The top reported proficiency rate is 20% in English language arts. The lowest is 17% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Glen Flora Elem School
Glen Flora Elementary School serves kindergarten through fifth grade in Waukegan, an industrial port city on Lake Michigan about 36 miles north of downtown Chicago. The school sits within Waukegan Community Unit School District 60, a large district managing elementary, middle, and high school options across the city.
The enrollment at Glen Flora is a typical size for an elementary school of its grade span, with students distributed fairly evenly across the grade levels. The school's student body is predominantly Latino, with a substantial portion of Black students and smaller numbers of students from other backgrounds. Free or reduced price lunch data was not available in the district's public reporting, so a parent interested in understanding the school's economic context may want to reach out to the district directly.
State assessment results from the most recent year show proficiency rates well below the midpoint among Lake County's districts. In math, third graders showed modest proficiency while fourth and fifth graders showed notably lower rates. In English language arts, results followed a similar pattern, with third-grade readers outperforming both fourth and fifth grades. In the science assessment administered to fifth graders, fewer than one in five students demonstrated proficiency. These results suggest that the school faces real academic challenges, particularly in the upper elementary grades. A parent considering Glen Flora may want to request a detailed conversation with school leadership about what targeted supports are in place for students who fall below proficiency levels and what the school's trajectory looks like.
Waukegan itself is a working city with a long industrial heritage, anchored by manufacturing, healthcare, retail, and transportation employment. The downtown holds a walkable historic core with galleries, restaurants, and the Genesee Theatre, and the city's lakefront hosts the municipal beach and harbor. The city has pursued downtown and waterfront revitalization for more than a decade, though full buildout remains in progress. Housing values have appreciated modestly in recent years, and rental costs sit at moderate levels for the region. The area's median household income sits within the mid-range nationally, and unemployment remains near national averages.
District 60 is currently navigating substantial structural changes. The high school is undergoing a significant restructuring that affects which campus ninth and tenth graders attend, alongside administrative transitions. In 2021 the district renamed two middle schools in permanent changes: Thomas Jefferson became John R. Lewis Middle School, and Daniel Webster became Edith M. Smith Middle School. The district has also begun aggressive out-of-state and international teacher recruitment to fill bilingual, special education, and other hard-to-fill positions, signaling ongoing staffing pressures that may touch staffing and classroom continuity.
Glen Flora's academic profile is the primary practical question for families. The proficiency gaps, especially in upper elementary grades, are substantial. Whether the school has specific intervention programs, how those are staffed, what the school's own goals are for improvement, and what support families can expect for students working below grade level are questions worth pressing. State testing changes in recent years mean trend data is not fully comparable, but current results are clear. For a family weighing this school, understanding what academic scaffolding the school offers and what the school's improvement pathway looks like should be central to the decision.
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