Original Research by School Decision on Lakes Community High School
Lakes Community High School is a public high school serving grades nine through twelve in Lake Villa, a small residential village in northern Lake County. The school enrolls a modest student body drawn from the surrounding area, with the student population predominantly white and diverse across several other racial and ethnic groups. Free-or-reduced-price-lunch data was not available, so a parent interested in the school's economic composition may want to contact the school directly for that information.
State assessment results and graduation rates were not provided in the available data. Testing at the high school level is administered in Illinois, but the specific proficiency figures for Lakes Community High School were not reported here. A parent should request this directly from the school or district to understand academic performance in tested subjects. Similarly, the school's four-year graduation rate is not included in this report, though it is a metric the district tracks and can share.
The school is part of Community High School District 117, which also operates Antioch Community High School in nearby Antioch. The district recently adopted its first-ever "Portrait of a Graduate" and a new strategic plan defining six core competencies students are expected to develop, including critical thinking and communication. This reflects a deliberate shift in how the district frames learning beyond traditional grade-based achievement. District 117 operates without long-term debt and has been funding a multi-year facilities program that includes a shared field house designed to serve both high schools, with upcoming turf field and track replacement planned, meaning campus improvements are proceeding without a new tax referendum.
Lake Villa itself is a historically oriented lake community anchored by Cedar and Deep Lakes. The village has modest walkability concentrated in a small downtown along Cedar Avenue with a Metra station providing access to Chicago and regional job centers. The area is experiencing active residential growth, with new single-family subdivisions and age-restricted apartment developments underway, alongside a downtown redevelopment initiative focused on mixed-use activation. This growth context means the school's enrollment and peer composition may shift as new families move into the area.
Housing in the Lake Villa zip code is moderately priced relative to surrounding Lake County markets, with recent trends showing gradual appreciation. Rental housing is also available and has been tightening. The area draws families oriented toward small-town life, lakeside recreation, and commuting reach to broader employment and educational options.
For families considering Lakes Community High School, the key items to explore directly with the school include graduation rates, state proficiency data across subjects, course offerings and AP or dual-credit pathways available, special education and English learner support, and extracurricular programs. The school's recent enrollment size and multi-year trends can also help you understand whether it is a growing or stable community. The district's new strategic priorities around competency-based learning may be worth discussing with staff to understand how that translates into day-to-day instruction and student support at the school level.
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