The top reported proficiency rate is 60% in Math. The lowest is 42% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Northwest School
Northwest School is a small, Pre-K through fifth-grade elementary school in Evergreen Park, a densely populated residential suburb southwest of Chicago. The school serves a diverse student body drawn from the village and surrounding area, with Hispanic students making up the largest share of enrollment, followed by white and Black students in roughly equal proportions. The enrollment is small relative to typical elementary schools, clustering around the youngest grades and dropping in the upper elementary years.
The school's academic performance shows uneven results across grade levels and subjects. In mathematics, third and fourth graders demonstrate proficiency rates in the mid-to-upper range, but performance drops notably in fifth grade. English language arts shows a contrasting pattern: third-grade proficiency is moderate, fourth-grade proficiency is quite low, and fifth-grade proficiency rebounds to a stronger level. Science results are available only for fifth grade, where proficiency falls below half of students. Testing participation is nearly universal across the grades with available results. When measured against the county's districts, Northwest's overall proficiency index places it above the midpoint, a meaningful position that reflects modest academic strength relative to the broader Cook County landscape.
The school's immediate context is one of redevelopment and infrastructure strain. Evergreen Park itself is a built-out village centered on the commercial 95th Street corridor, with civic services and retail clustered together; walkability outside the arterial is limited, and daily life is car-oriented. The dominant local employer is OSF HealthCare Little Company of Mary Medical Center, with additional employment in the retail corridor anchored by Evergreen Plaza and nearby big-box retailers. Housing values in the area are moderate and stable, with rents and median home prices both showing gentle year-over-year appreciation.
The district context matters materially for families considering the school. Evergreen Park ESD 124 withdrew a substantial facilities bond referendum in December after community polling showed support below the threshold the district sought. That decision leaves unresolved a set of aging-facilities issues, including nearly century-old infrastructure at the middle school and long-standing mobile classrooms at the elementary schools. While Northwest itself may face fewer constraints than the district's aging middle school, the failure of the referendum signals that future facility upgrades and their associated tax implications remain uncertain and could materially affect property values and school operations in coming years. The district will pursue only what it can fund within its existing budget in the near term, meaning the likelihood of a future referendum—and its tax impact on homeowners—remains open.
A parent considering Northwest should weigh its small size and diverse community composition against uneven proficiency results that improve or decline depending on grade and subject. The school sits above the midpoint for its county, which suggests it is delivering reasonable academic outcomes, but the specific variation by grade warrants looking into further with the school directly to understand what drives the shifts, particularly the sharp drop in fourth-grade English language arts. The surrounding housing market is stable and affordable by regional standards, though the district's infrastructure challenges and funding constraints are real factors in the longer-term calculus of buying or staying in the area.
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