Summary:
Zip code 60506 has three middle schools—Washington Middle School, Herget Middle School and Jefferson Middle School—all serving grades 6–8 in Aurora West Unified School District 129. Together they enroll 1,861 students, or about 620 per school. In 2025–2026, their unweighted average proficiency was 53% in ELA, 30% in math and 44% in eighth-grade science; those averages were 3, 10 and 8 percentage points below state results, respectively. The clearest shared academic concern is math: even the strongest school’s result was just below the state benchmark.
Herget stands out overall, leading in all three current measures with 58% proficient in ELA, 38% in math and 56% in eighth-grade science. It led the next-highest school by 2 points in ELA, 11 in math and 16 in science, and was above the state in ELA by 1 point and science by 4, while remaining 1 point below in math. Washington had the lowest results in every measure: its 47% in ELA was 9 points below Jefferson, its 24% in math was 3 points lower, and its 35% in science was 5 points lower. Jefferson’s current results fall between the other schools in all three subjects.
Recent progress differs by school. From 2024–2025 to 2025–2026, Herget improved by 12 points in ELA, 2 in math and 13 in science; Jefferson gained 7, 3 and 9 points, respectively. Washington’s math rose 4 points, but its ELA and science results each fell 2 points. Across the three schools, average ELA and math gains outpaced state gains. SchoolDigger’s reported percentiles nevertheless declined from 2023–2024 to 2025–2026: Washington went from 40 to 19, Herget from 52 to 48, and Jefferson from 37 to 30. Other measures offer context, not explanations: in 2024–2025, free/reduced lunch eligible students made up 50% at Herget, 58% at Washington and 62% at Jefferson; student–teacher ratios were 14.4, 15.6 and 12.5, respectively. Herget also had the lowest 2025–2026 chronic absenteeism, at 13%, compared with 18% at Washington and 15% at Jefferson.
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