Original Research by School Decision on Centennial School
Centennial School is a small elementary school in Orland Park, Illinois, serving prekindergarten through second grade. The school is part of Orland SD 135, a district on Chicago's southwest suburban fringe that has invested heavily in expansion. Centennial itself completed a major addition in summer 2024, adding five new classrooms and dedicated early childhood space—a direct expansion of capacity for young learners in the area.
The school's enrollment is small, with roughly equal numbers of students across kindergarten and first grade and somewhat fewer in prekindergarten and second grade. The student population is predominantly white, with Asian, Hispanic, Black, and multiracial students making up a smaller but notable share. Data on free-or-reduced-price lunch eligibility and on students with individualized education plans or English learner status were not available, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about the full demographic and support-needs picture.
State testing data for Centennial was not available. The school serves grades that are either not tested or for which results were not reported in the data provided; parents interested in assessing academic performance should seek information directly from the district or school about curriculum, assessments used in the early grades, and literacy and math instruction approaches.
The district has recently shifted its math curriculum and equipped all early childhood classrooms with interactive learning boards, changes that would directly affect instruction at Centennial. The district also launched a "Come Fly With Us" transitional program for eighth graders and added technology coaches—changes that affect the upper grades in the district but give context to the system's pedagogical direction.
Orland Park itself is a suburban village about an hour southwest of downtown Chicago, built around retail corridors and single-family subdivisions. The village is actively developing a downtown district around the 143rd Street Metra station, with new mixed-use construction underway and new restaurants planned, though the area has historically been car-oriented. Housing in the area is moderately priced relative to the national benchmark, with a median home value in the low hundreds of thousands, and the local economy centers on retail, healthcare, and professional services. Families relocating to the area for Centennial should expect a suburban setting with car-dependent errands, though transit via Metra is accessible.
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