Fernway Park Elem School, Orland Park IL

Original Research by School Decision on Fernway Park Elem School

Fernway Park Elementary is a small public school serving early grades (pre-K through fifth grade) in Orland Park, a suburban village about twenty-five miles southwest of Chicago. The school serves a community that is predominantly white and tends to be affluent, with median home values rising and rental costs stable in the area.

The school completed a major facility transition for the 2025-26 school year. Voters approved a 2022 referendum that funded a new building entirely from district cash reserves, with no property tax increase. The new school, roughly twice the size of its predecessor, opened on the same Orland Hills site. The old building is being cleared for parking, playground, and green space. The district also centralized its Early Childhood Center at Fernway, which consolidates preschool services and frees up classroom space elsewhere in the district. For a family considering the area, this new facility and fresh infrastructure are substantial commitments to the school's future.

On state testing, Fernway's results show unevenness across grades and subjects. Third-grade students perform well in math; fourth and fifth graders show weaker math proficiency. English language arts results are less consistent: third grade at roughly in-the-middle range, fourth grade slightly below, fifth grade higher. Fifth-grade science proficiency stands well below the midpoint. When compared against other districts in Cook County, Fernway's overall proficiency index places it above the county median, a meaningful position given the breadth of schools in the county, though the school's own grade-to-grade variation suggests some students are meeting or exceeding grade-level expectations while others need more support.

Student participation in testing is very strong—near or at full participation across tested grades—which means these numbers represent the whole student body, not a subset. The school's enrollment runs to a small-to-mid size for its grade band, stable across early grades. Demographic composition is predominantly white, with smaller populations of Hispanic students and students of other backgrounds. Free-or-reduced-price-lunch eligibility data was not available, so a reader seeking to understand need and poverty context at the school would want to ask the school directly.

A parent weighing this school should know that Fernway is a newly built, early-grades facility in an affluent area with improving housing and real estate context. The test results show strength at the lower elementary grades and a drop in math and broader proficiency at the upper end (grades four and five), a pattern that may warrant conversation with the school about curriculum, instruction, or the transition to upper elementary work. The nearby Metra station and village development activity suggest stable suburban infrastructure and access to Chicago. The new school building itself may appeal to families prioritizing modern facilities and recent investment in their child's environment.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 382%

School 82% · District 73% · ▲ 10 pts above district

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

Grade 455%

School 55% · District 57% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▲ 19 pts above state median · ▲ 27 pts above county median

Grade 555%

School 55% · District 47% · ▲ 8 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 361%

School 61% · District 61%

▲ 17 pts above state median · ▲ 24 pts above county median

Grade 458%

School 58% · District 61% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▲ 10 pts above state median · ▲ 18 pts above county median

Grade 565%

School 65% · District 57% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▲ 13 pts above state median · ▲ 20 pts above county median

Science

Grade 536%

School 36% · District 37% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▼ 1 pts below state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

This schoolKirby SD 140, 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.