Benjamin Middle School, West Chicago IL

Original Research by School Decision on Benjamin Middle School

Benjamin Middle School serves roughly mid-sized enrollment across grades five through eight in West Chicago, a DuPage County suburb positioned along railroad lines and the regional airport corridor. The school's enrollment is distributed fairly evenly across its grade bands, with a student body that is majority white, with meaningful Asian and Hispanic populations and smaller Black enrollment. Free-or-reduced-price lunch eligibility data was not available, so a reader looking for information on economic need should contact the school directly.

State assessment results from the most recent school year show a school with uneven performance across subjects and grades. In English language arts, Benjamin Middle shows real strength at the upper grades. Eighth-grade students achieved proficiency well above half the cohort, and seventh graders were not far behind. Fifth- and sixth-grade proficiency in ELA was solidly above half, though not as robust. Mathematics tells a different story. Fifth and sixth graders showed proficiency below half, and while seventh-grade math proficiency rose into the mid-range, eighth-grade math fell back again to below half. Science testing was limited to two grades; fifth-grade science proficiency was roughly split between proficient and not, while eighth-grade science reached proficiency at a higher rate. Across all tested grades and subjects, Benjamin Middle's overall proficiency sits below the midpoint among DuPage County school district entities. This pattern points to a school where literacy instruction is landing meaningfully but quantitative reasoning needs attention, particularly in the younger middle grades.

Participation rates on state assessments were consistently strong, above ninety percent and often total, showing that absences and opt-outs were not masking results. The data represents the actual performance of the students taking the test.

Benjamin Middle School is embedded in a district with positive momentum on the capacity front. Benjamin School District 25, which serves West Chicago and Carol Stream, funded and completed a significant expansion at Evergreen Elementary School without raising property tax rates, a tangible indicator of stable local fiscal health and confidence in enrollment growth. That growth is now reaching Benjamin Middle, so classrooms and resources may tighten or remain stable depending on how fully the district integrates new students. A parent or resident considering this school in a growing area may want to look into what capacity and staffing plans the district has published for the middle grades.

West Chicago itself is a diverse, family-oriented community with a clear downtown civic anchor—the Metra station, public library, City Hall, and Illinois Prairie Path converge there—alongside industrial and airport-adjacent employment zones that shape the city's character. The housing market in the immediate area shows a median home value in the mid-to-upper range for the county, with modest year-over-year appreciation and active new construction. This is a stable, growing suburb rather than a deeply distressed or fast-gentrifying area.

Benjamin Middle School does not have a graduation rate reported, which is expected for a middle school. Program offerings, detailed attendance and discipline data, and special education prevalence were not available. A reader looking for specifics on electives, extracurriculars, or support services should visit the school's website or contact the district directly.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 539%

School 39% · District 39%

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▼ 16 pts below county median

Grade 647%

School 47% · District 47%

▲ 23 pts above state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Grade 755%

School 55% · District 55%

▲ 27 pts above state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 844%

School 44% · District 44%

▲ 21 pts above state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 563%

School 63% · District 63%

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Grade 665%

School 65% · District 65%

▲ 15 pts above state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

Grade 774%

School 74% · District 74%

▲ 23 pts above state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 884%

School 84% · District 84%

▲ 31 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

Science

Grade 550%

School 50% · District 50%

▲ 13 pts above state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Grade 868%

School 68% · District 68%

▲ 28 pts above state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

This schoolBenjamin SD 25, 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.