Original Research by School Decision on Round Lake Senior High School
Round Lake Senior High School serves roughly one-third more than two thousand students in grades nine through twelve from the four-community Round Lake Area (Round Lake, Round Lake Park, Round Lake Beach, and Round Lake Heights). The school is a regular public school in Round Lake CUSD 116, a district that has experienced rapid growth and recently undertaken significant structural changes.
The school's enrollment is predominantly Hispanic, with smaller shares of white, Black, and Asian students. Data on the proportion of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch was not available, nor were rates of English learner enrollment or students with Individualized Education Programs. State testing results for this school were also not reported. Without proficiency data or a graduation rate, the usual markers of academic performance do not appear in the record. A parent should reach out to the school directly to understand its recent testing outcomes, graduation numbers, and how students at this grade level are performing against benchmarks.
What is known about the school's context comes from the broader district and the community. Round Lake itself has grown substantially in recent years and is served by Metra commuter rail, placing it within the Lake County employment region, which hosts a significant concentration of life science, manufacturing, finance, and logistics employers. Housing values in the area are moderate, with median home prices and rents that are below the national benchmark. The labor market shows typical employment rates, and median household income regionally is solid.
Round Lake CUSD 116 has implemented a one-to-one technology program providing iPads to all students in grades K through 12, a curriculum choice that shapes daily classroom use and home learning. The district adopted i-Ready for mathematics in grades K through 8 and recently selected VAST Learning for grades 9 through 11 math instruction, meaning high school students are now working with a new core curriculum. In elementary grades, the district restructured its building model effective fall 2024 to a Partner School configuration and returned students from Pleviak, a reorganization of where and how younger grades attend school.
The district faced a budget forecasting error discovered mid-year in 2024-25, which required cost reductions including cuts to administrative positions and limits on overtime across multiple years. This kind of fiscal adjustment can affect staffing levels and class operations. A parent weighing Round Lake Senior High should ask the district about how this budget realignment may have affected high school specifically.
No data on course breadth, advanced placement offerings, career pathways, or special programs at the high school were provided, so specifics about what the school offers beyond the standard curriculum are not available here. Similarly, discipline, attendance, and staffing details for the school were not in the record. The picture that emerges is incomplete: Round Lake Senior High serves a large, predominantly Hispanic high school population in a growing suburban area, but fuller detail about its academic direction, course access, and outcomes would need to come from the school and district directly.
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