River Trail School, Gurnee IL - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on River Trail School

River Trail School is a public elementary and middle school in Gurnee, Illinois, serving kindergarten through eighth grade in District 56. The school sits in a suburban community shaped by tourism and retail commerce, anchored by Six Flags Great America and Gurnee Mills, with a car-dependent layout and mixed residential-commercial character.

The student body is diverse. Roughly half the enrollment identifies as Hispanic, with substantial shares of Black students and smaller numbers of Asian American, multiracial, and white students. The school draws from a working-family base; across District 56, a substantial portion of students are economically disadvantaged, and the district recently implemented the Community Eligibility Program, meaning all students at River Trail receive free breakfast and lunch regardless of household income.

On state assessments administered in 2024-25, River Trail's proficiency rates are low. In math, rates range from the teens to high twenties across tested grades three through eight, with no grade exceeding modest performance in the conventional sense. English language arts shows more variation and generally stronger results, ranging from high teens to low forties. In science, fifth-grade proficiency is roughly a quarter, while eighth-grade science reaches the low-to-mid forties. Across tested subjects and grades, River Trail's overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile among Lake County districts. A parent may want to look into what the school is doing to support students who are not yet meeting state standards and what resources exist for students who need additional help in math in particular.

The enrollment is small to moderate for a K-8 building, with roughly a dozen or fewer students in some upper grades. This can mean closer student-teacher relationships and familiarity among peers, but it also limits course flexibility and peer diversity within grade levels. The school houses the full span from kindergarten through middle grades under one roof, which is common for traditional district elementary models and allows continuity of community across developmental stages.

District 56 has adopted a strategic framework centered on a "Portrait of a Graduate," defining skills and dispositions students are expected to develop by the end of eighth grade. This is being used to align classroom instruction across all four schools in the district, including River Trail. The initiative has drawn attention at national superintendent conferences as a model for tying pedagogy to student outcomes and dispositions beyond test scores. The specific instructional implications for a parent interested in classroom practice would be worth discussing directly with teachers and administration.

The housing market in the broader Gurnee area is moderately priced for the Chicago region, with median values reflecting steady but modest appreciation. The town itself is built around automobile use rather than walkability; civic anchors and retail are dispersed across arterial roads rather than concentrated in a walkable downtown. Public transit connects to commuter rail in nearby Waukegan rather than serving Gurnee directly. Gurnee has grown significantly over recent decades and continues to see new residential development and affordable housing initiatives.

River Trail feeds into Warren Township High School, a comprehensive public high school also in Lake County. The school's website and direct contact with staff would clarify what additional supports, summer programming, or targeted intervention options exist for students working below proficiency benchmarks, and what the school's vision is for growth in tested achievement alongside its work on the Portrait of a Graduate framework.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 330%

School 30% · District 27% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 27 pts below county median

Grade 421%

School 21% · District 19% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 28 pts below county median

Grade 514%

School 14% · District 14%

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 25 pts below county median

Grade 619%

School 19% · District 11% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Grade 79%

School 9% · District 8% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▼ 19 pts below state median · ▼ 35 pts below county median

Grade 820%

School 20% · District 17% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▼ 18 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 343%

School 43% · District 27% · ▲ 17 pts above district

▼ 1 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Grade 433%

School 33% · District 30% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 23 pts below county median

Grade 541%

School 41% · District 34% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 24 pts below county median

Grade 629%

School 29% · District 27% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 29 pts below county median

Grade 718%

School 18% · District 16% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▼ 34 pts below state median · ▼ 44 pts below county median

Grade 843%

School 43% · District 37% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

Science

Grade 530%

School 30% · District 22% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▼ 7 pts below state median · ▼ 18 pts below county median

Grade 844%

School 44% · District 37% · ▲ 8 pts above district

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

This schoolGurnee SD 56, 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.