The top reported proficiency rate is 81% in English language arts. The lowest is 68% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Clifford Crone Middle School
Clifford Crone Middle School is a standard suburban middle school serving roughly sixth through eighth grade in Naperville's Indian Prairie CUSD 204, located in the DuPage County portion of the district about 28 miles west of Chicago.
The school's most recent state assessment results show proficiency in the high sixties to eighties percentile range in the tested grades. In sixth-grade mathematics, proficiency sits in the mid-to-upper sixties. Seventh-grade math is comparable, also in the mid-to-upper sixties. Eighth-grade math edges upward into the high sixties, with proficiency creeping toward seventy. English language arts tells a slightly stronger story: sixth-grade ELA proficiency stands in the upper seventies, seventh-grade rises into the upper seventies as well, and eighth-grade reaches into the low eighties. Eighth-grade science proficiency also reaches into the low eighties. All students took the state assessments at full participation rates. This pattern—solid performance anchored in the high sixties to eighties—suggests middle students here are meeting grade-level benchmarks at fairly consistent rates, with reading and science showing a small edge over math.
When positioned against other middle schools in Will County, Crone's overall proficiency index falls into the top quartile, meaning it sits among the stronger performers in its county comparison set. That is a meaningful position. Graduation rates, chronic absenteeism data, and other measures typically available for secondary analysis were not reported, likely because they do not apply to a middle school.
The student body is notably diverse in racial and ethnic composition, with a substantial share of Asian students, alongside white, Black, Hispanic, and multiracial peers. Free-and-reduced-price lunch rates were not reported, so that economic snapshot is unavailable. Enrollment is stable at around eight hundred eighty-five students distributed fairly evenly across the three middle grades.
Naperville itself is a large, prosperous suburb with a walkable downtown anchored by the Riverwalk and downtown shopping district, served by Metra commuter rail to Chicago and supplemented by two stations. The town combines suburban residential neighborhoods with commercial activity, civic institutions like the highly ranked Naperville Public Library, parks, and cultural amenities (Naper Settlement museum, Centennial Beach). Housing values in the broader DuPage County area are comfortably above state and national medians, with active listings and modest price appreciation, though inventory is lean relative to historical patterns. Mortgage rates sit in the mid-sixes, and rent affordability margins remain tight relative to household income.
The district itself is in the middle of a significant shift. Voters approved a substantial bond referendum in November 2024, branded as "Safer, Stronger 204," funding safety, security, and facility upgrades across the district's schools. Crone is not explicitly singled out as a priority site, but the bond includes updates to two middle schools—Gregory and Hill—alongside infrastructure work at many schools. That bond funding will flow over several years and is being managed so property-tax burden remains stable rather than increasing. For families considering a move to the area, this signals the district's commitment to modernization and student safety, anchored in property-tax planning. The district has also adopted a new English language arts curriculum centered on CommonLit for all middle grades, rolling out in the 2025–26 school year, which emphasizes frequent writing and deeper critical thinking than the previous program. That is a pedagogical reorientation students will experience across all three middle school years.
Crone's assessment results put it among the stronger middle schools in its county, with proficiency rates particularly solid in English and science. The school serves a racially diverse community within a prosperous suburb with good transit access and strong civic infrastructure. The district backdrop includes active bond-funded facility modernization and a more writing-intensive literacy curriculum. A parent considering Crone should factor in Naperville's strong housing costs and the district's intentional shift toward more rigorous academic expectations in writing and thinking at the middle level.
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