Summary:
ZIP code 60112 has one listed elementary school, Cortland Elementary School, serving kindergarten through grade 5 with 523 students in DeKalb CUSD 428. There are no other listed schools for families to compare locally. The most important finding is that Cortland’s 2025–2026 proficiency rates were substantially below state rates in every reported subject: 22 points below in all-grades ELA, 21 below in mathematics, and 21 below in grade-5 science.
Cortland is both the top and bottom school in this ZIP code by default, so that is not a meaningful local ranking. Its strongest district comparison was ELA: 34% of students were proficient, compared with 31% districtwide. Mathematics was 19% at Cortland versus 20% in the district, and grade-5 science was 26% versus 31%. The district advantage did not mean Cortland reached state results: its ELA rate was 56% statewide, while mathematics was 40% and science 48%. SchoolDigger ranked the school 1,577th of 1,737 Illinois elementary schools, at the 9th percentile, and gave it 0 stars for 2025–2026. The state suppressed Cortland’s grade-4 mathematics result.
Results changed in different directions over the two years: ELA rose 5 points at Cortland, though the district rose 7; mathematics fell 4 points while the state rose 1; and grade-5 science fell 4 while the state rose 7. Cortland’s ELA gap to the state narrowed by 2 points, while its mathematics and science gaps widened by 5 and 11 points. Attendance is a comparatively positive measure: chronic absenteeism was 13% at Cortland, versus 26% in the district and 24% statewide. Context figures include a student–teacher ratio of 13 in 2024–2025 and 62% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch in 2024–2025. Because only one school is listed, these figures cannot support school-to-school comparisons.
Thank you for your feedback!