Summary:
ZIP code 60016 has eight public schools: six elementary schools serving kindergarten through grade 5 and two middle schools serving grades 6–8, across several local districts. In 2025–26, elementary averages were 61% in ELA and 53% in math, compared with state benchmarks of 56% and 40%; middle-school averages were 60% and 43%, versus 56% and 40% statewide. The most important finding is that the elementary averages conceal a wide divide: the highest and lowest school results are 38 points apart in ELA and 37 points in math.
Cumberland Elementary School led elementary schools in ELA and math, with 78% and 71% proficient; Central Elementary School followed at 74% and 67%. Both were well above state results: Cumberland by 22 points in ELA and 31 in math, and Central by 18 and 27 points. Apollo Elementary School had the lowest all-grades results, 40% in ELA and 34% in math—16 and 6 points below the state. North Elementary School was also below the state in ELA by 10 points, though its math was 2 points above. The middle schools were much closer together: Chippewa Middle School and Algonquin Middle School scored about 60% in ELA and 43% in math, with less than a point between them in each subject.
Results improved overall from 2024–25, but not everywhere: the eight-school average rose 4 points in ELA and 2 in math. Brentwood Elementary School had the largest all-grades ELA gain, up 14 points, and its math rose 6; by contrast, Terrace Elementary School fell 6 points in ELA and 3 in math. SchoolDigger’s statewide percentile rose from 67 to 86 for Central and from 52 to 57 for Brentwood, while Terrace fell from 90 to 72. Income measures offer context, not an explanation: in 2024–25, free/reduced lunch eligible shares were 37% at Cumberland, 38% at Central, 40% at Terrace and 56% at Brentwood, which still scored above the state in both subjects. Cumberland also had a 6.8 student-teacher ratio, compared with 11.5 at Central, yet both were among the elementary leaders.
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