Summary:
ZIP code 60185 has two middle schools: Leman Middle School, serving grades 6–8, and Benjamin Middle School, serving grades 5–8. In 2025–2026, both had reported results in English language arts (ELA), mathematics and science, but the results show a sharp divide between the schools. On the all-grades measures, Benjamin was above state proficiency rates and Leman was below in both ELA and mathematics. The most important finding for families is that school choice in this ZIP code corresponds to markedly different reported proficiency results.
Benjamin stands out at the top of the two-school comparison: its all-grades proficiency was 71% in ELA and 55% in mathematics, compared with 44% and 25% at Leman—gaps of 27 and 30 percentage points. Benjamin was 15 points above the state in ELA and 16 points above in mathematics; Leman was 12 and 15 points below, respectively. The pattern also holds in grade 8: Benjamin led Leman by 29 points in ELA, 29 in mathematics and 33 in science. Comparing grades 6–8 likewise shows Benjamin ahead in both tested subjects, so the different grade spans do not account for the overall gap.
Recent changes were mixed rather than uniform. From 2024–2025 to 2025–2026, Benjamin’s mathematics proficiency rose 9 points, while its ELA result slipped by less than a point; Leman rose 2 points in ELA and 1 in mathematics, but remained below the state. Eighth-grade science improved at both schools—10 points at Leman and 5 at Benjamin—yet Benjamin remained ahead. SchoolDigger ranks Benjamin 262 of 1,126 schools, in the 77th percentile with four stars; Leman ranks 907, in the 19th percentile with one star. Their student-teacher ratios are similar (9.5:1 at Benjamin and 9.3:1 at Leman), despite enrollments of 259 and 1,048. Leman reports 62% free/reduced lunch eligible in 2024–2025; Benjamin reports 11% in 2021–2022, so these figures are from different school years and are not a current like-for-like comparison.
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