Oak Park High School Earns Exemplary State Designation
The local high school ranks among the top performers in statewide growth metrics for the 2026 academic year.
Updated on Oct. 30, 2026 in Secondary Education
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Oak Park and River Forest High School earned an Exemplary designation on the 2026 Illinois School Report Card. The state rating follows high performance metrics, including a 96.75% graduation rate.
Why it matters
This designation reflects the school's performance on critical benchmarks such as graduation rates and student proficiency in core subjects. The state rating provides families with a clear look at how local schools support academic growth.
OPRF students demonstrated high proficiency levels, with 79.16% meeting English Language Arts standards, 75.06% in science, and 65.86% in math. Additionally, five schools in District 97 also earned the Exemplary rating.
The players
Oak Park and River Forest High School
The local secondary school serving the Oak Park community, recognized for high graduation and growth performance.
Illinois State Board of Education
The state agency responsible for setting education standards and managing the annual school report card process.
Oak Park Elementary District 97
The local school district that saw five of its schools receive an Exemplary designation.
The details
The Illinois State Board of Education updated its methodology to assign summative designations based on a fixed benchmark instead of ranking the top 10% of schools. Scores are calculated by evaluating ELA, math, and science proficiency alongside growth, graduation rates, attendance, and school climate surveys.
Timeline
October 30, 2026, release of the Illinois School Report Card.
2025 performance metrics were utilized for the latest assessment.
2022 was the most recent year OPRF previously received an Exemplary designation.
The Home Front
This designation reflects a broader shift in state policy toward fixed-benchmark performance standards for school accountability. The change highlights a move away from relative percentile rankings to absolute mastery benchmarks for local districts.
Families can review these scores to understand how local schools compare across key growth and proficiency markers. You may want to check the full report for your specific school district to understand the climate and academic progress data impacting your local community.
The takeaway
The Exemplary status highlights OPRF's current success in student proficiency and growth relative to statewide benchmarks. Parents should monitor upcoming district initiatives as the school plans for further achievement gains in the next few years.
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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