Golf Middle School, Morton Grove IL

Original Research by School Decision on Golf Middle School

Golf Middle School serves grades 5 through 8 in Morton Grove, a mixed residential and commercial Cook County village about 12-17 miles northwest of downtown Chicago. The school enrolls a small-to-mid-sized population with substantial Asian and white representation and a meaningful Hispanic population. State test results from the most recent cycle show uneven performance across subjects and grades. In English language arts, seventh and eighth graders score solidly, with eighth grade reaching strong proficiency. Fifth grade ELA performance sits at a moderate level, while sixth grade lags. Math results are similarly mixed. Fifth, seventh, and eighth grades cluster around or above moderate proficiency in math, while sixth grade drops markedly below. Science testing occurs only in grades five and eight; eighth grade performs strongly while fifth grade falls well below sixth-grade math levels. The school achieves test participation near complete in most grades and subjects.

Positioned against districts across Cook County on overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades, Golf Middle sits above the midpoint of the comparison set, a respectable standing that reflects the uneven grade-by-grade profile more than it masks it.

The Morton Grove setting itself is residential with scattered commercial corridors, a small downtown anchored by a Metra station, and extensive park infrastructure including Harrer Park and the North Shore Channel Bike Path. The community is in a transition period. In November 2024, voters approved a bond referendum to fund capital improvements at both Hynes Elementary and Golf Middle School, including life-safety upgrades, roof and HVAC replacement, asbestos removal, and new Learning Resource Centers. Construction is scheduled to begin in June 2026 with completion expected before the 2027–2028 school year. Families moving into the area now should anticipate active construction on the Golf Middle campus during the upcoming school year and beyond, followed by materially upgraded facilities. This bond outcome came after voters rejected a much larger 2022 referendum that would have closed both buildings and consolidated them into a single new Pre-K–8 facility. The district's decision to renovate rather than rebuild shapes the building configuration families will encounter for years ahead.

Academically, Golf Middle participates in a Classrooms First multi-district partnership that aligns elementary and high school curricula around literacy and STEM, creating a more coordinated pathway as students feed into Niles Township high schools. That alignment appears in the stronger seventh- and eighth-grade results, though the sixth-grade dip in both core subjects suggests the middle grades present a specific challenge in this school's progression.

The proficiency gaps between grades warrant attention. A parent considering this school may want to look further into how the school addresses the sixth-grade decline and what support exists for students moving through those middle years. The school's technical data on free-or-reduced-price lunch eligibility, English learner population, and special education enrollment are not available, so a parent seeking a fuller picture of peer composition and school services should ask the district directly. Test data for grades three and four are also not reported, a gap that typically reflects the school's own grade configuration rather than missing results.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 567%

School 67% · District 67%

▲ 38 pts above state median · ▲ 46 pts above county median

Grade 644%

School 44% · District 44%

▲ 21 pts above state median · ▲ 27 pts above county median

Grade 765%

School 65% · District 65%

▲ 36 pts above state median · ▲ 43 pts above county median

Grade 871%

School 71% · District 71%

▲ 48 pts above state median · ▲ 53 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 558%

School 58% · District 58%

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

Grade 646%

School 46% · District 46%

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

Grade 772%

School 72% · District 72%

▲ 21 pts above state median · ▲ 27 pts above county median

Grade 877%

School 77% · District 77%

▲ 24 pts above state median · ▲ 30 pts above county median

Science

Grade 542%

School 42% · District 42%

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▲ 15 pts above county median

Grade 874%

School 74% · District 74%

▲ 35 pts above state median · ▲ 48 pts above county median

This schoolGolf ESD 67, 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.