Century Junior High School, Orland Park IL

Original Research by School Decision on Century Junior High School

Century Junior High School serves roughly 600 students in sixth through eighth grades as a regular public school in Orland Park, a suburban village south of Chicago that straddles Cook and Will counties. The school is part of Orland SD 135, which completed substantial physical expansions in summer 2024, including a new fitness center at Century itself alongside additions to five other district buildings.

The school's academic profile shows particular strength in English language arts. In sixth grade, students scored in the upper range across the district's schools on recent state assessments, with about three-quarters meeting or exceeding proficiency. That level holds through seventh and eighth grade, where performance remains solid and consistent. Mathematics tells a different story. Sixth-grade proficiency sits in the lower-middle range for the county's schools, and while performance rises modestly in seventh and eighth grade, it remains below what the school achieves in English. Science results in eighth grade, the grade tested, show students performing above the county median. The data positions Century overall as above the midpoint among Cook County's junior high and middle schools when looking at combined proficiency across tested subjects and grades. These numbers carry the caveat that Illinois changed proficiency cut scores in recent years, so direct historical comparison is not straightforward from the available data.

Enrollment is balanced across the three grades, with slightly more seventh graders than sixth or eighth. The student body is predominantly white, with meaningful representation of Asian, Black, and Hispanic students, as well as a small number of multiracial students. The district's free-and-reduced-price lunch data and counts of English learners and students with IEPs were not available, so a parent may want to inquire directly with the school about the socioeconomic and special-population profile if that matters to their decision.

No specific program offerings, discipline data, or attendance metrics were reported in the available data. The school website information was also not provided. A parent interested in details about course options, extracurriculars, or school climate would benefit from contacting the school directly or visiting the district's website.

Orland Park itself is a car-oriented retail and residential suburb with single-family neighborhoods and significant commercial corridors. The community is actively developing a walkable mixed-use downtown district around the 143rd Street Metra station, roughly a mile from Century Junior High. Home values in the area have appreciated modestly and remain close to the state benchmark; mortgage affordability is moderate relative to the national average. The district committed to significant capital investment in facilities, signaling long-term confidence in the community's stability. The school opened in a newly expanded building in a growing but already built-out suburb where most families drive to school and local services.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 643%

School 43% · District 41% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 19 pts above state median · ▲ 26 pts above county median

Grade 747%

School 47% · District 48% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 18 pts above state median · ▲ 26 pts above county median

Grade 856%

School 56% · District 46% · ▲ 10 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 673%

School 73% · District 75% · ▼ 2 pts below district

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

Grade 771%

School 71% · District 72%

▲ 20 pts above state median · ▲ 26 pts above county median

Grade 872%

School 72% · District 70% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 18 pts above state median · ▲ 25 pts above county median

Science

Grade 868%

School 68% · District 59% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▲ 28 pts above state median · ▲ 41 pts above county median

This schoolOrland SD 135, 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.