Is Highlands Elementary School a good school?

Highlands Elementary School ranks in the bottom 14.4% of Illinois elementary schools.

How many students attend Highlands Elementary School?

In the 2023-24 school year, 290 students attended Highlands Elementary School.

What is the racial makeup of Highlands Elementary School?

Students at Highlands Elementary School are 91% African American, 6% Hispanic, 2% Two or more races.

What schools do graduates of Highlands Elementary School attend?

Students who attend Highlands Elementary School usually go on to attend: Middle : Prairie-Hills Junior High School High : Hillcrest High School

Highlands Elementary School

Summary:

Highlands Elementary School is a public elementary school serving 327 students in grades PK-5 in Hazel Crest, Illinois, which is part of the Prairie-Hills Education Service District 144. The school has consistently underperformed academically, with only 12% of students proficient in ELA and just 3.4% of 4th graders and 8.6% of 5th graders meeting or exceeding math standards, far below state and district averages.

Highlands Elementary School faces significant challenges, including high chronic absenteeism rates reaching 41.3% in 2020-2021 and wide achievement gaps between student subgroups. While African American students perform relatively well compared to their peers in the district, students with disabilities and those from low-socioeconomic backgrounds lag significantly behind. Despite spending $16,381 per student, which is higher than the state average, the school's academic outcomes do not reflect this level of investment.

When compared to other elementary schools in the same district, such as Markham Park Elementary School and Chateaux School, Highlands Elementary School performs similarly or worse in most academic metrics. The school's declining statewide ranking, from 817 out of 2,044 Illinois elementary schools in 2016-2017 to 1,769 out of 2,067 in 2023-2024, suggests that it is falling behind its peers in academic performance.

Detail:

Public PK, KG-5

3420 Laurel Ln
Hazel Crest, IL 60429-1011

(708) 335-9773

District: Prairie-Hills Education Service District 144

SchoolDigger Rank:
1769^th of 2,067 Illinois Elementary Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures: $16,260

Students who attend Highlands Elementary School usually attend:

Middle:	Prairie-Hills Junior High School
High:	Hillcrest High School

Student/teacher ratio: 18.1

Number of students: 290

Racial breakdown:

African American:

91.4%

Hispanic:

5.9%

Two or more races:

1.7%

Free/discounted lunch recipients: 94.1%

See top rated Illinois elementary schools

Compare Highlands Elementary School to nearby elementary schools!

Performance Trends

Compare Details Highlands Elementary School ranks worse than 85.6% of elementary schools in Illinois. It also ranks 3^rd among 7 ranked elementary schools in the Prairie-Hills Education Service District 144. (See more...)

Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 17.05. (See more...)

Chronic absenteeism in a school refers to a situation where students repeatedly miss school, with the threshold often defined as missing 10% or more of school days for any reason, excused or unexcused.

Student Body

Compare Details Racial makeup is: African American (91.4%), Hispanic (5.9%), two or more races (1.7%). (See more...)

Compare Details 94.1% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)

Teachers

Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Highlands Elementary School is 18.1, which is the highest among 8 elementary schools in the Prairie-Hills Education Service District 144! (See more...)

Compare Highlands Elementary School employs 16 full-time teachers.

Finance

Compare Details The average total spent per student at Highlands Elementary School is $16,260. 5 elementary schools in the Prairie-Hills Education Service District 144 spend more per student.

Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Highlands Elementary School:

SchoolDigger ranks Highlands Elementary School 1769^th of 2067 Illinois public elementary schools. (See Highlands Elementary School in the ranking list.)

Elementary School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:

Low Socio Economic Status students:

Female students:

Male students:

African American students:

Prairie-Hills Education Service District 144:

SchoolDigger ranks Prairie-Hills Education Service District 144 766^th of 813 Illinois school districts. (See district ranking list.)

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Rank History for Highlands Elementary School

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Rank History for all students at Highlands Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2003	17.30	1700^th	2020	15.8%
2004	21.81	1691^st	2030	16.7%
2005	10.16	1822^nd	2022	9.9%
2006	28.15	1684^th	2086	19.3%
2007	41.06	1486^th	2095	29.1%
2008	61.05	1008^th	2092	51.8%
2009	54.34	1173^rd	2120	44.7%
2010	32.14	1625^th	2139	24.0%
2011	42.47	1435^th	2147	33.2%
2012	40.21	1505^th	2166	30.5%
2013	29.52	1599^th	2167	26.2%
2014	46.39	1177^th	2093	43.8%
2015	48.69	934^th	2052	54.5%
2016	32.32	1364^th	2046	33.3%
2017	56.59	817^th	2044	60.0%
2018	45.84	1030^th	2037	49.4%
2019	45.99	1050^th	2086	49.7%
2021	26.11	1384^th	1948	29.0%
2022	27.05	1461^st	2082	29.8%
2023	16.85	1794^th	2077	13.6%
2024	17.05	1769^th	2067	14.4%

See the entire list of Illinois Elementary School Rankings!

Rank History for Special Education students at Highlands Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2022	22.15	1024^th	1113	8.0%

See the entire list of Best Illinois Elementary Schools for Special Education Students!

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Highlands Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	69.60	338^th	1765	80.8%
2019	68.76	386^th	1816	78.7%
2021	48.06	681^st	1514	55.0%
2022	44.05	924^th	1763	47.6%
2023	23.51	1526^th	1808	15.6%
2024	27.29	1389^th	1793	22.5%

See the entire list of Best Illinois Elementary Schools for Low Socio Economic Status Students!

Rank History for Female students at Highlands Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	47.82	969^th	1964	50.7%
2019	43.36	1099^th	2019	45.6%
2021	28.84	1170^th	1680	30.4%
2022	28.83	1355^th	1970	31.2%
2023	19.85	1602^nd	1957	18.1%
2024	19.70	1603^rd	1942	17.5%

See the entire list of Best Illinois Elementary Schools for Female Students!

Rank History for Disabled students at Highlands Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2023	32.88	568^th	907	37.4%

See the entire list of Best Illinois Elementary Schools for Disabled Students!

Rank History for Male students at Highlands Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	43.32	1026^th	1972	48.0%
2019	50.01	920^th	2019	54.4%
2021	20.00	1402^nd	1707	17.9%
2022	25.87	1414^th	1977	28.5%
2023	15.16	1786^th	1984	10.0%
2024	14.94	1761^st	1959	10.1%

See the entire list of Best Illinois Elementary Schools for Male Students!

Rank History for African American students at Highlands Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	77.10	87^th	698	87.5%
2019	78.51	72^nd	711	89.9%
2021	60.45	86^th	428	79.9%
2022	63.56	147^th	684	78.5%
2023	37.03	412^th	692	40.5%
2024	36.03	414^th	655	36.8%

See the entire list of Best Illinois Elementary Schools for African American Students!

Data source: test scores: Illinois State Board of Education, rankings: SchoolDigger.com

As you review the school rankings data, please be aware that some of the information from certain demographics is missing. The reason for this omission is that the data has been redacted from the source data itself due to low population samples in these specific demographic groups.

Redacting data from low population samples is a necessary step to ensure the reliability and accuracy of the results, as small sample sizes may not be representative of the broader population. Additionally, this measure helps protect the privacy of individuals belonging to these demographic groups.

Data source: Illinois State Board of Education

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Enrollment information for Highlands Elementary School

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Year	White	African American	Asian	Hispanic	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Not Specified	Total
1988	137	360	6	14	n/a	n/a	n/a	0	517
1989	102	402	8	9	n/a	n/a	n/a	0	521
1990	83	471	5	18	n/a	n/a	n/a	0	577
1991	65	485	2	12	0	n/a	n/a	0	564
1992	44	498	1	11	0	n/a	n/a	0	554
1993	41	433	1	11	0	n/a	n/a	0	486
1994	43	421	1	8	1	n/a	n/a	0	474
1995	28	464	0	6	0	n/a	n/a	0	498
1996	28	464	0	6	0	n/a	n/a	0	498
1997	35	497	0	11	0	n/a	n/a	0	543
1998	36	480	0	9	0	n/a	n/a	0	525
1999	20	485	0	12	0	n/a	n/a	0	517
2000	15	416	0	11	0	n/a	n/a	0	442
2001	14	425	0	6	0	n/a	n/a	0	445
2002	2	386	0	11	0	n/a	n/a	0	399
2003	2	386	0	11	0	n/a	n/a	0	399
2004	4	376	0	11	0	n/a	n/a	0	391
2005	3	368	0	7	0	n/a	n/a	4	382
2006	4	362	0	6	2	n/a	n/a	4	378
2007	1	393	0	5	3	n/a	n/a	5	407
2008	2	361	0	5	3	n/a	n/a	1	372
2009	4	318	0	3	4	n/a	n/a	1	330
2010	3	340	1	6	4	n/a	n/a	1	355
2011	2	342	0	9	0	0	0	0	353
2012	2	347	0	8	0	0	1	0	358
2013	1	273	1	4	1	0	0	0	280
2014	1	262	0	11	1	0	2	0	277
2015	1	270	1	14	1	0	1	0	288
2016	0	263	0	17	0	0	4	0	284
2017	1	277	0	17	0	0	1	0	296
2018	0	307	0	20	0	0	2	0	329
2019	1	290	0	16	0	1	4	0	312
2020	0	282	0	20	0	1	5	0	308
2021	0	292	0	20	0	1	5	0	318
2022	0	307	0	22	1	0	5	0	335
2023	1	297	0	21	3	0	5	0	327
2024	1	265	0	17	2	0	5	0	290

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Enrollment/Ethnicity

For more information about how the Department of Education defines ethnicity, see Defining Race and Ethnicity Data, National Center for Education Statistics

Students eligible for free or discounted lunch at Highlands Elementary School

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	517	26.0	19.8	n/a
1989	521	26.0	20.0	n/a
1990	577	27.0	21.3	n/a
1991	564	27.0	20.8	n/a
1992	554	25.0	22.1	n/a
1993	486	21.0	23.1	n/a
1994	474	21.0	22.6	n/a
1995	498	24.0	20.8	n/a
1996	498	24.0	20.8	n/a
1997	543	26.0	20.9	n/a
1998	525	26.0	20.2	n/a
1999	517	24.0	21.5	n/a
2000	442	26.0	17.0	n/a
2001	445	23.0	19.3	n/a
2002	399	24.0	16.6	80.5
2003	399	24.0	16.6	80.5
2004	391	23.0	17.0	85.4
2005	382	24.8	15.4	84.7
2006	378	17.9	21.1	95.2
2007	407	18.0	22.6	100.5
2008	372	17.0	21.9	93.8
2009	330	22.7	14.5	88.4
2010	355	23.0	15.4	84.2
2011	353	23.0	15.3	80.7
2012	358	20.0	17.9	84.6
2013	280	18.2	15.3	95
2014	277	12.0	23.0	97.5
2015	288	18.0	16.0	96.9
2016	284	16.0	17.7	97.5
2017	296	16.0	18.5	98
2018	329	18.0	18.2	95.1
2019	312	19.3	16.1	91.3
2020	308	18.3	16.8	89.9
2021	318	n/a	n/a	n/a
2022	335	17.5	19.1	92.5
2023	327	13.0	25.1	93
2024	290	16.0	18.1	94.1

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Students eligible for discounted/free lunch:

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) provides low-cost or free meals to students in U.S. public and nonprofit private schools based on household income. Those with incomes below 130% of the poverty line receive free lunch, while those between 130% and 185% qualify for reduced-price lunch. The percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch serves as a marker for poverty, as it reflects the socioeconomic status of families in a given school or district. A higher FRPL rate typically indicates a higher concentration of low-income families, suggesting that the school or district may face additional challenges in providing adequate resources and support for student success.

Student/Teacher Ratio Highlands Elementary School

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	517	26.0	19.8	n/a
1989	521	26.0	20.0	n/a
1990	577	27.0	21.3	n/a
1991	564	27.0	20.8	n/a
1992	554	25.0	22.1	n/a
1993	486	21.0	23.1	n/a
1994	474	21.0	22.6	n/a
1995	498	24.0	20.8	n/a
1996	498	24.0	20.8	n/a
1997	543	26.0	20.9	n/a
1998	525	26.0	20.2	n/a
1999	517	24.0	21.5	n/a
2000	442	26.0	17.0	n/a
2001	445	23.0	19.3	n/a
2002	399	24.0	16.6	80.5
2003	399	24.0	16.6	80.5
2004	391	23.0	17.0	85.4
2005	382	24.8	15.4	84.7
2006	378	17.9	21.1	95.2
2007	407	18.0	22.6	100.5
2008	372	17.0	21.9	93.8
2009	330	22.7	14.5	88.4
2010	355	23.0	15.4	84.2
2011	353	23.0	15.3	80.7
2012	358	20.0	17.9	84.6
2013	280	18.2	15.3	95
2014	277	12.0	23.0	97.5
2015	288	18.0	16.0	96.9
2016	284	16.0	17.7	97.5
2017	296	16.0	18.5	98
2018	329	18.0	18.2	95.1
2019	312	19.3	16.1	91.3
2020	308	18.3	16.8	89.9
2021	318	n/a	n/a	n/a
2022	335	17.5	19.1	92.5
2023	327	13.0	25.1	93
2024	290	16.0	18.1	94.1

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Student-Teacher Ratio

Student/teacher ratio is calculated by dividing the total number of students by the total number of full-time equivalent teachers. Please note that a smaller student/teacher ratio does not necessarily translate to smaller class size. In some instances, schools hire teachers part time, and some teachers are hired for specialized instruction with very small class sizes. These and other factors contribute to the student/teacher ratio. Note: For private schools, Student/teacher ratio may not include Pre-Kindergarten.

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