Pennoyer Elem School, Norridge IL

Original Research by School Decision on Pennoyer Elem School

Pennoyer Elementary School serves a compact, mid-century residential village on Chicago's northwest edge in a district that has just completed a major physical transformation. The school enrolls a mix of students in a tight community, with a student body that is predominantly white, with a growing Hispanic enrollment and a small Asian population; enrollment data for free-or-reduced-price lunch and special-populations support were not available.

The school's academic standing is mixed. In English language arts, proficiency improves as students advance through grades. Third graders sit near the middle of the proficiency range, while eighth graders reach a notably higher proficiency, suggesting the school builds reading and writing skills as students mature. Math proficiency is weaker and more uneven. Third grade math proficiency stands at a modest level, and fourth and fifth grades show particularly low results; sixth and seventh grades then improve, with eighth grade rising to around the midpoint. Science proficiency in fifth and eighth grades is also in the lower range. Across tested subjects and grades, the school sits above the midpoint among schools in Cook County, a positioning that reflects strengths in upper-grade English alongside persistent softness in elementary and middle-grade math.

The Illinois Assessment of Readiness and related state tests show consistent full participation, which means the results represent all students tested. The state modified proficiency cut scores for the 2024-25 school year, so direct comparison to prior years is not possible.

Norridge itself is a deliberately preserved postwar suburban enclave almost entirely surrounded by Chicago. The housing stock is ranch homes and bungalows from the late 1940s through the 1960s, built on standard lots in a cohesive mid-century pattern that has been consciously maintained across generations. The community covers just a few square miles with a stable population. There is no traditional downtown; civic and commercial life centers on Harlem Irving Plaza, a regional shopping mall at the village's eastern edge, alongside scattered neighborhood commercial corridors. Parks, library, and schools operate as separate campuses. The local economy relies on retail and service jobs, with the mall as the dominant employer. Proximity to O'Hare International Airport shapes infrastructure and traffic patterns.

The district has undergone a consequential change. After four failed building referendums, voters approved a bond in April 2023 that funded a major renovation: a new two-story addition with flexible learning spaces, dedicated classrooms for Spanish, art, and music, locker rooms, eight gender-neutral bathrooms, an elevator (the school had none before), and accessibility and security upgrades to the special education wing. The second question on that ballot, a limiting-rate increase for the education fund, also passed. This renovation reversed a series of program cuts the board had approved after the November 2022 referendum failed: eliminated staff positions, ended after-school sports, consolidated classes, and shortened the dismissal time to 2:30 p.m. A family considering Pennoyer should understand that the facilities and programming landscape changed meaningfully as recently as 2023 and is now stabilized, but that the path there included substantial uncertainty and reduction in prior years.

The housing market in the zip code shows modest recent appreciation, with ownership values in the mid-range for the region and rents proportionally stable. The local market has more available supply than demand pressure, which in Cook County terms reflects a buyer-friendly or tenant-stable environment relative to tighter markets elsewhere.

This is a small-town-within-a-city school in a community with strong identity and civic continuity. The academic profile shows particular strength in secondary-grade reading and writing but warrants closer parental attention to elementary math preparation, where recent results lag. Parents may want to ask the school directly about math support and curriculum, given the grade-level pattern visible in the data.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 336%

School 36% · District 36%

▼ 10 pts below state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Grade 423%

School 23% · District 23%

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Grade 526%

School 26% · District 26%

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

Grade 642%

School 42% · District 42%

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

Grade 746%

School 46% · District 46%

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

Grade 850%

School 50% · District 50%

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

English language arts

Grade 350%

School 50% · District 50%

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

Grade 442%

School 42% · District 42%

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Grade 559%

School 59% · District 59%

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

Grade 651%

School 51% · District 51%

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

Grade 754%

School 54% · District 54%

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

Grade 874%

School 74% · District 74%

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

Science

Grade 541%

School 41% · District 41%

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

Grade 837%

School 37% · District 37%

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

This schoolPennoyer SD 79, 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.