Clarendon Hills Middle School and Walker School receive Blue Ribbon Award at state ceremony
Clarendon Hills Middle School and Walker School were recognized on Mar. 12 as part of the inaugural Governor’s Blue Ribbon Schools Award ceremony held at the Executive Mansion in Springfield. The event, attended by Governor JB Pritzker and State Superintendent of Education Tony Sanders, honored 28 schools across Illinois for exemplary academic performance.
The recognition highlights the achievements of both public and private schools that serve as models of excellence in education throughout the state. Clarendon Hills Middle School and Walker School are part of Hinsdale Community Consolidated School District 181, which represents DuPage and Cook counties and includes several other schools such as Elm Elementary, Hinsdale Middle, Madison Elementary, Monroe Elementary, Oak Elementary, Prospect Elementary, and The Lane Elementary according to the Illinois Report Card.
Hinsdale Community Consolidated School District 181 employs 282 teachers with an average salary of $94,227 before pension contributions; ninety percent are women and ten percent are men. The district reported no teachers with more than ten absences in a school year according to the Illinois State Board of Education.
Demographically, the district is composed of 69.8 percent White students, 1.1 percent Black students, 6.8 percent Hispanic students, and 15.4 percent Asian students according to ISBE data. In terms of spending, Hinsdale Community Consolidated School District 181 spent $31,308 per student in 2020 for a total expenditure of $117,185,545 as reported by ISBE.
Chronic truancy rates in the district remain low; only four students were classified as chronically truant during the 2020 school year—a rate of just 0.1 percent compared to a statewide average of 9.6 percent according to ISBE. The district enrolled 3,743 students during the 2019-2020 school year and serves grades pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade in Clarendon Hills and DuPage County according to official records.
The recognition at this ceremony underscores ongoing efforts by educators and staff within District 181 to maintain high standards for student achievement.