photography: Katrina Wittkamp

School Rankings »
Rating the best elementary schools in Chicago and the suburbs

Getting In »
An admissions guide for the city's most prestigious public schools

Six Great Schools »
A look inside some schools that performed well on our charts

Illinois's Budget Crisis Leaves Schools Scrambling »
Educators are working to cut costs—without cutting classroom programs

Methodology »
How we ranked the schools

Additional research by Geoffrey Johnson, Kaitlin Petersen, and Margaret Rhodes