The top reported proficiency rate is 43% in English language arts. The lowest is 41% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Big Hollow Elem School
Big Hollow Elementary School serves grades two through four and sits in Ingleside, an unincorporated lakeside community on the Chain O'Lakes in Lake County. The school enrolls a small body of students for its grade band, drawn from a quiet residential area where residents tend to commute out for work, with the Metra station providing a rail connection to jobs in surrounding cities.
The student body is diverse. Just over half the enrollment is white, with substantial representation from Hispanic families, along with smaller shares of Asian, Black, and multiracial students. The school's enrollment data do not include free-or-reduced-price-lunch counts or rates, nor do they report English learner enrollment or special education status, so a reader cannot see family income distribution or language-support needs from the information available.
On the Illinois Assessment of Readiness administered in early 2025, Big Hollow's performance in grades three and four ran below the midpoint when compared with other districts in Lake County. In grade three, about half of students in math met the state's proficiency standard, and a somewhat lower share met it in reading. In grade four, math proficiency dipped further, with roughly one-third of students meeting the standard; reading proficiency stayed close to the grade three level. The school achieved high test participation, with participation rates at or near complete. Because the school serves only grades two through four, it has no state assessment data for the earlier grade two or the later grades five and above, which fall outside the tested range.
The nearby Nippersink Road campus, a three-school building complex completed with bond funds, represents the district's main infrastructure commitment in recent years. In December 2022, the school board chose to use cash reserves rather than take the full allowable property-tax levy, which gave homeowners a slight break on bills while the district paid down its debt. For families in the area, this suggested a board willing to manage the long-term tax burden, though property-tax exposure in the district remains a material consideration.
Ingleside itself offers a low-density, car-oriented lakeside environment with little traditional walkable downtown. The Chain O'Lakes waterway and Grant Woods Forest Preserve provide natural anchors for the area, and the Metra station serves weekday commuters. Housing values in the ZIP code reflect the wider Lake County market, where homes have seen modest appreciation in recent years and inventory remains broad, though median listing prices have climbed gradually. Mortgage rates sit in the mid-sixes, which affects affordability for new buyers, and the area functions primarily as a bedroom community.
The school's proficiency results suggest families may want to look further into the reading and math curricula and support structures with the school leadership to understand how the instruction at Big Hollow aligns with their expectations for their child's path through the elementary grades.
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