Oak Park High School Earns Exemplary Rating
The state report card grants top marks to Oak Park and River Forest High School for its academic performance.
Updated on Oct. 30, 2026 in Secondary Education
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Oak Park and River Forest High School received an Exemplary designation on the 2026 Illinois School Report Card. The state released these performance rankings on October 30, 2026.
Why it matters
This designation reflects a shift in state methodology, which now uses fixed benchmarks to evaluate schools rather than capping the top tier at 10 percent. The rating signals high achievement across several academic and climate metrics.
Oak Park and River Forest High School achieved a 96.75% graduation rate and an overall student proficiency rate of 72.8%. Individual subject proficiency reached 79.16% in English Language Arts, 75.06% in science, and 65.86% in math.
The players
Oak Park and River Forest High School
This is a public secondary school located in Oak Park that serves students within the community.
Illinois State Board of Education
This is the state government agency responsible for overseeing and reporting on public school performance in Illinois.
The details
Summative designations are calculated using a broad set of criteria including proficiency, student growth, graduation rates, and English learner progress. Along with the high school's top-tier ranking, five schools in District 97 also earned an Exemplary status, while four others were rated as Approaching Exemplary.
Timeline
October 30, 2026: The Illinois State Board of Education released the annual school report card.
2025: This year serves as the baseline for the school performance metrics utilized in the report.
2022: This was the last time the high school received an Exemplary designation.
Culture Shift
The school's recognition aligns with the 2026 Illinois School Report Card's fixed benchmark methodology. This approach marks a departure from historical ranking practices by focusing on objective performance standards rather than comparing schools strictly against each other.
The Exemplary rating provides families with standardized data on the performance of the local high school and District 97 schools. Parents can use these metrics to gauge the effectiveness of their student's current learning environment and curriculum standards.
The takeaway
The high school maintains a strong academic position with a graduation rate of over 96 percent. Residents can expect the district to continue pursuing higher achievement targets as it adapts to the latest state evaluation benchmarks.
Further reading
Learn more about local academic standards in the Secondary Education section.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Wednesday Journal.
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