Chicago’s Edison Elementary Regional Gifted Center ranked best Illinois elementary school

Edison Elementary Regional Gifted Center has been named the best elementary school in Illinois in the 2027 rankings from U.S. News & World Report, putting the Chicago public magnet school at the top of a statewide list.

The K-8 school, located in Chicago’s Albany Park neighborhood, ranked No. 1 among Illinois elementary schools and No. 1 among elementary schools in Chicago Public Schools District 299, according to the report. It also ranked No. 6 among Illinois middle schools.

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Strong scores lead statewide ranking

Edison’s ranking was built around four equally weighted measures: reading proficiency, reading performance, math proficiency, and math performance. The methodology uses state assessment results and considers student socioeconomic characteristics.

At Edison, 97% of students scored at or above the proficient level in reading, while 93% reached that level in math, the report confirmed. Those results were well above averages for Chicago Public Schools District 299, where 40% of students were proficient in reading, and 32% were proficient in math.

The school also exceeded Illinois averages. Statewide, 45% of students reached reading proficiency and 36% reached math proficiency, according to school profile data reported by U.S. News.

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A selective school with a small enrollment

Edison serves about 265 students from kindergarten through eighth grade. Admission requires applicants to pass a selective entry test, according to Time Out Chicago.

The school has a 13-to-1 student-teacher ratio, 20 full-time equivalent teachers and one full-time school counselor. Its student body is evenly divided between female and male students, while 9% of students are identified as economically disadvantaged, as reported by U.S. News & World Report.

Chicago schools filled five spots in the statewide top 10. Skinner North Elementary School ranked No. 2, Keller Elementary Gifted Magnet School ranked No. 4, Hawthorne Elementary Scholastic Academy ranked No. 8, and Decatur Classical Elementary School ranked No. 9, Time Out Chicago confirmed.