The top reported proficiency rate is 70% in Math. The lowest is 63% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Marion Jordan Elem School
Marion Jordan Elementary is a public school serving kindergarten through sixth grade in Palatine, a suburban village about 26 to 30 miles northwest of Chicago. The school sits within Community Consolidated School District 15, which recently undertook significant operational changes including a shift to full-day kindergarten, a conversion of junior highs to middle schools with sixth grade reassigned upward, and a redrawn attendance boundary map that took effect for the 2024-25 school year. Parents new to the area or the school should be aware that building assignments and feeder patterns are freshly reorganized.
The school has an enrollment of roughly 480 students across eight grades, from pre-K through sixth. Its student body leans toward white and Asian students, with smaller but present populations of Hispanic students and students of color. Precise counts of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch and students receiving special education services were not reported in the available data, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about the scope of those populations and what support programs are in place.
Academic performance data from the Illinois state assessment (IAR) for the 2024-25 school year shows mixed results by grade level. Third-grade math proficiency is notably strong, while fourth and fifth grades show substantially lower proficiency in both math and English language arts. Third-grade reading proficiency sits in the low-to-mid range. Fifth-grade science proficiency is in the lower-middle band. The school's overall proficiency index across tested subjects and grades places it in the top quartile among schools in Cook County, but that broader strength masks real variation: younger elementary students are performing measurably better than older ones. Parents should understand that this is a school with strengths in the early grades but where academic progression in the upper elementary band warrants attention. The data does not reveal why this pattern exists—whether it reflects teaching and curriculum transitions, student composition changes, or other factors—so a conversation with school leadership about instructional approach and student support in fourth and fifth grades would be worthwhile.
Science testing occurred only in fifth grade; sixth-grade science and social studies assessments were not available, likely because the state tests science in only certain grades and social studies results were not reported.
The district's broader context matters here. Palatine CCSD 15 completed a major facilities overhaul funded by a bond referendum approved in November 2022, with 12 school buildings renovated and new science labs and STEM spaces added. Marion Jordan is among those schools that benefited from this work. The district also introduced full-day kindergarten for the first time in the 2024-25 school year, replacing half-day programming. Those changes are recent and still settling into practice, so first-year effects on instruction and family experience are still unfolding.
Palatine itself is a mixed-use suburb with a distinct downtown core near the Metra station, surrounded by residential neighborhoods dominated by single-family homes and apartments. The village has been experiencing renewed infill development with new multifamily housing, condos, and mixed-use buildings, especially near downtown. The median home value is above the Illinois state benchmark, and median rent is modestly above that benchmark as well, reflecting a moderately affluent market. A parent considering the school should account for local housing costs and the fact that the area functions as a commuter suburb with car-dependent retail corridors outside the walkable downtown center.
The school itself reports high participation in testing, with all tested students taking the state assessment. No data on chronic absenteeism, discipline, staffing, or course-access breadth were available, so those are areas where direct contact with the school would fill in important detail about the student experience and support infrastructure.
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