How Smart Are Minooka's District 201 Students? 'We Are Growing And Moving In The Right Direction'

(The following edited press release came from Nick Jakusz
Community Relations Coordinator Minooka CCSD 201.)

MINOOKA, IL — Results from the 2026 Illinois Report Card highlight strong academic achievement and continuous growth across Minooka 201, with student proficiency surpassing state averages across all core content areas.

With this latest report card, Minooka 201 is proud to announce all six of the district’s K-8 schools received top performance designations.

• Exemplary: Minooka Elementary School, Walnut Trails Elementary School, and Jones Elementary School
  • Represents the highest overall academic growth, proficiency, and operational performance across core and elevating indicators.
• Approaching Exemplary: Minooka Intermediate School and Minooka Junior High School
  • Designates schools demonstrating strong, high-level performance across core metrics, falling just below the Exemplary tier.
• Commendable: Aux Sable Elementary School
  • Represents solid, steady baseline performance across core indicators statewide.

In addition to the report card data, the district’s early learning center, Minooka Primary Center, earned the gold circle of quality from ExceleRate Illinois.

“Our 2026 report card outcomes reflect the hard work of our students, the expertise of our leaders and staff, and the strong support of our families, community, and Board of Education,” said Superintendent Rachel Kinder. “While no set of metrics can capture the full scope of our schools’ strengths, progress, and individual successes, these encouraging results show we are growing and moving in the right direction. We celebrate these milestones as we continue to refine our path and reach even greater levels of excellence.”

High Academic Proficiency and Year-Over-Year Growth

Minooka 201 recorded significant year-over-year gains in ELA and Science, strong year-over-year gains in Math proficiency, while accelerating individual student growth percentiles:

• ELA: 64.3% proficient (+8.0% YoY) | State: 55.4% (+3.0% YoY)
• Math: 45.8% proficient (+3.3% YoY) | State: 39.2% (+0.8% YoY)
• Science: 55.3% proficient (+7.4% YoY) | State: 48.7% (+4.1% YoY)

Student Subgroups Show Significant Progress

Minooka 201 recorded significant year-over-year gains from its English-language learners and other subgroups:

• Multilingual Progress: 71.2% of English Learner (EL) students demonstrated progress toward English language proficiency on the ACCESS assessment, exceeding the state average of 54.6% by more than 16 percentage points.
• Subgroup Student Progress: Significant proficiency gaps closing for nearly all subgroups.

Continuous Improvement Focus

Minooka 201 uses this state data, in addition to district metrics, to guide school improvement goals, prioritizing core instruction, increasing targeted math intervention and expanded support for EVERY one of our students, including multilingual learners, early childhood students, and students with Individualized Education Plans (IEPs).

Members of the community can view complete performance metrics on the Minooka 201 Report Card webpage at www.min201.org/our-district/ilreportcard