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Lincoln Way West

New Lenox · IL · Lincoln Way CHSD 210 · Public

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📚AP rigor: 90th percentile nationally 📖25 AP courses

📋 At a glance

Programs & features
  • 📚 25 AP courses offered — Elite
  • ✅ Dual-enrollment program (college credit while in HS)
  • 🔢 4 calculus classes · 17 physics · 18 chemistry
Academic signals
  • 🎓 AP rigor: 90th percentile nationally
  • 📝 SAT/ACT participation: 92th percentile by test-taker volume

Composed from federal CRDC offerings, EDFacts ACGR, and other public data. Full breakdowns below.

💡

How Lincoln Way West compares for families

Standout academic depth by national standards.

  • StatewideAP rigor in the top 10% nationally with 25 AP courses.
  • LocallyIL sits right at the US average on NAEP 8th-grade math — local school quality will set your kid apart.
  • vs Similar SchoolsThe closest comparables nearby: Providence Catholic High School, Hopewell Career Academy - Joilet, Trinity Services -Trinity School and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.

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🎓 Academic rigor

AP + advanced-course offerings

Elite — exceptional AP + advanced course breadth

90th percentile nationally

50th 90th ↑ this school
Less rigorMore rigorMost rigor
AP courses offered
25
Math ✓ · Science ✓
Advanced math classes
9
4 calculus · 5 advanced
Lab science classes
35
17 physics · 18 chemistry
Other rigor signals
✅ Dual-enrollment program

Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2020-21). CRDC reports what's offered + enrolled — it doesn't collect AP exam pass rates (College Board owns that data and doesn't release it school-level).

SAT / ACT participation

CRDC federal data · 2020-21

92th percentile by test-taker volume

50th 90th
SAT/ACT test-takers
492
11th-12th graders who took 1+ college admissions test
Test-taking intensity
24.0
takers per 100 students in grades 9-12
Compared against
18,426
US high schools reporting SAT/ACT participation

Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2020-21). Volume — not score — is what's reported here. A higher count means more students at this school are entering the college admissions pipeline. Note: 2020-21 was COVID-disrupted; some districts (especially those that stayed remote longer) report unusually low or zero takers.

👩‍🏫 Teacher workforce · federal CRDC

Teacher experience & reliability

% inexperienced teachers (1st-2nd yr)
2.5%
Strong: experienced corps. New teachers rotate through but most have ≥3 years in.
% chronic teacher absence (≥10 days/yr)
17.7%
Elevated. Teacher absence directly affects classroom continuity and student outcomes.

Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2017-18 — the most recent vintage that publishes per-school teacher quality fields; the 2020-21 sweep had them suppressed). "Inexperienced" = teachers in their first or second year. "Chronic absence" = teachers absent 10+ days/year.

Chronic absenteeism

Share of students absent 15+ days
2.9%
Below 10% — strong attendance culture. Chronic absence is a leading indicator of dropout and disengagement; a low rate signals families staying connected to the school.
Students absent 15+ days
60
Federal definition: absent (excused or unexcused) for at least 15 of ~180 school days — about 10% of the school year.

Why this matters to enrollment: A low chronic-absence rate is the cleanest school-level signal of strong family connection, classroom culture, and student engagement — all upstream drivers of enrollment stability. For school leaders: an Enrollment Trend Audit traces this dynamic forward →

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020–2021. Rate = students chronically absent ÷ 2024 total enrollment.

Counselor capacity

Student : Counselor
341:1
Above the ASCA 250:1 target but below the US median (~430:1). Capacity is workable.
Counselor FTE
6.0
Full-time-equivalent school counselors on staff.
Teacher FTE
105
Full-time-equivalent classroom teachers.

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020-2021. Counselor ratio = the school's most recent total enrollment ÷ counselor FTE. The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) recommends a 250:1 maximum; the US national median across schools with on-staff counselors is roughly 430:1.

Enrollment trend & projection

Grade 12 went from 524 in 2021 to 539 in 2024 — over 3 years.
+2.9%

Total enrollment + grade 12, NCES Common Core of Data (2021–2024).

If the recent trend holds…

At its recent rate of +1.3%/year, projecting from 2024's 2,047 students:

2025
2,074
2027
2,130
2029
2,188

An extrapolation of the recent trajectory, not a forecast of the school's plans; ignores one-off shocks.

Revenue upside

At $23,373 per student in district revenue, the 141 students projected to be gained by 2029 represent ≈ $3,295,593/year in additional funding.

District total revenue ÷ enrollment, NCES F-33. Public funding largely follows enrollment, so a shrinking class is a recurring budget hit.

Nearby high schools — the local competition

The closest high schools families here also consider, and where their enrollment is heading.

SchoolTypeMilesHS enrollmentTrend
Providence Catholic High School
New Lenox
Private 1.8 773 -25.4%
Hopewell Career Academy - Joilet
Joliet
Private 2.3 44
Trinity Services -Trinity School
New Lenox
Private 3.4 19
Lincoln-Way Central High School
New Lenox
Public 3.9 1,991 +1.5%
Pathways Academy
Joliet
Public 4.2
Joliet Central High School
Joliet
Public 4.4 3,295 -3.3%
Lincoln School RSSP
Joliet
Public 4.7
Lincoln School TAOEP
Joliet
Public 4.7

For Parents

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