Barrington families got good news in the state’s latest education snapshot: Three Barrington Community Unit School District 220 elementary schools — Arnett Lines, North Barrington and Roslyn Road — earned the top-tier “exemplary” rating on the 2025 Illinois School Report Card, part of a strong showing across Lake County, according to Chicago Tribune.

What the report shows

The Illinois State Board of Education released its 2025 report card with school-by-school performance data, including overall summative ratings and metrics such as graduation rates, English learners and chronic absenteeism, as reported by Chicago Tribune. “Exemplary” places a school in the top 10% statewide; other ratings include “commendable,” “targeted,” and “comprehensive.”

Across Lake County, 27 schools earned exemplary status, with six of them in the Lake Forest school system — Lake Forest Community High School, Deer Path East and West middle schools, and Cherokee, Sheridan and Everett elementary schools — a districtwide sweep that state officials said is uncommon, according to Chicago Tribune. Among high schools, Deerfield, Lake Forest, Lake Zurich, Libertyville and Vernon Hills received exemplary designations, the outlet reported.

For Barrington, the exemplary ratings at Arnett Lines, North Barrington and Roslyn Road place those campuses among the state’s highest performers and align the community with countywide gains described in the report, as reported by Chicago Tribune.

Why community engagement matters

Nowhere in the ISBE report card is student and community engagement formally measured, but local leaders say it is central to improvement, according to Chicago Tribune. Lake Forest’s superintendent Matthew Montgomery credited the district’s results to partnerships with families: “We brought the community into the conversation, and it was very helpful,” Montgomery said. “They are a key component. School is only 6½ hours a day. Parents know what’s going on out of school. We need partnership with them,” he said in coverage by Chicago Tribune.

That emphasis tracks with national research. Studies compiled by Great Schools Partnership show that meaningful family and community engagement is linked to higher achievement, lower absenteeism and increased graduation rates. Global work synthesized by Brookings underscores six lessons for transformation, including treating families as true partners, breaking down barriers to participation and building relationships “at the speed of trust.”

Still, the lack of a standardized engagement metric on the report card creates a gap for communities trying to quantify what works, as noted in local coverage by Chicago Tribune. Aligning local indicators — from family participation rates to partnership counts — with outcomes like attendance and on-track rates could help districts better tie engagement efforts to results, the reporting suggests.

Countywide gains — and persistent gaps

Lake County’s results include signs of progress and places where work remains. Waukegan High School raised its graduation rate from 79% two years ago to 84% last school year, though the share of freshmen on track to graduate remains about 15 points lower, according to Chicago Tribune. Eduardo Cesario, Waukegan District 60’s deputy superintendent of academic supports and programs, said listening directly to students will guide improvements. “Sometimes the best way you can find out is talking to the kids,” Cesario said. “We’re going to do that in the next few weeks,” he told Chicago Tribune.

District 60’s chronic absenteeism fell from 39% to 35%, and leaders are pushing instructional changes in the middle grades. Assistant Superintendent Amanda Milewski said Waukegan’s new middle school schedule builds longer blocks for core subjects and small-group instruction while cutting down on transitions. “We built in time for small group instruction as part of the school day,” she said. “We minimized transition time for middle schoolers so they didn’t have to change classes every 40 minutes,” Milewski told Chicago Tribune. She added that teachers are tightening alignment to the full curriculum that appears on state tests: “When they take the state test, they are tested on the whole curriculum. They are not doing as well on the state test. Last year was a challenge. Now we’re trying out some new techniques to teach it all,” she said in the outlet’s coverage.

North Chicago also reported improvement. Superintendent John Price said an emphasis on climate and culture is showing up in report card responses. “This affirms that we are building positive learning spaces for students and working environments for adults, a precursor to school growth,” Price said. “We are seeing strong growth for our students, and this affirms our focus on supporting all learners, with special focus on those not yet at grade level,” according to Chicago Tribune. Freshmen on-track at North Chicago Community High School climbed from 91% to 96%, and the graduation rate ticked up from 85% to 86%, the paper reported.

Local context and next steps

Enrollment trends form the backdrop for every district’s planning. Lake County enrolled 114,709 students in 2023–24, down 3.3% from the prior year, a decline that mirrors statewide drops from about 1.98 million students in 2019–20 to roughly 1.85 million in 2022–23, according to Lake County Gazette. Demographic and enrollment shifts can affect funding and staffing — realities Barrington leaders will weigh even as local schools bring home top ratings.

Practical steps from national experts align with what Lake County leaders are already emphasizing and offer a roadmap for communities like Barrington looking to sustain momentum:

  • Build coordinated support networks with local health, social service and cultural partners to reduce non-academic barriers to attendance and achievement, advised Dr. Matthew Lynch.
  • Prioritize welcoming, inclusive school climates that make students and families feel valued, recommended by Dr. Matthew Lynch.
  • Treat families as active partners and remove logistical and cultural barriers to participation, a core lesson from Brookings.
  • Use regular feedback loops — surveys and focus groups — to hear from students, an approach Waukegan leaders plan to expand, as reported by Chicago Tribune, and supported by research from Great Schools Partnership.

For Barrington, the exemplary ratings at Arnett Lines, North Barrington and Roslyn Road reflect the work happening in classrooms and homes — and point to what research says matters most. As Montgomery put it of Lake Forest’s community-first approach, “The students are energized into a strong learning environment,” and “the community really helps a good learning attitude,” he told Chicago Tribune. With the report card shining a light on outcomes — and research underscoring the role of partnerships — the next phase for Barrington and its neighbors is to keep deepening ties with families while tracking what moves the needle for every student.