The top reported proficiency rate is 90% in English language arts. The lowest is 79% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Marie Murphy School
Marie Murphy School serves grades six through eight in Wilmette as part of Avoca School District 37. The school enrolls students from a geographically small attendance area and maintains an enrollment distributed across the three middle-grade cohorts, with a student body that is diverse in race and ethnicity: roughly half white, about a quarter Asian, and the remainder split among Hispanic, multiracial, and other backgrounds. Free-or-reduced-price lunch data was not available, so we cannot speak to economic diversity directly from the data.
In mathematics, the school's proficiency results across grades six, seven, and eight ranged in the mid to low eighties, with eighth grade at the lower end of that band and seventh grade slightly higher. In English language arts, proficiency was notably stronger: grades six and seven both exceeded ninety percent proficiency, while eighth grade sat in the mid-to-high eighties. In science, the only available result was from eighth grade, which showed proficiency in the low to mid eighties. All three tested grades show full student participation rates in the assessments provided. Across tested subjects and grades, the school's overall proficiency index places it in the top quartile among districts serving Cook County, a measurably strong position.
State testing data for grades three, four, and five are not reported, as Marie Murphy does not serve those grades. The school offered no state testing history in the payload, so trend data and year-over-year movement are not available.
The district narrowly missed opportunity for significant facility improvement and expansion. In March 2024, voters rejected a bond referendum that would have closed Avoca West Elementary in nearby Glenview, built a new elementary school on the Marie Murphy campus, and funded security and mechanical upgrades to Marie Murphy itself. The referendum defeat, by a wide margin, leaves both school buildings with aging infrastructure unaddressed and creates ongoing uncertainty about when and how the district will pursue capital improvements in the future. For a family considering moving into the district, this is material: the lack of a capital improvement fund means no major work is funded through the district's regular budget, and whether another referendum will be pursued remains an open question. The bond would have added estimated annual property tax to homeowners, a fact that figured prominently in the public debate.
Wilmette itself is a mature, predominantly residential North Shore suburb of Chicago situated along Lake Michigan, composed largely of single-family neighborhoods ranging from historic tree-lined streets to newer teardown-and-rebuild homes. The housing market in the area is strong: home values have appreciated substantially year over year, and rental costs are correspondingly high. The downtown Village Center, anchored by the Metra station, is compact and walkable with locally-owned retail and restaurants, though most residential neighborhoods require a car for daily errands. The community is family-oriented and civic-minded, with extensive park and recreation facilities including lakefront beaches, and low-key social life centered on community institutions and neighborhood life rather than nightlife.
A parent evaluating Marie Murphy should view the strong test results in context: the school performs well against its county cohort, but families may want to understand more directly what instruction and curriculum practices underlie those results. The failed referendum is a genuine constraint on facility upgrades and signals community division on tax-supported capital investment; families planning a long-term presence in the district may want to inquire with the district about timing and likelihood of future referendums. The school draws from a specific residential catchment area in Wilmette and serves a relatively compact middle-school population in an affluent suburb.
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