Greenbriar Elem School vs Wescott Elementary School

Greenbriar Elem School ranks #15 of 3,813 Illinois elementary schools, placing it in the top 0.4% statewide. Wescott Elementary School is also an exceptional performer at #130 of 3,813 — top 4% — but the 115-rank gap between two schools sitting 0.8 miles apart in Northbrook is meaningful. The overall rating gap of 0.9 points (9.7/10 for Greenbriar versus 8.8/10 for Wescott) reflects a real performance difference, not a marginal one.

Both schools post identical academic scores of 9.9/10, meaning students at Wescott Elementary School and Greenbriar Elem School are reaching the same high proficiency benchmarks on state assessments. The separation emerges in growth: Greenbriar Elem School scores 9.4/10 on student growth versus 7.8/10 at Wescott Elementary School, a 1.6-point gap. Growth scores measure how much individual students advance relative to peers with similar starting points, so Greenbriar's advantage here suggests its instructional model is accelerating progress beyond what raw proficiency alone captures.

Wescott Elementary School enrolls 485 students compared to 367 at Greenbriar Elem School, making Wescott roughly 32% larger. Despite the size difference, classroom density is nearly identical — student-teacher ratios of 10.5:1 at Wescott and 10.2:1 at Greenbriar — so neither school has a meaningful staffing advantage in terms of adult attention per child. Both schools serve kindergarten through grade 5, offering the same grade span for a full elementary school experience.

Both Wescott Elementary School and Greenbriar Elem School operate on the same KG–05 grade structure, so families are not differentiating on program breadth or grade range. The decision comes down to the growth score delta and state rank. Greenbriar's #15 statewide finish reflects a school where high-achieving students continue to gain ground at an accelerated pace, while Wescott's #130 ranking still places it comfortably among Illinois's elite elementary schools, with a slightly larger and similarly well-staffed campus.