The top reported proficiency rate is 76% in Science. The lowest is 55% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Highland Middle School
Highland Middle School serves grades six through eight in Libertyville, a primarily residential village about thirty miles north of Chicago in Lake County. The school enrolls roughly seven hundred students across its three grades, with a student body that is predominantly white, and smaller shares of Hispanic, Asian, and multiracial students. Free-or-reduced-price-lunch eligibility data was not available.
The most recent state testing data show mixed results across subjects. In English Language Arts, eighth graders performed strongest, with well over two-thirds of students meeting proficiency. Sixth graders also posted solid results in ELA, at roughly three-quarters proficiency. Seventh-grade ELA proficiency fell to the mid-60s. Math proficiency was lower across all grades, ranging from the low 50s to roughly 60 percent in sixth grade. In science, eighth-grade proficiency reached 76 percent. Sixth-grade science data was not available, suggesting that grade may not yet sit in a tested science year. Overall, the school's average proficiency index across tested subjects and grades places it above the midpoint among the fifty Lake County districts for which comparable data exist.
This profile is characteristic of a middle school in a moderately affluent suburb: solid ELA results, softer math achievement, and a peer environment drawn from stable residential neighborhoods. Testing participation rates were consistently high and near-total across all grades and subjects, indicating strong attendance and compliance on assessment days.
Highland is part of Libertyville School District 70, which serves the village and surrounding areas. The district has been actively reshaping its instructional approach, adopting the Amplify CKLA literacy curriculum in 2023-24 with a Science of Reading foundation, and in 2025-26 introducing a new kindergarten transition model that places incoming students in temporary "Launch Crew" groups before classroom placements are finalized based on peer dynamics. The district also recently launched a tuition-based preschool program called Little Sprouts at one of its elementary schools. The Board adopted a 2023-2028 Strategic Plan addressing curriculum funding, boundary questions, and exploration of additional local funding mechanisms including a potential education foundation.
Libertyville itself is a built-out suburban village where civic life concentrates in a historic downtown along Milwaukee Avenue, anchored by Cook Park and Cook Memorial Public Library, the latter serving a multi-town library district. The village is served by Metra commuter rail with three stations, including one in the downtown core. Housing values are moderate to above-moderate for the Chicago suburbs, with a housing market showing modest inventory and steady demand. The largest employer is Advocate Condell Medical Center, a Level I trauma center with several hundred employees; the village also hosts Hollister Incorporated, Tricoci University, and a broad retail and service economy.
A parent considering Highland should recognize that it delivers competent instruction with notably stronger reading results than math results, sits within a district actively investing in curriculum change and early-childhood expansion, and serves a peer group drawn from stable middle-class neighborhoods with relatively little economic diversity.
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