100 CHICAGO | SEPTEMBER 2019
PHOTOGRAPHY: (GURU) KAYLA DRUMKE; (HEPNER) JUXTAPOSE PHOTOGRAPHY LLC1 Edgebrook Elementary School McHenry PK–5 500 $8,486 38 41
2 Prairie Grove Elementary School Crystal Lake PK–5 425 $9,522 60 49
3 West Elementary School Crystal Lake K–5 527 $6,767 55 66
4 Nippersink Middle School Richmond 6–8 433 $7,902 61 52
5 Woods Creek Elementary School Crystal Lake K–5 598 $6,767 64 60
6 Kenneth E. Neubert Elementary School Algonquin K–5 438 $6,296 43 50
7 Richmond Grade School Richmond K–5 418 $7,902 56 46
8 Prairie Grove Junior High School Crystal Lake 6–8 258 $9,522 56 33
9 Johnsburg Junior High School Johnsburg 6–8 474 $7,946 48 35
10 Eastview Elementary School Algonquin PK–5 490 $6,296 64 57TOP ELEMENTARY
& MIDDLE SCHOOLS Grades EnrollmentSpending per pupilPARCC reading attainment %PARCC math attainment %1 Walden Elementary School Deerfield K–5 471 $10,180 88 86
2 Ravinia Elementary School Highland Park K–5 232 $10,533 84 77
3 Daniel Wright Junior High School Lincolnshire 6–8 666 $9,094 88 82
4 Butterfield School Libertyville PK–5 527 $7,912 68 67
5 Ivy Hall Elementary School Buffalo Grove 1–5 438 $8,741 74 78
6 Lake Bluff Elementary School Lake Bluff PK–5 570 $10,137 63 56
7 Wilmot Elementary School Deerfield K–5 510 $10,180 77 74
8 South Park Elementary School Deerfield PK–5 439 $10,180 82 84
9 Cherokee Elementary School Lake Forest K–4 296 $10,561 66 75
10 Prairie Elementary School Buffalo Grove 1–5 423 $8,741 75 80TOP ELEMENTARY
& MIDDLE SCHOOLS Grades EnrollmentSpending per pupilPARCC reading attainment %PARCC math attainment %1 Vernon Hills High School Vernon Hills 1,400 $14,590 72 74 98
2 Deerfield High School Deerfield 1,622 $15,086 79 73 97
3 Adlai E. Stevenson High School Lincolnshire 4,185 $11,891 78 82 97
4 Libertyville High School Libertyville 1,917 $14,590 77 76 97
5 Highland Park High School Highland Park 1,995 $15,086 70 65 94TOP HIGH SCHOOLS Enrollment Spending per pupil SAT reading attainment %SAT math attainment %
LAKE COUNTY
Graduation rate1 Crystal Lake South High School Crystal Lake 1,465 $9,630 56 57 97
2 Crystal Lake Central High School Crystal Lake 1,508 $9,630 50 49 95
3 Prairie Ridge High School Crystal Lake 1,436 $9,630 54 58 93
4 Cary-Grove High School Cary 1,702 $9,630 53 51 97
5 Richmond-Burton Community High School Richmond 663 $8,403 60 55 95TOP HIGH SCHOOLS Enrollment Spending per pupil SAT reading attainment %SAT math attainment %
MCHENRY COUNTY
Graduation rateKYLA GURU
Senior
Guru founded Bits N’
Bytes, an initiative
that works with school
districts, city govern-
ments, and corpora-
tions such as IBM to
educate young people
about avoiding online
scams and hacking.
“Youths spend almost
80 percent of the day
online,” she says.
“I wanted to build a
movement where we
can be invested in the
conversation of secu-
rity.” One Bits N’ Bytes
offering: an open-
source cybersecurity
curriculum being
used worldwide.
JAKE HEPNER
Eighth-grade
teacher
Whenever a fellow
teacher had trouble
with a student, Hepner
would say, “Put him in
my study hall.” It wasn’t
a punishment. Hepner,
who says he was a dif-
ficult kid himself, gives
at-risk students, espe-
cially boys, the kind of
one-on-one attention
that’s hard to come
by in public schools.
“Traditional learning
doesn’t seem to be set
up for teenage boys.”
Now the school has
added more study halls
built around individual-
ized interventions.
Public
Schools
2019* Figures do not reflect low-income adjustment* Figures do not reflect low-income adjustment