Edgewood Middle School, Highland Park IL

Original Research by School Decision on Edgewood Middle School

Edgewood Middle School is a regular public middle school serving grades six through eight in Highland Park, an affluent North Shore suburb along Lake Michigan. The school enrolls roughly a few hundred students across its three grade levels and sits on Sheridan Road in a predominantly residential, tree-lined neighborhood rather than downtown.

The student body is predominantly white, with smaller shares of Hispanic, Asian, Black, and multiracial students. The school's free-or-reduced-price-lunch data is not available, a gap that makes it difficult to assess economic diversity or compare the school's socioeconomic profile to others in the county. Similarly, counts of students with IEPs or those identified as English learners are not reported.

On state assessments administered in the 2024-25 school year, Edgewood's proficiency results show a pattern: reading and language arts performance consistently outpaces mathematics. Across the sixth, seventh, and eighth grades, most students scored at proficient or advanced levels in English language arts, with eighth grade reaching above eighty percent proficiency. Mathematics proficiency clustered in the low-to-mid-60s across grades six through eight. Science proficiency at eighth grade sits in the low-70s. Participation rates were consistently near or above ninety-eight percent across tested grades and subjects, indicating strong test attendance. When compared to other school districts within Lake County, Edgewood's overall proficiency index places it in the top quartile, a strength the field broadly agrees is meaningful.

The school has no graduation rate, as it serves only middle grades. No data on chronic absenteeism, discipline, course access, staffing, or attendance was available.

Highland Park itself is an affluent community experiencing active redevelopment centered on downtown housing. The median home value locally is substantial, and housing inventory and pricing have been climbing. The area is served by Metra rail and Pace bus lines. Civic life concentrates around a pedestrian-friendly downtown business district within close reach of the library, city hall, and cultural venues like Ravinia Festival.

The parent district, North Shore School District 112, completed substantial renovations at Edgewood as part of a multi-phase facilities plan launched after a 2022 bond referendum. That same referendum will add estimated annual property taxes for affected families. In June 2025, the district voted to close Red Oak Elementary and consolidate the dual-language program into another school beginning in 2027-28, a structural shift with real implications for families seeking that pathway.

Overall, Edgewood presents a middle school with reading and language arts as a clear strength and mathematics proficiency that may merit attention depending on a family's focus. The affluent setting and recent facility upgrades anchor the school in a strong community context. A parent may want to look into the school's math instructional approach and any targeted supports if that subject is a priority.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 664%

School 64% · District 61% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 40 pts above state median · ▲ 34 pts above county median

Grade 762%

School 62% · District 57% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 34 pts above state median · ▲ 18 pts above county median

Grade 862%

School 62% · District 55% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▲ 40 pts above state median · ▲ 24 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 683%

School 83% · District 79% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 33 pts above state median · ▲ 25 pts above county median

Grade 780%

School 80% · District 73% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▲ 29 pts above state median · ▲ 18 pts above county median

Grade 882%

School 82% · District 82% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 29 pts above state median · ▲ 22 pts above county median

Science

Grade 872%

School 72% · District 67% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 32 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

This schoolNorth Shore SD 112, 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.