Roosevelt School, River Forest IL

Original Research by School Decision on Roosevelt School

Roosevelt School serves grades five through eight in River Forest, an affluent residential suburb west of Chicago. The school enrolls a small-to-mid-sized student body drawn from a community of tree-lined streets and large single-family homes, with a notably diverse demographic composition including substantial shares of students from Hispanic, Black, Asian, and multiracial backgrounds alongside a white majority. Free-or-reduced-price lunch data was not available, so a full picture of economic diversity within the enrollment cannot be drawn from the data provided.

In English language arts, Roosevelt shows clear strength. Proficiency rates across grades five through eight range from the mid-eighties, with fifth and sixth graders scoring highest. Mathematics performance is more mixed: seventh graders achieve strong proficiency, but the pattern across the grade band shows variation, with sixth and eighth grades somewhat lower than fifth and seventh. Science results, where tested in fifth and eighth grades, fall in the low-to-mid seventies for eighth grade but closer to the mid-sixties for fifth grade. Across all subjects and grades where state testing occurred, the school's overall proficiency sits in the top quartile when compared to districts across Cook County, a meaningful position that reflects solid academic standing within the region.

Test participation rates run consistently high, above ninety-five percent across all measured subjects and grades, indicating that the school successfully brings nearly all eligible students to assessment.

The school sits within River Forest School District 90, which recently completed a district-wide transition to new English language arts curriculum materials. Beginning in the 2025-26 school year, the district moved to Collaborative Classroom materials for younger grades and Great Minds programs for middle grades, representing a substantial shift in how reading and writing instruction is delivered. This change directly affects Roosevelt's fifth and sixth graders as they move through these materials.

A significant factor for families to consider: in March 2026, the district approved a multiyear teachers' contract that the district's finance director publicly characterized as unsustainable. Financial forecasts project salary-and-benefits costs rising sharply while reserves decline over the next several years, making a property-tax referendum, staff reductions, or both likely. For families in River Forest, where home values are among the highest in the region, this represents a potential material change to district finances and operations. A parent interested in the school's future may want to look into the district's recent communications about these financial projections and any community discussions around solutions.

The school serves a community that is almost entirely residential, with shopping and dining concentrated in neighboring Oak Park and Forest Park rather than within River Forest itself. The village has two university campuses and is notable for its Frank Lloyd Wright architecture, but day-to-day street life is quiet. Housing values in the area remain very high, and recent price appreciation has been substantial. The River Forest Public Library, Metra station on the Union Pacific West Line, and several parks anchor civic life, with outdoor recreation readily available. CTA Green Line service and Pace buses provide transit alternatives to commuting by car.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 572%

School 72% · District 72%

▲ 42 pts above state median · ▲ 51 pts above county median

Grade 670%

School 70% · District 70%

▲ 46 pts above state median · ▲ 52 pts above county median

Grade 781%

School 81% · District 81%

▲ 52 pts above state median · ▲ 60 pts above county median

Grade 867%

School 67% · District 67%

▲ 45 pts above state median · ▲ 50 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 585%

School 85% · District 85%

▲ 33 pts above state median · ▲ 39 pts above county median

Grade 686%

School 86% · District 86%

▲ 35 pts above state median · ▲ 43 pts above county median

Grade 785%

School 85% · District 85%

▲ 34 pts above state median · ▲ 40 pts above county median

Grade 884%

School 84% · District 84%

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

Science

Grade 563%

School 63% · District 63%

▲ 27 pts above state median · ▲ 36 pts above county median

Grade 872%

School 72% · District 72%

▲ 32 pts above state median · ▲ 45 pts above county median

This schoolRiver Forest SD 90, 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.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 8Lower-income30%Higher-income70%40 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 8Lower-income30%Higher-income63%33 pp gap