the state. Science rose 3 points, but the state rate rose 7 points, leaving the group 3 points farther behind. Individual results differed: Winston’s science score rose 15 points, while Plum Grove’s fell 2. SchoolDigger’s percentile rankings also declined between 2023–2024 and 2025–2026 for Plum Grove, Winston, Sundling and Sandburg, by 9, 15, 47 and 36 points, respectively. As context, free/reduced-lunch eligible shares in 2024–2025 were 12% at Jefferson and 15% at Plum Grove, compared with 47%–50% at the other schools; this pattern does not establish a cause for test results.