Total enrollment
34,036
-2,440 (-7%) vs SY 2020-21
58 schools in SD U-46
Illinois · 34,036 students · 8 cities
SD U-46 has 58 public K-12 schools on the books today, teaching approximately 34,036 Illinois students across 40 elementary, 8 middle, and 8 high.
4-year change in SD U-46
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25School count
51
-3 (-6%) vs SY 2020-21
Source: NCES Common Core of Data, enrollment-weighted demographic averages
How SD U-46 ranks
Among districts| Measure | This district | In Illinois | In the US |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 34.7% | #239 of 327 | N/A |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 34,036 | #2 of 508 | #178 of 9,234 |
| Number of schools ranked most first | 51 | #2 of 508 | N/A |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 15.1:1 | #430 of 506 | #5,618 of 9,044 |
| Free or reduced-price lunch share ranked highest first | 54.4% | #183 of 456 | #3,543 of 8,164 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 59.5% | #98 of 341 | #1,698 of 6,853 |
Districts need at least 2 schools and 500 students to be ranked. Test proficiency is ranked within the state only, since each state gives a different test. Each rank links to the full list.
Inside SD U-46
State test results across the district's 51 scored schools run from Sycamore Trails Elementary School at 62.4% proficient to Channing Memorial Elementary School at 15.7%, a gap of 46.7 points. That is the 13th widest gap among 172 Illinois districts with four or more scored schools.
Since 2017-18, the 51 district schools that reported both years went from 36,980 to 34,036 students (down 8%) and from 2,017 to 2,253 full-time teachers (up 12%), as of 2024-25.
Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across each school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25; schools with fewer than 100 students and schools serving specialized populations are left out. Staffing figures come from the NCES Common Core of Data and count only schools that reported students and teachers in both years.
About SD U-46
SD U-46 is an average-sized Illinois school district running 58 schools with combined enrollment near 34,036.
Looking at the level breakdown, SD U-46 is built around 40 elementary, 8 middle, 8 high schools, and 2 combined or other.
On a per-school basis, SD U-46 runs about 587 students per school, 22% noticeably above the state mean of roughly 480.
Five-year track record. Across the same 4-year window, public-school enrollment declined 7%: 36,476 students in SY 2020-21 versus 34,036 in SY 2024-25. Over that span, SD U-46 closed 3 schools, going from 54 to 51.
Within the allk12 community for this area, the community for SD U-46 discusses comparison threads between local schools and program reviews. Discussions cut across districts, schools, and grade levels.