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If you could change one rule at Virginia Lake Elem School, what would it be?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
717
Elementary
DISTRICT 531 · STATE 381
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·PALATINE CCSD 15·NCES 173042003156
Virginia Lake Elementary School
925 N Glenn Dr, Palatine, IL 60074 · (847) 963-7100 · Cook County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL717 STUDENTS
C
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 34% of Illinois public elementary schools
- B-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- C-Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Illinois public elementary schools
Student : Teacher
16.1:1
45 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.8:1 · STATE 13.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
42%
303 students
DISTRICT 31% · STATE 56%
Community
5
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 67 | 9% |
| Kindergarten | 100 | 14% |
| Grade 1 | 112 | 16% |
| Grade 2 | 106 | 15% |
| Grade 3 | 115 | 16% |
| Grade 4 | 111 | 15% |
| Grade 5 | 106 | 15% |
This year's kindergarten class (100) is 6% smaller than its 5th grade class (106).
Student demographics
57%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 69% · STATE 69% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
IAR + ISA 2024-25 . % Proficient (Levels 4-5)English Language Arts
43.0%
IL avg 51.0% . +12.7pp since 2023
Math
37.2%
IL avg 37.9% . +9.9pp since 2023
What this means: On the IAR + ISA, Illinois's statewide test, about 43 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 37 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Illinois schools, those numbers are about 51 and 38. Reading and writing scores are up about 13 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 10 points.
IAR + ISA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 43.0% | 37.2% |
| 2023-24 | 30.3% | 27.3% |
% Proficient (Levels 4-5), all students and all tested grades.
Source: IAR + ISA. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
40.7%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
47.1%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-6.4pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 41% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 47% typical for Illinois schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Illinois's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like Virginia Lake Elementary School
Virginia Lake Elementary School's state test result (40.7% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virginia Lake Elementary School this school | 717 | 42.3% | 40.7% |
| Goethe Elementary School Chicago | 711 | 42.9% | 43.5% |
| McPherson Elementary School Chicago | 794 | 41.7% | 39.1% |
| Thorp O A Elementary Scholastic Academy Chicago | 831 | 37.1% | 56.7% |
| Kimball Hill Elementary School Rolling Meadows | 524 | 38.9% | 40.5% |
| Lincoln Elementary School Palatine | 772 | 47.3% | 35.5% |
Matched among Illinois elementary schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Virginia Lake Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois | In Cook County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 40.7% | #895 of 1,925 | #237 of 760 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 37.2% | #1,053 of 2,077 ▼ 139 | #310 of 829 ▼ 36 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 43.0% | #1,248 of 2,077 ▼ 82 | #416 of 829 ▼ 30 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 717 | #113 of 2,419 | #76 of 901 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 16.1:1 | #1,745 of 2,035 | #725 of 817 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 57.1% | #688 of 2,042 | #245 of 819 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 42.3% | #1,503 of 2,132 | #648 of 804 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -3.8% | #1,262 of 1,461 | #585 of 661 |
Ranked against other public elementary schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
717
+32 (+5%) vs 2020
+25% since 1990-91, when it was 573
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 717 | 44.5 | 16.1:1 | 42% (303) |
| 2023-24 | 665 | 44.7 | 14.9:1 | 60% (402) |
| 2022-23 | 664 | 45.4 | 14.6:1 | 60% (399) |
| 2020-21 | 685 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 745 | 47.8 | 15.6:1 | 67% (498) |
| 2015-16 | 793 | 50 | 15.9:1 | 70% (555) |
| 2010-11 | 802 | 44 | 18.2:1 | 58% (469) |
| 2000-01 | 724 | 39 | 18.6:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 573 | 30 | 19.1:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Virginia Lake Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 4% (745 to 717); teachers down 7% (47.8 to 44.5).
About Virginia Lake Elementary School
Virginia Lake Elementary School is a large elementary school with its address in Palatine, Illinois. The student body numbers 717 students, from pre-K through 5. Average enrollment for elementary schools in Illinois is about 381, so this school runs 88% above that.
Virginia Lake Elementary School belongs to Palatine CCSD 15, a district of 20 schools and 11,715 students.
By race and ethnicity, Virginia Lake Elementary School is 57% Hispanic. After that, the student body is 32% White, 4% Black, 4% Asian, and 3% multiracial. Census figures show Cook County is about 27% Hispanic. Virginia Lake Elementary School has a diversity index of 57%, compared with 70% for all US public school students.
The school reports 44.5 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to about 16.1 students per teacher. The 13.9:1 average for elementary schools in Illinois is lower than this school's figure. The free or reduced-price lunch share, often used to gauge student poverty, is 42%. The gap from the 66% average for public schools in Cook County is 24 points.
Virginia Lake Elementary School is graded C by allk12, scoring above 34% of Illinois public elementary schools once test results, poverty-adjusted performance, and the recent trend are combined.
BeatsExpectations compares each school's average proficiency rate on state tests with a prediction based on free or reduced-price lunch eligibility. For Virginia Lake Elementary School, the prediction is 47.1% and the result is 40.7%.
Recent Census Bureau figures for Cook County show that median household income is about $83,498, roughly 43% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and about 10% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Federal data list 1,406 public schools in Cook County, with a combined enrollment of about 697,934.
Palatine High School is located about 0.3 miles from Virginia Lake Elementary School. Other public schools within five miles: at least 8. The school's 40.7% average proficiency ranks 3rd among 8 nearby schools.
Federal records code the school's setting as Suburb: Large.
A comparison of 2020-21 and 2024-25 shows enrollment up 5%, from 685 to 717.
Conversations here can range across sports schedules, lunch menus, and spirit week. Reviews and ratings from people who know the school are welcome.
Cook County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
5,182,090
Census ACS
Median income
$83,498
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
43%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
10%
Below federal line
Schools in county
1,406
697,934 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Palatine CCSD 15
- Plum Grove Middle SchoolMiddle · 1,128 students
- Winston Campus Middle SchoolMiddle · 847 students
- Lincoln Elementary SchoolElementary · 772 students
- Walter R Sundling Middle SchoolMiddle · 679 students
- Frank C Whiteley Elementary SchoolElementary · 663 students
- Gray M Sanborn Elementary SchoolElementary · 661 students
Other schools in Palatine
- Wm Fremd High SchoolHigh · 2,689 students
- Palatine High SchoolHigh · 2,535 students
- Winston Campus Middle SchoolMiddle · 847 students
- Lincoln Elementary SchoolElementary · 772 students
- Walter R Sundling Middle SchoolMiddle · 679 students
- Gray M Sanborn Elementary SchoolElementary · 661 students
Nearby schools
- Palatine High School0.3 mi · 2,535
- Jane Addams Elementary School0.4 mi · 567
- Lincoln Elementary School0.7 mi · 772
- Lake Louise Elementary School1.0 mi · 608
- Winston Campus Middle School1.1 mi · 847
- Winston Campus Elementary1.1 mi · 2
Frequently asked questions
About Virginia Lake Elementary SchoolHow large is Virginia Lake Elementary School?
Virginia Lake Elementary School enrolls approximately 717 students in grades PK-05.
What grades does Virginia Lake Elementary School serve?
Virginia Lake Elementary School serves grades PK-05.
How many students per teacher at Virginia Lake Elementary School?
Approximately 16.1:1 students per teacher at Virginia Lake Elementary School.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Virginia Lake Elementary School?
At Virginia Lake Elementary School, the student body is approximately 32% White, 57% Hispanic, 4% Black, 4% Asian, 3% Two or more.
Is Virginia Lake Elementary School public or private?
Virginia Lake Elementary School is a public K-12 school, overseen by Palatine CCSD 15.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.