Whittier Elem School vs Madison Elem School

Whittier Elementary School ranks #70 out of 3,813 Illinois schools, placing it 33 spots ahead of Madison Elementary School at #103 — both well inside the top 3% of the state, but a meaningful separation within that elite tier. Their overall ratings reflect that gap: Whittier earns a 9.3/10 against Madison's 9.1/10, a 0.2-point difference that, in a field this competitive, traces almost entirely to one dimension.

Both schools post identical academic scores of 9.5/10, so proficiency is a wash. The gap opens on growth: Whittier Elementary School scores 9.8/10 on growth versus Madison Elementary School's 8.9/10 — a 0.9-point delta meaning Whittier's students are advancing faster relative to their starting points, regardless of where they begin. For families who care less about absolute proficiency ceilings and more about whether a school accelerates their child year over year, that difference carries real weight.

Madison Elementary School enrolls 356 students against Whittier Elementary School's 407, and its student-teacher ratio of 12.7:1 is noticeably tighter than Whittier's 14.5:1 — nearly two fewer students per teacher on average. Madison also serves a more economically diverse population, with 24% of students on free or reduced lunch compared to 11% at Whittier. Parents who value smaller class sizes or see socioeconomic diversity as part of their child's education will find those numbers point toward Madison.

One structural difference separates the two: Madison Elementary School serves grades PK–05, offering a pre-kindergarten entry point that Whittier Elementary School, which begins at kindergarten, does not. Families with a four-year-old looking to stay in one building through fifth grade have only one option between these two schools. Both sit 1.2 miles apart in Wheaton, making either a practical choice for most families in the district.