Schools in Zip Code 60554

Zip code 60554 has two schools in Kaneland CUSD 302: Kaneland John Shields Elementary School, serving prekindergarten through grade 5, and Kaneland Harter Middle School, serving grades 6–8. In 2025–2026, both schools’ all-grades results were above state results in English language arts (ELA) and mathematics. The clearest shared strength is ELA: the schools averaged 66% compared with 56% statewide, an advantage of 10 points.

Harter had the strongest all-grades ELA result, at 67%, just 1 point above Shields at 66%; it also stood out in eighth-grade science, scoring 68% versus 52% statewide. Shields led in all-grades mathematics, with 48% compared with Harter’s 41% and the state’s 40%. Grade results show areas parents may want to look at more closely: at Shields, third-grade ELA was 3 points below the state, and fifth-grade mathematics was 9 points below. Its fourth-grade results were much stronger: ELA was 25 points above the state and mathematics was 20 points above. The schools serve different grade spans, so their all-grades scores are not grade-matched comparisons.

Results improved from 2024–2025 to 2025–2026, though gains varied: Harter gained 5 points in ELA and 1 in mathematics, while Shields gained 1 point in ELA and 3 in mathematics. SchoolDigger gave both schools three stars; its latest rankings placed Harter at the 63rd percentile and Shields at the 61st, both above their rankings two years earlier but below their 2024–2025 peaks. Context differs too: student-teacher ratios were 11.9 at Harter and 12.7 at Shields; chronic absenteeism was 19% and 9%, respectively, in 2025–2026. Free/reduced lunch eligibility was 19% at Harter in 2024–2025 and 15% at Shields in 2021–2022, so those figures are from different school years.