Brook Forest Elem School, Oak Brook IL

Original Research by School Decision on Brook Forest Elem School

Brook Forest Elementary serves kindergarten through fifth grade in Oak Brook, a low-density, estate-style suburb on Chicago's western edge that functions primarily as a major corporate and retail center. The school enrolls a small student body of under three hundred students in roughly balanced numbers across each grade, though enrollment at kindergarten is notably higher than in the upper elementary grades. The student population is predominantly Asian, with a substantial white enrollment as well, along with much smaller numbers of Hispanic, Black, and multiracial students.

On the 2024-25 Illinois Assessment of Readiness, results were mixed across the school's tested grades. In third grade math, proficiency was notably high. Fourth grade math performance dipped to about four-fifths proficient, and fifth grade math dropped further to about seven-tenths proficient, showing a downward trend as students advance. In English language arts, third grade results were solid, fourth grade climbed higher, and fifth grade jumped to very strong proficiency. Science results in fifth grade were strong. A parent looking at these numbers may want to clarify with the school what accounts for the decline in fourth and fifth grade math, whether that reflects curriculum transitions or patterns the school is monitoring.

Relative to districts across DuPage County, Brook Forest's overall proficiency index sits well above the median, placing it in the top quartile. The school participates in the usual state assessments for its grade band; no state testing data exists for grades below three or above five, reflecting Illinois's assessment calendar.

The school is part of Butler SD 53, a small elementary district. The district has made a structural shift toward providing special education services in-house rather than through outside contractors, which may affect how families with IEPs experience support. The district is also managing an aging teacher contract that runs through mid-2026 and navigating annual property tax levies within Illinois's tax cap system. Oak Brook itself does not levy municipal property tax, giving the school portion of property taxes particular visibility in household planning.

The housing market in Oak Brook is characterized by substantial home values and estate-style residential lots. The area is car-dependent, with minimal walkable street life; recreational activity centers on forest preserve trails and the Oakbrook Center mall. The defining recent development is Oak Brook Commons, a mixed-use redevelopment on the former McDonald's headquarters site that will introduce the village's first apartments and expand the commercial center, signaling gradual residential densification alongside the area's long-standing role as a corporate hub.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 394%

School 94% · District 94%

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

Grade 479%

School 79% · District 79%

▲ 43 pts above state median · ▲ 16 pts above county median

Grade 570%

School 70% · District 70%

▲ 40 pts above state median · ▲ 16 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 381%

School 81% · District 81%

▲ 37 pts above state median · ▲ 19 pts above county median

Grade 485%

School 85% · District 85%

▲ 37 pts above state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

Grade 592%

School 92% · District 92%

▲ 39 pts above state median · ▲ 21 pts above county median

Science

Grade 589%

School 89% · District 89%

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

This schoolButler SD 53, 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.