Seth Paine Elem School

Located at 50 Miller Rd, in Hawthorn Woods, Illinois, Seth Paine Elem School is a mid-sized elementary school that serves 495 students (grades K through 5), run under Lake Zurich CUSD 95. By comparison, Illinois's public schools average about 381 students each, so Seth Paine Elem School sits 30% bigger than that benchmark.

Within Lake Zurich CUSD 95, which oversees 8 schools and 5,772 students, Seth Paine Elem School is one campus in the system.

On the student-mix side, Seth Paine Elem School logs that White students make up the majority at 72%. Other groups include 15% Hispanic, 8% Asian, 4% multiracial. The wider county runs roughly 61% White, putting the school's mix noticeably more White than the area baseline.

Looking at school resources, The school currently runs with 35 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 14.3:1. The state averages about 13.9:1, putting this campus right in line with peers. Around 29% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment. By comparison, Lake County runs at roughly 54%, so the school's eligibility rate is meaningfully below the surrounding baseline.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), Seth Paine Elem School sits in the top 10% of Illinois schools after the BeatsExpectations adjustment. Predicted proficiency for the school's FRL share is roughly 54.6%; actual is 74.4%, +19.8 points clear of the demographic baseline.

In the surrounding community, the surrounding county (Lake County) reports that the typical household earns roughly $110,416 per year, 48% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 6%. In all, Lake County runs 214 public schools (combined enrollment of about 118,032 students), of which Seth Paine Elem School is one.

Nearest neighbor: Lake Zurich Middle - N Campus, around 1.0 miles off. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. On composite proficiency, Seth Paine Elem School comes 4th of 8 in the immediate cluster, beneath the nearby-schools average of 75.0%.

The school occupies a bedroom-community site.

Five-year trend. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Seth Paine Elem School has grew 26%, going from 392 students in 2018 to 495 in 2025. Over the same period, the White share ticked down from 77% to 72%. The student-to-teacher ratio widened from 13.2:1 in 2018 to 14.3:1 today.

In the discussion threads here, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around classroom updates, athletics, and weather closures. The community welcomes input from current and former families.