Carman-buckner Elem School, Waukegan IL

Original Research by School Decision on Carman-buckner Elem School

Carman-Buckner Elementary serves prekindergarten through fifth grade in Waukegan, a mid-sized industrial port city on Lake Michigan about 36 miles north of downtown Chicago and home to major employers in manufacturing, healthcare, and transportation. The school enrolls a small student body drawn almost entirely from the local neighborhood, with a predominantly Hispanic student population and a substantial Black student population, reflecting Waukegan's demographics.

The school's academic performance on state assessments is below the midpoint for elementary schools across Lake County districts. In third through fifth grades, where Illinois administers reading and math tests, proficiency rates in both subjects fall in the single digits to low double digits. Fifth-grade reading performance is relatively stronger at roughly one in four students proficient; in math across grades three through five, fewer than one in six students score proficient. Fifth-grade science testing shows similarly low proficiency. The school administered tests to nearly all enrolled students, indicating full participation, though the assessment changed cut scores between years, so year-to-year trend comparison is not possible from the available data. A parent may want to look into the school's approach to reading and math instruction and any support programs available for students who are not yet proficient.

Waukegan CUSD 60, the district operating the school, is undergoing significant structural changes that do not directly affect elementary schools but shape the broader district context. The high school is being restructured with changes to campus assignments and grade configurations, and over a dozen administrators were asked to reapply for their positions. The district has also expanded teacher recruitment to Mexico, Puerto Rico, and historically Black colleges and universities to fill bilingual and hard-to-fill positions, signaling ongoing staffing challenges that can ripple through schools at all grade levels.

The neighborhood around Carman-Buckner reflects working-class Waukegan. Home values in the 60085 zip code are moderate, with homeownership and rental affordability near the national picture; rental costs are roughly one-fifth of median household income. The city itself is undergoing long-term lakefront and downtown revitalization, with major development land available, though progress has been uneven since the late-2000s downturn. The school sits in an area with deep employment anchors in manufacturing and professional services nearby.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 312%

School 12% · District 31% · ▼ 19 pts below district

▼ 34 pts below state median · ▼ 44 pts below county median

Grade 413%

School 13% · District 24% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▼ 37 pts below county median

Grade 58%

School 8% · District 19% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 22 pts below state median · ▼ 31 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 316%

School 16% · District 27% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▼ 28 pts below state median · ▼ 38 pts below county median

Grade 48%

School 8% · District 24% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▼ 40 pts below state median · ▼ 48 pts below county median

Grade 523%

School 23% · District 32% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▼ 29 pts below state median · ▼ 41 pts below county median

Science

Grade 512%

School 12% · District 19% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▼ 25 pts below state median · ▼ 37 pts below county median

This schoolWaukegan CUSD 60, 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.