The top reported proficiency rate is 63% in English language arts. The lowest is 41% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Kenneth L Hermansen Elementary
Kenneth L Hermansen Elementary is a kindergarten-through-fifth-grade school in Romeoville, part of Valley View Community Unit School District 365U. It sits in a mixed-use suburban setting about halfway between Chicago and Joliet, where postwar residential subdivisions blend with industrial corridors and newer commercial development. The school serves a diverse student population: roughly equal shares of Hispanic and Black students, with smaller Asian, White, and multiracial populations. Its enrollment is stable at around four to five hundred students across six grades.
On Illinois's state assessment (IAR), the school's results show a pattern of growth as students move through the grade levels. In third-grade math, proficiency stands below half of students. By fourth grade, math proficiency climbs to roughly the midpoint, and by fifth grade rises further into the low-to-mid-range. English language arts performance follows a stronger arc: third-grade results are in the low-to-mid range, but by fourth grade proficiency reaches above the midpoint, and by fifth grade exceeds it distinctly. Science proficiency in fifth grade sits below half of students. The school's overall proficiency index—an average across all tested subjects and grades—places it below the median for districts in Will County. A parent may want to ask the school for details on how it is addressing earlier-grade math and science outcomes, since those are areas where performance gaps appear widest.
The district itself carries a forward-looking profile. Valley View has tripled its share of students meeting college and career readiness benchmarks over recent years, buoyed by expansion of Advanced Placement and dual-credit coursework at the secondary level. The district received a bond-rating upgrade to Aa1 in late 2023, and has not asked homeowners for a new tax levy since the early 2010s—a combination that signals financial stability and limits future property-tax pressure. Starting in 2023-24, the district also shifted all start times and introduced two early-release days per month, a scheduling change families need to build childcare and work routines around.
Housing in Romeoville's 60446 zip code is modestly priced relative to the Chicago metro, with homes in the low-to-mid three-hundred-thousands and rents in the low two-thousands. The area is experiencing gradual growth: new residential and retail development, including recent announcements of apartment complexes and senior-living communities, continue to fill in subdivisions and commercial nodes. The community itself is car-dependent and suburban in character, lacking the walkability of older urban neighborhoods. Most activity centers—downtown, the Metra station, Lewis University, and school campuses—sit on separate sites rather than clustered in one neighborhood. Parks and trails, including the Isle a la Cache Museum along the Des Plaines River and the Centennial Trail, offer outdoor recreation, and weekday Metra service to Chicago opened in 2024, though the commute is long.
The school offers an elementary pathway in a fairly typical suburban setting. For families who want proximity to diverse peers, stable district finances, room for growth as students advance toward secondary career pathways, and modest housing costs, Hermansen fits as a straightforward neighborhood school. The math and science proficiency gaps in early grades are real and worth exploring with the school directly if academic momentum in those subjects is a priority for your child.
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