Oak Park and River Forest High School has again earned a “commendable rating” on the Illinois Report Card, with an overall index score of 91.79 out of 100. That’s up from 90.36 last year and 89.53 the year before.
The Illinois Report Card provides an annual rating of high schools across the state. The evaluation is conducted by the State Board of Education, and it has a significant impact on the residents of the school’s community. Depending on the score received by the school, this report could alter the values of homes, school funding and resources, enrollment trends and other aspects of the sort.
School leaders presented the results at a Board of Education meeting on Nov. 20.
Schools are ranked exemplary, commendable, targeted and comprehensive. A commendable rating means a school has no underperforming student groups and a graduation rate higher than 76%. Commendable schools are not in the top 10% of schools statewide. Those schools receive an “exemplary” designation.
OPRF’s graduation rate of 97% is well above the state average, which has this year reached a 15-year high at 89%. Over the past five years, OPRF’s rate has oscillated between 94 and 95%.
Graduation rate is one of eight indicators the state uses to rank schools. In OPRF’s score breakdown, the school received full weighting across five of the eight categories: graduation rate, English language arts (ELA), math and science proficiency, and school climate, which all amount to 76.7% of the total designation.
The school climate rating was determined by the 5 Essentials, or School Climate, Survey. This year, OPRF earned the label “organized” for the first time, not scoring below neutral in any of the survey categories.
Regarding the remaining three indicators, which account for the remaining 23.2% of the total designation, OPRF scored below maximum potential in ninth graders on track, chronic absenteeism and English language learners’ path (or progress) to proficiency (ELPtP).
Among the categories in which OPRF has struggled to earn full marks, chronic absenteeism is by far the most concerning. In 2025, 19% of the student body is chronically absent, only a 1.3% improvement since last year.
The board reported significant improvements in the attendance of Black students and students with disabilities (IEPs). However, students with IEPs, Black, Hispanic and non-binary students still show attendance levels below the overall average.
Attendance rates have not been this low since the pandemic. When presenting, Principal Lynda Parker noted, “We made a shift in the right direction, just not as much as we would like.”
The ELPtP has seen an increase in the number of English-learning students and a dramatic decrease in the summative designation score. In the last two years, the English Learner population has increased from 70 to 92, but the summative designation score has decreased by 19.59, leaving OPRF with a score of 39.75 out of 100.
Another category in which Black students and students with IEPs have seen improvement is in ninth graders on track. Ninth graders are considered to be “on track” if they complete 10 semester courses and don’t receive more than 1 F in a core subject. Despite not reaching maximum potential, OPRF’s freshman success has reached 94.1%, higher than any data reports dating back to 2018. To put it in perspective, OPRF has struggled to reach beyond 90%, with some years, like 2021, going as low as 85%.
Board members praised the thoroughness of the report but also suggested OPRF leaders reach out to other school districts with high-performing schools. “I think that some collaboration may give us some insight,” said board member Fred Arkin.
Johnson noted that the rating system will change next year. Instead of giving the top ranking to the top 10% of schools, any school meeting the criteria can get top rating.
