Harrison Elem School, Wonder Lake IL

Original Research by School Decision on Harrison Elem School

Harrison Elem School serves about three hundred twenty students across grades pre-K through eight in Wonder Lake, a small lakeside commuter village in McHenry County. The school is the sole facility in Harrison School District 36, and it is managing rapid enrollment growth tied to residential development in the area. As of August of last year, the district added mobile classroom units to preserve smaller class sizes; six classrooms, including third and fourth grades, are housed in a temporary structure expected to remain for about a year. This reflects the district's very real accommodation challenge: a site has been set aside within the nearby Stonewater subdivision for a future second elementary school, with projections that enrollment could eventually reach roughly four hundred forty to four hundred seventy students once that subdivision is fully built out over the next decade or so.

The school's academic performance shows substantial room for growth across tested subjects and grade levels. In the most recent state assessment results, proficiency rates in math are consistently below one-third of students across all tested grades, with rates ranging from around a quarter to more than a third of students meeting state standards. English language arts results are more varied by grade, with third and fourth grade performing higher (around forty-six to forty-nine percent proficient) but eighth grade notably lower (around sixteen percent proficient), and middle grades trending toward the lower end of the range. In the tested science grades, fifth grade is around a quarter proficient and eighth grade around one-third. Illinois has made scoring changes to its assessments, so trend comparison is not yet available. Among the county's districts in McHenry County, Harrison's overall proficiency sits in the bottom quartile. A parent may want to look into the school's specific support structures and instructional approaches when considering enrollment or relocation.

The school enrolls students who are largely white and owner-child households, consistent with Wonder Lake's residential character. The racial and ethnic composition is approximately two-thirds white students, with Hispanic students making up nearly a quarter of the population and other races comprising small shares. Free-or-reduced-price-lunch data was not available in the school's reporting. No data on English learner enrollment, special education enrollment, or attendance patterns was provided.

Harrison is located on the east side of Wonder Lake, directly east of Harrison-Benwell County Park. The village itself is a car-dependent setting with limited walkability and minimal transit; community life centers on the lake and seasonal events like the Venetian Night Fourth of July boat parade and a Wednesday farmers market from May through October. Wonder Lake is in the early stages of a substantial growth phase after decades as a slowly expanding bedroom community. Its population has tripled since the 1990s and continues to grow, driven primarily by the Stonewater subdivision, which began in late 2020 and includes new ranch homes and townhomes. Housing values in the zip code have risen modestly and remain below state and national benchmarks, making the area somewhat affordable by regional standards, though mortgage rates and rental costs reflect current economic conditions. For families commuting into the Chicago region for work, Metra service is available in nearby McHenry and Woodstock, with the Woodstock station connecting to Chicago in roughly an hour.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 331%

School 31% · District 31%

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

Grade 437%

School 37% · District 37%

even with state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

Grade 525%

School 25% · District 25%

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▼ 14 pts below county median

Grade 617%

School 17% · District 17%

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

Grade 723%

School 23% · District 23%

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

Grade 826%

School 26% · District 26%

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

English language arts

Grade 346%

School 46% · District 46%

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

Grade 449%

School 49% · District 49%

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▼ 14 pts below county median

Grade 534%

School 34% · District 34%

▼ 18 pts below state median · ▼ 30 pts below county median

Grade 648%

School 48% · District 48%

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

Grade 733%

School 33% · District 33%

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

Grade 816%

School 16% · District 16%

▼ 37 pts below state median · ▼ 43 pts below county median

Science

Grade 524%

School 24% · District 24%

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 22 pts below county median

Grade 833%

School 33% · District 33%

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

This schoolHarrison SD 36, 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.