Is Thornwood High School a good school?

Thornwood High School ranks in the bottom 20.4% of Illinois high schools.

How many students attend Thornwood High School?

In the 2023-24 school year, 1,868 students attended Thornwood High School.

What is the racial makeup of Thornwood High School?

Students at Thornwood High School are 82% African American, 14% Hispanic, 2% Two or more races, 2% White.

What schools feed into Thornwood High School?

Thornwood High School is fed by the following schools: Elementary : Barack H Obama Learning Academy Elementary : Eisenhower School Elementary : Greenwood Elementary School Elementary : Jesse C White Learning Academy Elementary : Madison School Elementary : McKinley Elementary School Elementary : Taft School Elementary : Wolcott School Middle : Coolidge Middle School Middle : McKinley Junior High School

Thornwood High School

Summary:

Thornwood High School is a public high school located in South Holland, Illinois, serving 1,996 students in grades 9-12. The school is part of the Thornton Township High School District 205, which is ranked 780 out of 813 districts in Illinois and has a 0-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Thornwood High School consistently ranks in the bottom half of Illinois high schools, with academic performance significantly below state averages in key subjects like SAT Math, SAT ELA, and ISA Science. The school's 4-year graduation rate of 85.0% is lower than the state average, and its dropout rate of 4.2% is higher. Thornwood also has a very high chronic absenteeism rate of 49.0%, indicating a significant portion of the student population is missing a substantial amount of instructional time. The school has a high percentage of students (53.51%) eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, suggesting a large population of students from low-income households.

Interestingly, Thornwood High School's performance varies significantly across different student subgroups, with the school performing relatively better for Hispanic students and English Language Learners, but struggling with Multi-racial students and Low Socioeconomic Status students. Compared to nearby schools, such as Thornton Fractnl So High School, Thornwood High School's performance is generally lower across several key metrics, including graduation rates, test scores, and chronic absenteeism. Addressing these challenges will require a comprehensive, data-driven approach that considers the unique needs and demographics of the student population.

Detail:

Public 9-12

17101 S Park Ave
South Holland, IL 60473-3484

(708) 225-4701

District: Thornton Township HSD 205

SchoolDigger Rank:
555^th of 697 Illinois High Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures: $29,618

Feeder schools for Thornwood High School:

Elementary:	Barack H Obama Learning Academy
	Eisenhower School
	Greenwood Elementary School
	Jesse C White Learning Academy
	More...
	Madison School
	McKinley Elementary School
	Taft School
	Wolcott School
Middle:	Coolidge Middle School
	McKinley Junior High School

Student/teacher ratio: 13.2

Number of students: 1,868

Racial breakdown:

African American:

81.8%

Hispanic:

14.1%

Two or more races:

2.2%

Free/discounted lunch recipients: 72.1%

See top rated Illinois high schools

Compare Thornwood High School to nearby high schools!

Performance Trends

Compare Details Thornwood High School ranks worse than 79.6% of high schools in Illinois. It also ranks 2^nd among 3 ranked high schools in the Thornton Township HSD 205 School District. (See more...)

Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 19.43. (See more...)

The four-year cohort graduation rate measures the percentage of students at Thornwood High School who earn a standard high school diploma within four years of starting ninth grade.

The high school dropout rate measures the percentage of students who do not complete their high school education.

Chronic absenteeism in a school refers to a situation where students repeatedly miss school, with the threshold often defined as missing 10% or more of school days for any reason, excused or unexcused.

Student Body

Compare Details Thornwood High School has the largest high school student body size in the Thornton Township HSD 205 School District. Racial makeup is: African American (81.8%), Hispanic (14.1%), two or more races (2.2%). (See more...)

Compare Details 72.1% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)

Teachers

Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Thornwood High School is 13.2. 2 high schools in the Thornton Township HSD 205 School District have better student/teacher ratios. (See more...)

Compare Thornwood High School employs 141.2 full-time teachers.

Finance

Compare Details The average total spent per student at Thornwood High School is $29,618, which is the 2^nd highest among 3 high schools in the Thornton Township HSD 205 School District.

Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Thornwood High School:

SchoolDigger ranks Thornwood High School 555^th of 697 Illinois public high schools. (See Thornwood High School in the ranking list.)

High School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:

Multi-racial students:

English Language Learner students:

Special Education students:

Low Socio Economic Status students:

Homeless students:

Female students:

Disabled students:

Male students:

African American students:

Hispanic students:

Thornton Township HSD 205:

SchoolDigger ranks Thornton Township HSD 205 780^th of 813 Illinois school districts. (See district ranking list.)

Average Rating:

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Rank History for Thornwood High School

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Rank History for all students at Thornwood High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	IL State Percentile
2003	20.04	488^th	586	16.7%
2004	13.17	521^st	592	12.0%
2005	14.26	513^th	590	13.1%
2006	17.61	505^th	596	15.3%
2007	11.42	531^st	612	13.2%
2008	19.36	523^rd	624	16.2%
2009	23.92	518^th	632	18.0%
2010	10.95	561^st	643	12.8%
2011	7.72	582^nd	655	11.1%
2012	12.06	572^nd	665	14.0%
2013	11.23	580^th	670	13.4%
2014	7.79	600^th	670	10.4%
2015	27.86	459^th	614	25.2%
2016	16.77	557^th	643	13.4%
2017	10.45	581^st	642	9.5%
2018	10.86	586^th	647	9.4%
2019	14.17	601^st	701	14.3%
2021	19.49	560^th	688	18.6%
2022	13.20	608^th	699	13.0%
2023	16.53	588^th	699	15.9%
2024	19.43	555^th	697	20.4%

See the entire list of Illinois High School Rankings!

Rank History for Multi-racial students at Thornwood High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	IL State Percentile
2019	17.29	139^th	165	15.8%
2021	22.28	123^rd	160	23.1%
2022	8.47	160^th	170	5.9%
2023	9.93	159^th	163	2.5%
2024	10.46	170^th	182	6.6%

See the entire list of Best Illinois High Schools for Multi-racial Students!

Rank History for English Language Learner students at Thornwood High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	83.16	10^th	151	93.4%
2019	59.98	34^th	183	81.4%
2021	56.12	42^nd	189	77.8%
2022	23.51	190^th	205	7.3%
2023	49.14	82^nd	217	62.2%
2024	71.92	32^nd	248	87.1%

See the entire list of Best Illinois High Schools for English Language Learner Students!

Rank History for Special Education students at Thornwood High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	33.82	219^th	374	41.4%
2019	33.95	277^th	473	41.4%
2021	29.28	270^th	453	40.4%
2022	31.21	286^th	493	42.0%
2023	23.73	362^nd	476	23.9%
2024	22.10	375^th	482	22.2%

See the entire list of Best Illinois High Schools for Special Education Students!

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Thornwood High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	16.57	520^th	585	11.1%
2019	24.45	506^th	639	20.8%
2021	30.48	435^th	611	28.8%
2022	17.13	547^th	626	12.6%
2023	19.96	539^th	644	16.3%
2024	27.83	463^rd	639	27.5%

See the entire list of Best Illinois High Schools for Low Socio Economic Status Students!

Rank History for Homeless students at Thornwood High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	IL State Percentile
2021	14.79	20^th	24	16.7%
2022	49.07	34^th	98	65.3%
2023	42.97	47^th	104	54.8%
2024	25.74	68^th	125	45.6%

See the entire list of Best Illinois High Schools for Homeless Students!

Rank History for Female students at Thornwood High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	12.53	553^rd	620	10.8%
2019	14.35	561^st	665	15.6%
2021	23.59	480^th	639	24.9%
2022	12.83	570^th	658	13.4%
2023	15.14	558^th	656	14.9%
2024	19.83	523^rd	664	21.2%

See the entire list of Best Illinois High Schools for Female Students!

Rank History for Disabled students at Thornwood High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	IL State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2023	37.21	223^rd	428	47.9%
2024	27.00	261^st	429	39.2%

See the entire list of Best Illinois High Schools for Disabled Students!

Rank History for Male students at Thornwood High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	9.97	569^th	619	8.1%
2019	14.43	580^th	675	14.1%
2021	15.89	556^th	653	14.9%
2022	13.89	588^th	664	11.4%
2023	18.09	559^th	668	16.3%
2024	19.73	534^th	668	20.1%

See the entire list of Best Illinois High Schools for Male Students!

Rank History for African American students at Thornwood High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	32.89	161^st	253	36.4%
2019	33.72	176^th	299	41.1%
2021	44.23	114^th	281	59.4%
2022	32.47	183^rd	294	37.8%
2023	37.28	157^th	301	47.8%
2024	36.35	163^rd	299	45.5%

See the entire list of Best Illinois High Schools for African American Students!

Rank History for Hispanic students at Thornwood High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	29.13	216^th	291	25.8%
2019	23.30	249^th	317	21.5%
2021	30.77	216^th	317	31.9%
2022	24.15	257^th	335	23.3%
2023	29.49	242^nd	333	27.3%
2024	54.76	114^th	336	66.1%

See the entire list of Best Illinois High Schools for Hispanic Students!

Data source: test scores: Illinois State Board of Education, rankings: SchoolDigger.com

As you review the school rankings data, please be aware that some of the information from certain demographics is missing. The reason for this omission is that the data has been redacted from the source data itself due to low population samples in these specific demographic groups.

Redacting data from low population samples is a necessary step to ensure the reliability and accuracy of the results, as small sample sizes may not be representative of the broader population. Additionally, this measure helps protect the privacy of individuals belonging to these demographic groups.

Data source: Illinois State Board of Education

Review counts

All ratings (Avg rating: 1)

100%

Reviews:

by a student
Monday, January 9, 2012

When I attended Thornwood High School in 2004 - 2008 we had three classes a day. My first year at Thornwood high school was just a long review of what I had learn in Junior high school. I did not begin to learn anything until I started to take AP classes. If I could have gotten a better high school education, I would have. The hardest class at Thornwood High school was gym. I hear that there are now seven classes a day for students. Good. I hope those student have more than I did. Close Quote

Enrollment information for Thornwood High School

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Year	White	African American	Asian	Hispanic	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Not Specified	Total
1988	1571	804	32	66	6	n/a	n/a	0	2479
1989	1380	854	35	58	7	n/a	n/a	0	2334
1990	1195	896	30	52	2	n/a	n/a	0	2175
1991	1090	939	32	48	0	n/a	n/a	0	2109
1992	1018	1016	37	60	1	n/a	n/a	0	2132
1993	925	1121	47	62	0	n/a	n/a	0	2155
1994	852	1244	47	70	2	n/a	n/a	0	2215
1995	699	1557	20	80	0	n/a	n/a	0	2356
1996	699	1557	20	80	0	n/a	n/a	0	2356
1997	700	1554	20	80	3	n/a	n/a	0	2357
1998	539	1855	13	102	0	n/a	n/a	0	2509
1999	387	1879	15	102	0	n/a	n/a	0	2383
2000	307	1899	10	96	0	n/a	n/a	0	2312
2001	244	2015	10	88	0	n/a	n/a	0	2357
2002	187	2130	3	100	0	n/a	n/a	0	2420
2003	187	2130	3	100	0	n/a	n/a	0	2420
2004	129	2083	5	111	0	n/a	n/a	0	2328
2005	82	1968	5	118	0	n/a	n/a	0	2173
2006	63	2018	4	125	1	n/a	n/a	10	2221
2007	51	2078	2	137	2	n/a	n/a	15	2285
2008	43	2131	3	130	2	n/a	n/a	24	2333
2009	39	2134	1	126	3	n/a	n/a	31	2334
2010	24	2003	1	134	0	n/a	n/a	28	2190
2011	32	1796	2	119	2	0	32	0	1983
2012	33	1708	3	139	4	0	33	0	1920
2013	28	1622	3	172	4	0	45	0	1874
2014	31	1625	3	191	3	0	31	0	1884
2015	25	1579	2	183	8	0	19	0	1816
2016	52	1582	1	154	13	0	25	0	1827
2017	49	1499	0	206	11	0	31	0	1796
2018	52	1439	0	200	8	2	29	0	1730
2019	30	1479	1	226	7	3	35	0	1781
2020	30	1523	1	236	3	2	49	0	1844
2021	24	1656	2	245	5	0	62	0	1994
2022	16	1673	2	240	1	0	55	0	1987
2023	23	1636	1	272	3	0	61	0	1996
2024	29	1528	1	264	3	1	42	0	1868

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Enrollment/Ethnicity

For more information about how the Department of Education defines ethnicity, see Defining Race and Ethnicity Data, National Center for Education Statistics

Students eligible for free or discounted lunch at Thornwood High School

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	2479	130.9	18.9	n/a
1989	2334	129.7	17.9	n/a
1990	2175	121.9	17.8	n/a
1991	2109	117.7	17.9	n/a
1992	2132	116.4	18.3	n/a
1993	2155	116.1	18.6	n/a
1994	2215	124.0	17.9	n/a
1995	2356	132.5	17.8	n/a
1996	2356	132.5	17.8	n/a
1997	2357	141.6	16.6	n/a
1998	2509	136.5	18.4	n/a
1999	2383	133.8	17.8	n/a
2000	2312	129.7	17.8	n/a
2001	2357	140.2	16.8	n/a
2002	2420	141.2	17.1	29
2003	2420	141.2	17.1	29
2004	2328	145.8	16.0	30.8
2005	2173	121.2	17.9	34.1
2006	2221	119.5	18.6	n/a
2007	2285	125.0	18.3	47.7
2008	2333	95.0	24.6	59.9
2009	2334	131.7	17.7	47
2010	2190	145.0	15.1	67.4
2011	1983	136.0	14.5	69.6
2012	1920	135.3	14.1	74.8
2013	1874	146.8	12.7	72.1
2014	1884	131.0	14.3	n/a
2015	1816	146.0	12.4	81.6
2016	1827	137.0	13.3	17.7
2017	1796	134.6	13.3	7.9
2018	1730	135.3	12.7	61.8
2019	1781	137.0	13.0	99.2
2020	1844	130.0	14.1	64.4
2021	1994	n/a	n/a	n/a
2022	1987	143.0	13.8	65.1
2023	1996	145.0	13.7	53.5
2024	1868	141.2	13.2	72.1

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Students eligible for discounted/free lunch:

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) provides low-cost or free meals to students in U.S. public and nonprofit private schools based on household income. Those with incomes below 130% of the poverty line receive free lunch, while those between 130% and 185% qualify for reduced-price lunch. The percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch serves as a marker for poverty, as it reflects the socioeconomic status of families in a given school or district. A higher FRPL rate typically indicates a higher concentration of low-income families, suggesting that the school or district may face additional challenges in providing adequate resources and support for student success.

Student/Teacher Ratio Thornwood High School

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	2479	130.9	18.9	n/a
1989	2334	129.7	17.9	n/a
1990	2175	121.9	17.8	n/a
1991	2109	117.7	17.9	n/a
1992	2132	116.4	18.3	n/a
1993	2155	116.1	18.6	n/a
1994	2215	124.0	17.9	n/a
1995	2356	132.5	17.8	n/a
1996	2356	132.5	17.8	n/a
1997	2357	141.6	16.6	n/a
1998	2509	136.5	18.4	n/a
1999	2383	133.8	17.8	n/a
2000	2312	129.7	17.8	n/a
2001	2357	140.2	16.8	n/a
2002	2420	141.2	17.1	29
2003	2420	141.2	17.1	29
2004	2328	145.8	16.0	30.8
2005	2173	121.2	17.9	34.1
2006	2221	119.5	18.6	n/a
2007	2285	125.0	18.3	47.7
2008	2333	95.0	24.6	59.9
2009	2334	131.7	17.7	47
2010	2190	145.0	15.1	67.4
2011	1983	136.0	14.5	69.6
2012	1920	135.3	14.1	74.8
2013	1874	146.8	12.7	72.1
2014	1884	131.0	14.3	n/a
2015	1816	146.0	12.4	81.6
2016	1827	137.0	13.3	17.7
2017	1796	134.6	13.3	7.9
2018	1730	135.3	12.7	61.8
2019	1781	137.0	13.0	99.2
2020	1844	130.0	14.1	64.4
2021	1994	n/a	n/a	n/a
2022	1987	143.0	13.8	65.1
2023	1996	145.0	13.7	53.5
2024	1868	141.2	13.2	72.1

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Student-Teacher Ratio

Student/teacher ratio is calculated by dividing the total number of students by the total number of full-time equivalent teachers. Please note that a smaller student/teacher ratio does not necessarily translate to smaller class size. In some instances, schools hire teachers part time, and some teachers are hired for specialized instruction with very small class sizes. These and other factors contribute to the student/teacher ratio. Note: For private schools, Student/teacher ratio may not include Pre-Kindergarten.

Immunization Rates