Laraway School, Joliet IL - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Laraway School

Laraway School is a PreK through 8th-grade public school in Joliet serving an enrollment of approximately mid-size scale, with nearly half the student body Black and just under half Hispanic. The student population is predominantly from lower-income backgrounds, though specific free-and-reduced-price-lunch counts are not publicly available. The school serves the general education population of this part of Joliet, a large suburban city southwest of Chicago with a mixed economy anchored in logistics, manufacturing, healthcare, and gaming.

The academic picture shows real strain across tested subjects and grade levels. Math proficiency rates are low across the board, ranging from single digits in the upper middle grades to low double digits in elementary and early middle school. English language arts performance is more varied: Grade 3 and 4 proficiency dips below half, but Grade 7 and 8 show meaningfully stronger results, with Grade 8 reaching nearly two-thirds proficiency. Science results in Grade 5 and 8 show moderate proficiency, with Grade 8 performing substantially better than Grade 5. Across all tested areas, student participation in assessments is very high, suggesting these results reflect actual performance rather than opt-out patterns. It is worth noting that Illinois changed its proficiency cut scores for all subjects in 2024-25, so year-to-year trend data is not available to show whether performance is improving or declining.

When placed against other districts in Will County, Laraway School's overall proficiency index sits in the bottom quartile—substantially below the county median and below three-quarters of the districts tested. The gap is considerable and suggests students here are less likely to meet state standards than peers in neighboring districts. A parent may want to look into what supports the school has in place to address these gaps, what math intervention programs exist, and whether the stronger ELA and science results in upper grades point to specific teaching practices worth understanding.

Joliet itself is a city in transition. Historic neighborhoods near downtown mix with newer west-side subdivisions; the downtown is anchored by the Rialto Square Theatre, Harrah's Casino, and civic institutions, with a recent streetscape and public square project underway. Employment is centered on manufacturing, logistics (Amazon operates a large fulfillment center), oil refining, healthcare, and gaming. Housing values in the area are moderate, and rents are affordable relative to the region; the median listing price in Will County hovers below the state benchmark. Growth in Joliet has slowed in recent years compared to earlier decades.

The school itself opened as a new PreK-8 facility in recent years, consolidating grades that were previously split. It is the only school in Laraway CCSD 70C, a single-school district, so this is the sole option for families in its attendance boundary. No data on specific programs, staffing ratios, or class sizes is available here. The school website, if it exists, was not included in the provided materials, so a parent would benefit from visiting it directly to learn about curriculum, special services, and the school's strategic response to its assessment results.

For families considering this school, the reality is clear: current state assessment results show low proficiency, particularly in math. That said, the stronger performance visible in upper-grade ELA and Grade 8 science suggests some areas of instruction are working better than others. Whether this school is the right fit depends on what additional supports a family can provide, what the school's improvement plans are, and what other options exist nearby. A conversation with the school's leadership about their approach to the proficiency gap, their use of intervention time, and how they support students entering from lower-performing early grades would be essential groundwork.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 338%

School 38% · District 38%

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

Grade 425%

School 25% · District 25%

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

Grade 511%

School 11% · District 11%

▼ 18 pts below state median · ▼ 29 pts below county median

Grade 62%

School 2% · District 2%

▼ 22 pts below state median · ▼ 33 pts below county median

Grade 75%

School 5% · District 5%

▼ 23 pts below state median · ▼ 35 pts below county median

Grade 818%

School 18% · District 18%

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▼ 20 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 327%

School 27% · District 27%

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 31 pts below county median

Grade 444%

School 44% · District 44%

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

Grade 541%

School 41% · District 41%

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▼ 23 pts below county median

Grade 639%

School 39% · District 39%

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▼ 25 pts below county median

Grade 760%

School 60% · District 60%

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

Grade 864%

School 64% · District 64%

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Science

Grade 527%

School 27% · District 27%

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

Grade 852%

School 52% · District 52%

▲ 12 pts above state median · even with county median

This schoolLaraway CCSD 70C, 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.