Kenneth Murphy School, Beach Park IL

Original Research by School Decision on Kenneth Murphy School

Kenneth Murphy School serves kindergarten through fifth grade in Beach Park, a small residential village in Lake County between Zion and Waukegan. The school draws from a semirural suburban setting where homes range from bi-levels and ranches to newer subdivisions and manufactured-home sections, and where everyday shopping and dining require driving to nearby larger towns.

The enrollment is small for its grade band, with roughly balanced cohorts across the lower grades and somewhat larger classes in the upper elementary years. The student body is diverse: about half the students are Hispanic, a substantial share are Black, and the remainder span Asian, white, and multiracial backgrounds. Free-or-reduced-price lunch data was not available, so a parent looking at economic need in the school would need to ask the district directly.

State testing results from the most recent year show weak performance across grades three through five. In math, proficiency is low in third grade, drops further in fourth grade, and remains low in fifth grade. English language arts proficiency is slightly higher, with fifth grade performing better than third or fourth grade but still well below the midpoint among Lake County districts. Science proficiency in fifth grade is also low. These results place the school in the bottom quartile of proficiency across its county's districts. A parent should note that Illinois changed proficiency cut scores in recent years, so trend data is not available. Kindergarten through second grade do not have state testing results because the state does not assess those grades.

The school is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet program. Staff, discipline, course-access, and attendance data were not available in the public record. No specific information about special education services, English learner support, or advanced programming was found. A parent interested in these details should contact the school and district directly.

Beach Park itself is car-dependent and built-out, with steady-to-declining population and no traditional walkable center. Housing values in the area are moderate for the region, and rental rates reflect a modest cost of living. The immediate neighborhood around Wadsworth Road (where the school sits) includes scattered commercial frontage and nearby residential zones. Parks and recreational facilities are anchors in the village, though public transit is limited and most families rely on cars for daily activity.

The district, Beach Park CCSD 3, is small and serves the village. No recent major policy changes affecting schools were found, so a parent would be working within what appears to be a stable operational environment, though the low test results suggest academic challenges warrant direct conversation with school and district leadership about instruction, support services, and remediation pathways.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 323%

School 23% · District 25% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▼ 34 pts below county median

Grade 413%

School 13% · District 17% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▼ 36 pts below county median

Grade 515%

School 15% · District 17% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 24 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 327%

School 27% · District 30% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 28 pts below county median

Grade 416%

School 16% · District 27% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 32 pts below state median · ▼ 40 pts below county median

Grade 532%

School 32% · District 29% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▼ 20 pts below state median · ▼ 32 pts below county median

Science

Grade 518%

School 18% · District 20% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▼ 19 pts below state median · ▼ 30 pts below county median

This schoolBeach Park CCSD 3, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.