The top reported proficiency rate is 49% in Science. The lowest is 45% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Medinah Intermediate School
Medinah Intermediate School is a small, three-grade elementary building in an unincorporated suburban community northwest of Chicago. It serves third through fifth grades in Medinah School District 11, a three-school district that also operates a primary school in Medinah and a middle school in neighboring Roselle.
The school enrolls about two hundred students, with roughly equal representation across grades. The student body is diverse in race and ethnicity: just over half are white, with a substantial Hispanic enrollment, and smaller shares of Asian and Black students. The school does not report free-or-reduced-price lunch rates, nor does it report English learner or special education enrollment counts, making it difficult to assess economic hardship or the scale of services for students with identified needs.
Academic proficiency is a significant concern. State testing in 2024-25 shows proficiency rates that decline sharply with grade level. In third grade mathematics, about six in ten students reached proficiency, but by fourth grade that falls to just under half, and by fifth grade to about a third. English language arts follows a similar pattern: third grade is notably lower (under four in ten), fourth grade around half, and fifth grade just under half. Science proficiency in fifth grade sits at about half. These figures place the school in the bottom quartile when compared with other district-level schools across DuPage County on overall proficiency. Because state assessment cut scores changed this year, year-to-year trend data is not available to show whether performance is declining, stable, or shifting.
The school sits in Medinah, a low-density residential community built on large lots with a rural character, roughly twenty-five miles northwest of downtown Chicago. Medinah has no downtown of its own; it is tucked between the villages of Bloomingdale and Roselle, with commercial and civic life dispersed among those neighbors. Housing values in the broader area are moderate to upper-middle range. The community has experienced minimal population growth over the past decade and has historically resisted development intensification, preferring to preserve its character of custom homes on oversized lots. The Medinah Metra station on the Milwaukee District West line provides commuter rail access to Chicago, and a Medinah Park District operates local parks and facilities. Most daily errands require driving to neighboring municipalities.
The district itself shows no publicly reported recent referenda, curriculum overhauls, or other material changes of parent relevance. Routine governance continues, and a regional study has examined consolidation options for five feeder districts, but nothing has materialized as of now.
A parent may want to look into what supports the school has in place for students who are not yet proficient, especially at the fourth and fifth grade levels where the gap widens. The lack of reported free-lunch and English learner enrollment data makes it harder to assess how the school's resource allocation aligns with student need. For families drawn to the community by its low-density, rural-feeling character and proximity to rail transit, the school reflects the neighborhood's modest scale, but the academic trajectory across grades suggests careful evaluation of reading and math instruction is warranted.
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