Elmwood Elem School, Naperville IL

Original Research by School Decision on Elmwood Elem School

Elmwood Elementary is a neighborhood school of moderate size in Naperville's residential east side, serving kindergarten through fifth grade. The school draws a diverse student body with roughly half of students white, with meaningful shares of Hispanic, Asian, and multiracial students. School enrollment is distributed fairly evenly across the grades kindergarten through third, then clusters more heavily in grades four and five.

Reading and math results show uneven performance across grades. Third graders perform at a proficient level in both subjects. Fourth and fifth graders show mixed outcomes: fourth grade reading proficiency is solid, but fourth grade math dips considerably. Fifth grade reading reaches a notably high mark, yet fifth grade math remains below the proficient threshold. Science results for fifth grade fall in the middle range. State test data was collected with full participation at all tested grades.

Positioned against the county district comparison set for DuPage County, Elmwood's overall proficiency index across tested subjects places it in the top quartile, a meaningful strength relative to the broader region. This ranking reflects the upper-grade reading strength, particularly in fifth grade, even though the fourth-grade math challenge pulls the composite down.

Elmwood sits within Naperville's geography of a growing, affluent suburb about 28 miles west of Chicago with strong residential neighborhoods, an active downtown anchored by the Riverwalk, and major employers in healthcare, education, and distribution. Housing in the area is substantial in cost, with median home values in the mid-range and rent typical for the DuPage County market. The area is developing steadily, with new subdivisions and infill projects adding residential inventory.

The school is part of Naperville CUSD 203, a district in the midst of significant curriculum and pedagogical change. The board has mandated a multiyear literacy curriculum overhaul replacing materials that had been in place for years, which will touch every grade at Elmwood. The district has also expanded career-pathway course offerings at the high school level and reimagined junior high electives and English learner programming. A more ambitious proposal for schoolwide block scheduling and lengthened days at Elmwood's feeder schools is under discussion, though the timeline has shifted.

A parent might want to look deeper into what is driving the variation in fourth and fifth grade math results, since both grades show proficiency rates below the reading results and well below Elmwood's own third-grade math strength. That pattern could reflect curriculum transitions, specific teacher effects, or the content difficulty in upper elementary math, and the school is the best source for context. The strength in fifth-grade reading and the overall position in the county suggest solid fundamentals, but the math dip warrants conversation with the school to understand whether it is temporary or persistent and what support is in place.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 382%

School 82% · District 80% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 36 pts above state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

Grade 463%

School 63% · District 78% · ▼ 15 pts below district

▲ 26 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 560%

School 60% · District 71% · ▼ 10 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 376%

School 76% · District 79% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▲ 32 pts above state median · ▲ 13 pts above county median

Grade 464%

School 64% · District 82% · ▼ 18 pts below district

▲ 16 pts above state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Grade 585%

School 85% · District 87% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▲ 33 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

Science

Grade 570%

School 70% · District 74% · ▼ 5 pts below district

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

This schoolNaperville CUSD 203, 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.