Hodgkins Elem School, Hodgkins IL

Original Research by School Decision on Hodgkins Elem School

Hodgkins Elementary School is a small school serving pre-kindergarten through sixth grade in Hodgkins, a car-oriented industrial suburb west of Chicago. The school sits within La Grange School District 105 South and draws a student body that is predominantly Hispanic, with a minority of white and Asian students. The enrollment is small, under two hundred students across eight grade levels, with the largest cohort in pre-kindergarten.

Academic performance, based on the most recent state assessments, is mixed and shows a pattern that parents should understand clearly. In English language arts, proficiency ranges from the low end to mid-range across the tested grades: third grade sits around the midpoint, fourth grade at about half, fifth grade back to around the midpoint, and sixth grade notably lower. Math proficiency shows similar variability with sharper drops. Third grade math is near the midpoint; fourth grade drops sharply to low proficiency; fifth grade rebounds to high proficiency; and sixth grade falls to low proficiency again. Science was tested only in fifth grade, where proficiency is just below midpoint. The school as a whole scores above the midpoint on an overall proficiency index relative to other districts in Cook County, but the grade-by-grade picture reveals inconsistency. A parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand whether these swings reflect differences in cohort composition, instructional focus, or other factors, and what support exists for students in the weaker grades.

The school's setting is residential but surrounded by industrial use. Kane Avenue, where the school sits, lies in a village where civic institutions—the public library, the village hall, the park district center—cluster nearby, creating a small-town feel. Beyond that immediate zone, Hodgkins is dominated by the UPS package sorting hub, quarries, warehouses, and the Quarry Shopping Center; the village is declining in population and has limited new housing development. The area is car-dependent, served by multiple bus routes and a Metra commuter line but without walkable street commerce or a downtown grid.

Housing in the Hodgkins area is modestly priced relative to wider Chicago region benchmarks and shows signs of market softness. A parent considering a move to the area would find entry-level homes available, with the local market slightly below state and national median benchmarks for value. Rental costs are moderate. However, the district mistakenly overcharged property taxes to residents in 2025 due to a filing error on a bond abatement, costing homeowners extra on their annual bills. The district has committed to offsetting this error in the following year and compensating for lost interest, so this is a one-time spike with a planned correction, but it directly affects housing costs for residents considering the area.

The school offers the standard elementary curriculum across a span from early childhood through middle grades. No specialized programs, magnet designation, or advanced tracks are indicated in the available data. Attendance data, staffing, and discipline records were not provided, so a parent would benefit from asking the school directly about class sizes, teacher stability, and support services for students falling behind.

Hodgkins Elementary fits a profile of a small, neighborhood school in a declining industrial suburb with modest academic performance that varies noticeably by grade. The environment is family-oriented and quiet, the cost of entry is lower than surrounding areas, and the school is accessible. Families should understand that proficiency results are uneven and warrant a closer conversation with the school about how individual student needs are being addressed in grades where performance dips.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 360%

School 60% · District 66% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▲ 21 pts above county median

Grade 430%

School 30% · District 66% · ▼ 36 pts below district

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

Grade 580%

School 80% · District 62% · ▲ 18 pts above district

▲ 50 pts above state median · ▲ 59 pts above county median

Grade 627%

School 27% · District 54% · ▼ 26 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 353%

School 53% · District 68% · ▼ 15 pts below district

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▲ 16 pts above county median

Grade 450%

School 50% · District 71% · ▼ 21 pts below district

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

Grade 553%

School 53% · District 75% · ▼ 22 pts below district

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

Grade 636%

School 36% · District 76% · ▼ 40 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 547%

School 47% · District 49% · ▼ 2 pts below district

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

This schoolLa Grange SD 105 South, 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.