The top reported proficiency rate is 44% in English language arts. The lowest is 25% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Emily G Johns School
Emily G Johns School serves students in grades four through six in Plano, a small Kendall County city in the Chicago metropolitan area. The school is part of Plano CUSD 88 and sits within a community of modest suburban growth, where single-family residential development has expanded notably in recent years while maintaining a small-town feel with a historic downtown core.
The school's enrollment stands at about five hundred students, with the student body reflecting the demographic shift occurring throughout the Plano area. A strong majority of students identify as Hispanic, with white students making up roughly a third of the enrollment. Black, Asian, and multiracial students comprise the remainder of the population. The school draws from a city and surrounding area experiencing steady suburban expansion, where housing values have appreciated modestly and rental costs align with national affordability patterns.
State test results from the most recent school year reveal academic performance below the midpoint among Kendall County districts. In English language arts, the school shows a progression by grade: fourth graders reached proficiency at a rate below two-fifths, fifth graders just over two-fifths, and sixth graders just above one-half. Mathematics proficiency is lower across all grades. Fourth graders reached proficiency just under one-third, fifth graders at one-fifth, and sixth graders just over one-quarter. Science testing was administered only to fifth grade students, where proficiency stood at roughly one-third. Across all tested grades and subjects, the school's overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile compared to other schools in its county. The participation rate in testing was high, above ninety-eight percent in all administered grades and subjects, indicating strong test completion.
A parent weighing this school should know that these test results reflect a pattern of academic performance that lags peer schools in the county and would merit direct conversation with teachers and administrators about instructional approaches, support systems, and whether the school's setting matches their child's learning needs. The school does not serve seventh or eighth grades, so no secondary results are available; those grades are served at other schools in the district.
The school occupies a straightforward role in a district serving a growing but still-modestly-sized community. Plano has expanded from manufacturing roots, and the area now draws families seeking suburban single-family home communities with connections to the broader Chicago metro. The district has not pursued charter or magnet designation, remaining a conventional neighborhood school. No recent major policy changes in the district were identified, and no information about specialized programs, career pathways, or distinctive pedagogical approaches at this school was available in the data provided.
Housing in the Plano zip code is moderately valued and affordable relative to national benchmarks, with home prices supporting a mortgage estimate well below the national average. Renters pay a moderate share of income for housing. This positioning makes the area accessible to families building equity in a suburban setting without the price premiums of closer-in Chicago suburbs, though growth has been slower here than in neighboring communities like Yorkville and Montgomery.
Emily G Johns is a place-based, unremarkable elementary school with lower-than-county-average test performance. A prospective family should treat the academic data as a starting point for detailed questions with the school about curriculum, teaching quality, interventions, and peer group dynamics, rather than taking the numbers alone as dispositive.
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