The top reported proficiency rate is 85% in English language arts. The lowest is 64% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Park Junior High School
Park Junior High School serves seventh and eighth grade students in La Grange Park, a tree-lined residential village west of Chicago. The school is part of La Grange SD 102, a district that in April 2025 won voter approval of a substantial bond referendum to address overcrowding, upgrade security and accessibility, update classroom and laboratory spaces, and repair aging infrastructure—a capital commitment that will reshape the physical learning environment across district schools over the coming years.
The school's enrollment is small by modern standards, split evenly between seventh and eighth grades. The student body is predominantly white, with a meaningful presence of Hispanic students and smaller numbers of Asian and multiracial students; no students identify as Black, Native Hawaiian, or American Indian. Free-and-reduced-price lunch data was not available, so a reader cannot assess economic diversity from that measure. Special education and English learner enrollment counts were also not reported.
State testing results show a school where English language arts proficiency is notably strong. In seventh grade, a solid majority of students meet proficiency. In eighth grade, the proficiency rate in ELA is even higher. Mathematics proficiency is lower across both grades: seventh graders meet proficiency at a rate roughly in line with the ELA seventh-grade result, but eighth-grade math proficiency drops meaningfully, suggesting students find algebra-level mathematics more challenging than reading and writing. Science proficiency in eighth grade sits between math and ELA, with about two-thirds of students meeting standard. Participation rates in testing are very high, above 98 percent across all assessed subjects and grades, indicating the data reflects a genuine picture of the school's cohort rather than a selective sample. When proficiency is averaged across all tested subjects and grades, Park sits in the top quartile among schools in Cook County—a strong overall positioning.
The school's location in La Grange Park places it in a community characterized by reinvestment and residential stability. The village is primarily single-family homes, ranging from early-1900s historic properties through mid-century Joern homes (a distinctive local housing type) to newer construction. Housing values are moderate to upper-moderate for the Chicago area, and the rental market is similarly priced. The nearby downtown of La Grange, just south of the village, serves as the civic and commercial anchor, with the closest commuter rail stations (Metra BNSF Line) a short distance away. La Grange Park itself is compact and walkable, with tree-lined streets and two small business corridors along La Grange Road and 31st Street, though it lacks a high-density downtown of its own. The village is surrounded on three sides by Cook County Forest Preserves and the Salt Creek Trail system, providing outdoor recreation.
State testing data for grades below seventh is absent because Park serves only seventh and eighth grades. This is the full grade band the school was designed to serve, so the absence of lower-grade data does not reflect a gap in the school's offering or a reporting problem; it is simply the nature of a junior high. Similarly, no graduation rate is reported because the school does not serve high school students. Advanced Placement offerings, career pathways, and other high school-level programs are not applicable here. A reader whose child will attend Park should understand that academic outcomes in this building will feed into a high school experience elsewhere—most likely Lyons Township High School's north campus, one of the largest high schools in Illinois, located in neighboring La Grange.
The bond referendum passed in spring 2025 signals district commitment to alleviating overcrowding and upgrading facilities, but specific impacts on this particular school were not detailed in the available information. A parent may want to look into the district's building improvement timeline and how Park will be affected by the capital plan.
The school sits embedded in neighborhood blocks rather than on a sprawling campus, consistent with the village's residential character. Community anchors nearby include the newly renovated La Grange Park Public Library, which reopened in 2024, and Memorial Park with sports and recreation facilities, both near the La Grange Road corridor a short walk away. The broader region—forest preserves, the adjacent downtown of La Grange, and commuter rail access—extends the civic and recreational options available to families.
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