Longfellow Elementary School in Wheaton placed No. 43 out of 1,360 ranked Illinois elementary schools in the 2027 U.S. News & World Report Best K-8 Schools rankings, earning the highest state ranking among local CUSD 200 schools with data available.
Longfellow scored 96.91 out of 100 overall, according to its U.S. News profile. The school on West Seminary Avenue posted 65% math proficiency and 72% reading proficiency on state assessments. It received "well above expectations" ratings in both math and reading performance. The school enrolls 318 students in grades K-5 with a 14-to-1 student-teacher ratio.
Six other CUSD 200 elementary schools in Wheaton and Warrenville also landed in the state rankings. Here is how they placed out of 1,360 schools:
- Whittier Elementary (Wheaton): No. 121, score 91.17. Math proficiency 69%, reading 63%.
- Bower Elementary (Warrenville): No. 127, score 90.73. Math proficiency 59%, reading 62%.
- Emerson Elementary (Wheaton): No. 141, score 89.70. Math proficiency 51%, reading 64%.
- Washington Elementary (Wheaton): No. 154, score 88.74. Math proficiency 56%, reading 67%.
- Wiesbrook Elementary (Wheaton): No. 272, score 80.06. Math proficiency 64%, reading 59%.
- Clifford Johnson School (Warrenville): No. 342, score 74.91. Math proficiency 39%, reading 47%.
Performance ratings varied. Five of the seven schools earned "well above expectations" in both math and reading performance, a measure that factors in socioeconomic demographics alongside raw scores. Clifford Johnson, which enrolls 63% economically disadvantaged students, scored below district proficiency averages but still cleared that bar. Wiesbrook rated "somewhat above expectations" in math performance and "somewhat below expectations" in reading performance. Whittier rated "well above" in math performance and "somewhat above" in reading.
Across the district, CUSD 200 elementary students tested at 56% math proficiency and 62% reading proficiency, according to the district's U.S. News page. Both figures topped the Illinois statewide averages of 37% in math and 43% in reading.
CUSD 200 has 13 ranked elementary schools across its 20-school district. Rankings for the remaining six were not included in this review.
The rankings weigh four factors equally at 25% each: math proficiency, math performance, reading proficiency and reading performance. Half the formula measures raw scores, and the other half puts those results in the context of student demographics, according to U.S. News. The data draws on 2023-2024 state assessments.
Steve Barnett, director of the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University, said in the U.S. News report that parents often lack good tools for evaluating schools. "What information could they use? Often, they don't have anything but reputation, which doesn't tell you about what the school contributes," Barnett said.
The full rankings cover nearly 47,000 elementary schools and more than 24,000 middle schools nationwide.
