The top reported proficiency rate is 53% in English language arts. The lowest is 22% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Stevenson Middle School
Stevenson Middle School serves middle grades in Melrose Park, a densely built industrial and commercial suburb about midway between downtown Chicago and the western county edge. The school enrolls a small to mid-sized cohort across grades 6, 7, and 8, with an enrollment heavily concentrated in one ethnic group (roughly nine in ten students are Hispanic) and very small numbers of students from other backgrounds.
The most recent state testing data show a stark divide between language arts and mathematics performance. In English/language arts, Stevenson students achieved proficiency at roughly half or above in both 7th and 8th grade, with 8th grade reaching around six in ten proficient. Mathematics performance is much weaker: across all tested grades, proficiency rates cluster in the low twenties, with no meaningful variation by grade. Science testing at 8th grade shows proficiency at roughly four in ten. Across all subjects, test participation rates are very high, meaning these results reflect the school's full tested population, not a select subset.
When placed against all Cook County school districts as a peer set, Stevenson's overall proficiency index falls below the county midpoint. The school serves no high school grades, so graduation rate data do not apply. State testing data for early elementary grades (3, 4, 5) are not reported, either because those grades do not attend this middle school or because the state does not test those grades at the middle level; data were listed as missing for those rows.
The student body is predominantly Latino, with a small Asian population, a modest number of Black students, and only a handful of white and multiracial students. Free-or-reduced-price lunch eligibility data were not available. No data on English learner status, students with individualized education plans, chronic absenteeism, or school discipline were provided.
Melrose Park itself is a compact, mixed-use village with a visible downtown area near the Village Complex where civic events take place. The community has a long industrial heritage rooted in the Proviso freight yards and historic Italian-American settlement, and today hosts a large Latino population reflected in annual festivals. Housing is moderately affordable by Chicago-area standards, with median home values in a mid-range and rents steady. The village is walkable for residents, with Pace bus service along North Avenue, Broadway, and Lake Street, and a Metra station on the south edge just across Lake Street offering weekday commuter service to downtown Chicago, though ridership at that station is low. Major employers include Gottlieb Memorial Hospital, Amazon, Navistar, DHL, and retailers like Costco and Cermak Fresh Market; the village has repositioned itself around commercial reinvestment rather than new residential development in recent years.
The parent district, Maywood-Melrose Park-Broadview 89, has been phasing in an expanded one-way dual language program (English/Spanish) at several elementary schools, adding a grade each year and moving away from its older transitional bilingual model. The district also operates Washington Dual Language Academy as a K–8 two-way dual language option. This shift toward biliteracy programming is a meaningful structural change for families considering the district's instructional approach.
A parent may want to reach out to Stevenson directly to understand what supports the school offers to students struggling with mathematics proficiency, given how far below typical performance those results show, and to learn more about the school's approach to supporting the large population of Spanish speakers.
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