Lake Forest Chsd 115, IL

Original Research by School Decision on Lake Forest Chsd 115

Lake Forest CHSD 115 is a high school district serving Lake Forest, Lake Bluff, and Highland Park in Lake County. It operates one high school and serves grades nine through twelve, with an enrollment of just over thirteen hundred students across all four grades. The student body is predominantly white, with smaller shares of Asian, Hispanic, and multiracial students, and very small numbers of Black and Native American students. Demographic data on students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, English learners, or students with disabilities is not publicly available.

State testing data for this district is not reported, so a reader cannot see how ninth through twelfth graders perform on Illinois state assessments in English language arts or mathematics. The district serves grades nine to twelve only, which explains why no elementary or middle school science testing results appear. Without proficiency data or graduation rate data reported, the academic performance picture remains opaque from state metrics. A parent interested in understanding academic outcomes here would benefit from asking the school directly about college placement, course completion rates, and performance trends.

The district benefits from a strong financial position. Per-pupil spending is among the highest in Lake County, placing it in the upper range. The district also reports a chronic absenteeism rate well below the county median, suggesting strong student engagement and attendance patterns across all grades.

The three communities the district serves are affluent. Median home values in Lake Forest are quite high and have appreciated meaningfully year over year. Lake Bluff homes are somewhat more modest, and Highland Park sits between the two. Rental costs in Lake Forest are correspondingly steep. The housing market in Lake County more broadly has seen cooling; active listings have declined modestly from a year prior, though median listing prices have ticked upward. Mortgage rates remain elevated, making affordability a real constraint even in these high-income areas. Renters in these zip codes face significant rent-to-income ratios, meaning the cost of housing is a squeeze even for families earning well above the national median household income.

A major district change underway is the execution of a bond-funded renovation at Lake Forest High School. Voters narrowly approved a substantial bond in April 2023 to fund security upgrades, roof and structural repairs, plumbing and electrical work, science lab and classroom renovations, HVAC replacement, and ADA accessibility improvements, along with upgrades to instructional technology. The bonds were sold in fall 2023, and construction is proceeding in phases over a multi-year period. Families relocating to the district will inherit both the tax-supported debt service from this referendum and the benefit of a substantially modernized facility. This is a meaningful context for families considering the district: property taxes will reflect the bond payments, and the school campus itself will be in flux during the construction window.

Lake Forest High School is the sole school in the district. It is the only secondary institution serving this area, meaning all high school students from the three towns attend the same building. The district's website offers a starting point for prospective families to explore programs, course offerings, and extracurricular options, though specific details about program breadth, AP offerings, dual-credit pathways, or career academies were not available in the data reviewed.

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District Context

Officially reported figures, 2024-25.

Enrollment

1,375

Grades

09–12

Schools

Student body

Hispanic 11%

Black 1%

White 77%

Asian 5%

Two+ 5%

Am. Indian / AK Native 0%

Hawaiian / Pac. Isl. 0%

Schools in this District

1 schools are officially reported under this district.

Lake Forest High School

Housing & Real Estate

Data as of April 2026 | District-weighted from constituent ZIP codes

Home Values

Typical home value$1.04M

Year-over-year change+8.8%

Range across 3 ZIP codes$644K to $1.2M

vs. state typical3.59x

vs. national typical2.83x

Home value trend (12 months)

ZIP code home values (3 ZIP codes)

ZIP	City	Value	YoY	Weight
60045	Lake Forest	$1.2M	+9.0%	75.9%
60044	Lake Bluff	$644K	+8.0%	23.6%
60035	Highland Park	$776K	+6.2%	0.1%

Rental Market

Typical monthly rent$3,580/mo

Year-over-year change+6.2%

Range across 3 ZIP codes$2,110 to $4,038/mo

Rent trend (12 months)

ZIP code rents (3 ZIP codes)

ZIP	City	Rent/mo	YoY	Weight
60045	Lake Forest	$4,038	—	75.9%
60044	Lake Bluff	$2,110	—	23.6%
60035	Highland Park	$2,857	+6.2%	0.1%

Affordability

Est. monthly mortgage (20% down at 6.48%)$5,260/mo

Home price / national median income12.4x

Annual rent / national median income51.3%

Est. mortgage exceeds rent by$1,679/mo

Market Activity: Lake County

Median listing price$499,000

Median listing price YoY+6.2%

Median price per sq ft$240

Median price per sq ft YoY+7.6%

Median days on market29.0 days

Median days on market YoY+1.8%

Active listings862

Active listings YoY-10.0%

New listings832

New listings YoY-7.1%

Pending listings1,154

Pending listings YoY-3.0%

Hotness: median listing price$499,450

Hotness: median listing price YoY+3.6%

Supply score95.4

Supply score YoY+0.9%

Demand score77.8

Demand score YoY+1.8%

Median listing price (12 months)

Median price per sq ft (12 months)

Median days on market (12 months)

Active listings (12 months)

New listings (12 months)

Pending listings (12 months)

Hotness: median listing price (12 months)

Supply score (12 months)

Demand score (12 months)

Comparison

State typical home value$290,210 (+4.9% YoY)

National typical home value$368,198 (+0.6% YoY)

State ZHVI trend (12 months)

National ZHVI trend (12 months)

Economic Context

30-year fixed mortgage rate6.48%

National unemployment rate4.3%

National median household income$83,730

CPI: Rent of shelter (index)447.05

30-year fixed mortgage rate (12 months)

National unemployment rate (12 months)

National median household income (12 months)

CPI: Rent of shelter (index) (12 months)

Sources: Zillow Home Value Index and Zillow Observed Rent Index (Zillow Group), Realtor.com via Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED)

Data Currently Unavailable

Academic Performance
Civil Rights Data (CRDC)

This profile is derived exclusively from publicly available federal and state datasets. It may not reflect the most current information available. We encourage parents and families to supplement this data with information published directly on the school’s website, which may include more recent figures, additional programs, or updated enrollment data.