Best Public Schools in Zip Code 60451

Zip code 60451 has 14 schools—six labeled elementary, six middle and two high schools—serving students from early childhood through high school in Lincoln-Way CHSD 210 and New Lenox School District 122. In 2025–2026, school averages were above state proficiency in every reported grade-span and subject comparison: for grades 1–3, ELA was 64% versus 56% statewide and math was 73% versus 40%; for grades 4–6, the averages were 69% versus 56% in ELA and 54% versus 40% in math. The clearest area-wide strength is math in the grades 1–3 schools, where the average was 34 percentage points above the state.

Lincoln-Way Central High School leads Lincoln Way West in all three 11th-grade ACT subjects: Central scored 73% in ELA, 66% in math and 73% in science, leading by 7, 6 and 8 points. Among grades 4–6 schools, Spencer Crossing has the highest all-grades math result at 61%, while Oster-Oakview School has the lowest at 47%, a 14-point spread. Leaders vary by grade: Bentley Elementary School leads grade 4 and grade 6 ELA, while Nelson Ridge School leads grade 5 ELA and math. Liberty Junior High School leads most grade 7–8 comparisons, and Spencer Pointe leads grade 3 ELA while Arnold J Tyler School leads grade 3 math.

Recent results are mixed rather than consistently rising: across ten IAR schools with comparable results, average ELA increased 1 point while the state rose 3; average math fell 1 point while the state rose 1. Individual changes differed: Oster-Oakview’s ELA rose 12 points, while Bentley’s fell 6; Spencer Crossing’s math rose 7 points, while Spencer Pointe’s fell 9. Staffing ratios and income measures do not sort schools into a simple score ranking: Spencer Crossing’s ratio is 21.5 and Oster-Oakview’s is 14.3, yet they respectively have the highest and lowest grades 4–6 all-grades math results. For 2024–2025, free/reduced lunch eligible figures were 7% at Spencer Crossing and 20% at Oster-Oakview; these are context, not an explanation for results. Cherry Hill Elementary and EC Center and Spencer Trail have no test scores in the supplied data.