The top reported proficiency rate is 91% in Math. The lowest is 90% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Sheridan Elem School
Sheridan Elementary serves a compact enrollment in an affluent, slow-growth North Shore community that shapes both the school's academic profile and its fit for families. The school teaches prekindergarten through fourth grade in Lake Forest, an architecturally distinctive suburb about a short drive north of Chicago, marked by large estates, a planned shopping district downtown, and multiple corporate campuses. Housing values are very high, and turnover is limited; this is a stable, wealthy neighborhood where the school's immediate peer group is economically and racially homogeneous.
On academics, Sheridan's tested grades show strong performance. Third and fourth graders taking the Illinois Assessment of Readiness in math posted proficiency rates that are above the median among the county's schools. In reading, fourth-grade proficiency was similarly high. Third grade showed slightly lower English language arts performance, though still solid. The school achieved full testing participation in grade three and near-full participation in grade four, indicating reliable data. These results place Sheridan in the top quartile of Lake County schools on an overall proficiency index. Worth noting: fifth and sixth graders do not appear in the state testing data, a data gap that likely reflects the school's grade configuration; Sheridan serves only through fourth grade, so those grades are tested elsewhere in the district.
The enrollment is small for an elementary school, about that size typical of a single-building K-4 program in a low-density suburb. About three-quarters of the enrollment is in kindergarten through grade four, with a meaningful prekindergarten program comprising the remainder. The student body is overwhelmingly white, reflecting both the town's demographics and the cost of housing in the attendance area. Asian, Hispanic, and multiracial enrollment each represent modest shares. Free-or-reduced-price lunch data were not provided, which is common when enrollment is concentrated in high-income families and the number receiving aid is very small. Data on students with disabilities and English learners were similarly not available; the school's profile suggests these populations are likely very small.
Lake Forest School District 67, the parent district, recently adopted a competency-based "Portrait of a Learner" framework emphasizing six core skills: communication, adaptability, citizenship, empathy, critical thinking, and confidence. This shift, implemented starting in 2022, now shapes daily instruction, and families should expect teaching and assessment organized around these competencies alongside traditional content. The district has intentionally avoided a property-tax referendum, instead using its existing debt financing authority and enrollment adjustments to fund capital improvements, meaning property tax burden remains more predictable than in some peer districts pursuing large building referendums. However, the high school district that serves Lake Forest graduates did pass a major bond referendum in 2023, funded by the same tax base as the elementary district, signaling future capital investment at the secondary level.
Sheridan sits in a community with strong anchors: the downtown Metra station, the Lake Forest Library in the central business district, two miles of Lake Michigan shoreline, and preserved open spaces including the Middlefork Savanna and Elawa Farm. The town has been largely built out since the 1950s, and new housing development consists of small infill projects and modest luxury subdivisions; the market is slow-growth and price-stable, with median home values high and inventory lean. This setting is reflective of a mature, affluent suburb with limited churn and strong school continuity.
For families, Sheridan represents a small, academically solid elementary school in a wealthy, architecturally cohesive community with active civic life and strong institutional anchors. The demonstrated academic proficiency, the competency-focused curriculum, and the stable, high-income peer environment are the school's defining features. The limited diversity and very high cost of entry via housing are the counterbalancing realities. Parents moving to this attendance area should also be aware that they will send graduates onward to Lake Forest Community High School District 115, which recently committed substantial resources to facility improvements through a newly approved referendum, affecting the long-term property-tax trajectory for the area.
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