Best Alternative Schools in Illinois 2023: Rating, Grades & More

Last Updated on August 4, 2023 by Sidharth PS

Hi readers! In this post, I’ve compiled a list of best alternative schools in Illinois. The list consists of both public and private schools. Here, readers will find the following details – top alternative schools, their address, grades, student teacher ratio and more.

Best Public Alternative Schools in Illinois for 2022

Rank School Low Grade High Grade Address City Student Teacher Ratio
1 KEC Central EFE 170 07 12 PO Box 263 Malta 1.4000000
2 Premier Academy Morris 08 12 7700 Ashley Rd Morris 2.1000000
3 Il Youth Center – Pere Marquette 08 12 17808 State Highway 100 W Grafton 2.9000000
4 Regional Center for Change 06 12 500 E 5Th St Rock Falls 3.0000000
5 Harbor Academy Reg Safe Sch Prg 09 12 4413 Roosevelt Rd Hillside 3.2000000
6 Cope Alternative School 06 12 1725B Shomaker Dr Murphysboro 3.5000000
7 School District 428 IYC-HRB 07 12 1201 W Poplar St Harrisburg 3.5000000
8 West 40 Reg Safe Sch Middle Prg 06 08 4413 Roosevelt Rd Hillside 3.5000000
9 ROYALS Academy Carthage 09 12 553 Main St Carthage 3.6000000
10 Paris Bridges 06 12 210 E Court St Paris 3.7000000
11 ROE Safe Sch Greene 06 12 225 E. Nicholas Street Carlinville 3.7000000
12 Lincoln School ALOP 06 12 960 Royce Ave Joliet 4.0000000
13 Starquest Acad RSSP North 06 08 PO Box 303 Johnston City 4.0000000
14 Saint Clair Co ROE Safe School 05 12 1722 W Main St Belleville 4.8000000
15 ROYALS RSSP Canton 06 12 749 E Locust St Canton 5.0000000
16 Centralia Alternative School 07 12 501 N Elm St Centralia 5.2000000
17 North Cook Young Adult Academy 06 12 1001 E Touhy Ave Ste 200 Des Plaines 5.2000000
18 Illinois Youth Center-Warrenville 08 11 30W200 Ferry Rd Naperville 5.8000000
19 IYC Chicago 06 12 136 N Western Ave Chicago 6.4000000
20 I Kan Regional Alternatve Att Ctr 06 12 50 W Industrial Dr Kankakee 6.5000000
21 Illinois Youth Ctr – St Charles 08 12 3825 Campton Hills Dr Saint Charles 6.8000000
22 ASSIST RSSP 12 06 12 PO Box 77 Willow Hill 7.0000000
23 RAP Freeport 06 12 27 S State Ave Freeport 7.0000000
24 Reg’l Learning Center Star Boone 09 12 1320 East Ave Belvidere 7.0000000
25 Tristar Acad Safe Sch Program 06 09 900 W Edgar Ave Effingham 7.3000000
26 Shelbyville Bridges 06 12 201 E North 12th St Shelbyville 7.4000000
27 ROE 53 Safe School 06 12 102 Fandel Ln Metamora 7.5000000
28 LMP ROE 06 12 2233 6th St Peru 7.8000000
29 ASSIST TAOEP 12 06 12 PO Box 77 Willow Hill 8.0000000
30 Starquest Acad RSSP South 06 12 1102 W 10th St Metropolis 8.0000000
31 ROE 20 Learning Alt Branch School 06 12 307 E Cherry St Carmi 8.1000000
32 Academic Behavior&Community Acad 07 12 1416 Maine St Quincy 8.3000000
33 FOCUS Safe Sch Program 06 09 1500 W Jefferson St Vandalia 8.5000000
34 Freeport Alternative High Sch 06 12 1330 S Locust Ave Freeport 8.5000000
35 R E A D Y Program 06 12 45 E University Ave Champaign 8.8000000
36 Reg’l Learning Academy Star Winn 06 11 5949 Safford Rd Rockford 8.8000000
37 Arcola Bridges/Beacons RSSP 06 12 308 Adams St Humboldt 9.0000000
38 Project Echo 07 12 PO Box 238 Johnston City 9.0000000
39 ROYALS Academy Canton 09 12 749 E Locust St Canton 9.1000000
40 Lerna Bridges 06 12 PO Box 129 Lerna 9.2000000
41 Sangamon Safe School Program 07 12 2201 Toronto Rd Springfield 9.2000000
42 Mt Vernon Alternative School 06 12 2300 Benton Rd Mount Vernon 9.3000000
43 Safe School Program 06 12 2300 Benton Rd Mount Vernon 9.5000000
44 Thomas Metcalf School PK 08 ISU Campus Box 7000 Normal 9.8000000
45 Lincoln School RSSP 06 12 960 Royce Ave Joliet 10.0000000
46 LMP ROE TAOEP 06 12 2233 6Th St Ste 2 Peru 10.0000000
47 Monroe/Randolph Red Brick Sch 06 12 107 E Mill St Waterloo 10.0000000
48 West 40-Sr. Plus 4413 Roosevelt Rd Hillside 10.0000000
49 Adams County RSSP 07 12 1416 Maine St Quincy 10.4000000
50 Sangamon County Learning Academy 06 12 2201 Toronto Rd Ste C Springfield 10.8000000
51 ROE Safe Sch Macoupin 06 12 225 E. Nicholas Street Carlinville 10.9000000
52 Peoria Regional High School 09 12 3826 N Taylor Rd Hanna City 11.2000000
53 New Approach Alternative H S 09 12 1500 W Jefferson St Vandalia 11.7000000
54 Aspire Alternative High School 09 12 900 W Edgar Ave Effingham 12.0000000
55 ROYALS RSSP Macomb 06 12 341 S Johnson St Macomb 12.0000000
56 Milligan Academy Rssp 07 11 300 E Eldorado St Decatur 13.0000000
57 ROYALS Academy Macomb 09 12 341 S Johnson St Macomb 13.0000000
58 Safe School Program Centralia 07 12 501 N Elm St Centralia 13.3000000
59 Lincoln School TAOEP 06 12 960 Royce Ave Joliet 13.5000000
60 University High School 09 12 Isu Campus Box 5300 Normal 14.3000000
61 B H R A Cooperative HS 09 12 PO Box 200 Bismarck 15.3000000
62 RAP Elizabeth 06 12 950 US Highway 20 W Elizabeth 16.0000000
63 Nachusa Campus School 04 12 500 E 5Th St Rock Falls 16.5000000
64 Paris Cooperative High School 09 12 14040 E 1200th Rd Paris 16.7000000
65 Pathways ROE 11 09 12 305 Richmond Ave E Mattoon 16.8000000
66 ROE 53 Academy 09 12 110 Fandel Ln Metamora 17.0000000
67 Regl Learning Academy Star Boone 06 12 1320 East Ave Belvidere 17.8000000
68 Futures Unlimited 09 12 300 E Eldorado St Decatur 18.7000000
69 The Lafayette Academy 09 12 747 W Lafayette Ave Jacksonville 19.0000000
70 RAES West 06 12 105 N E St Ste 1 Monmouth 22.0000000
71 Salt School 09 12 50 W Industrial Dr Kankakee 23.9000000
72 RAES RSSP 06 12 121 S Prairie St Galesburg 52.0000000
73 Premier Academy Morris TAOEP 06 12 7700 Ashley Rd Morris 58.0000000
74 RAES West Alt Ed 06 12 105 N E St Ste 1 Monmouth 136.0000000
75 University of Illinois High Sch 08 12 1212 W Springfield Ave Urbana 309.0000000
76 ALOP Academic Learning Program 09 12 4413 Roosevelt Rd Hillside
77 ARC 06 12 747 W Lafayette Ave Jacksonville
78 CCSI Alternative School 09 12 6137 Beck Rd Red Bud
79 Center for Educ Opp 06 12 201 Staunton Rd Troy
80 Clnton/Mrn/Wshngtn Pre-Kind Prog PK PK 1710 Broadway St Mount Vernon
81 Coolidge RSSP 07 08 3428 Avenue of The Cities Moline
82 DREAM Academy 07 12 46 S Gifford St Elgin
83 DuPage Alop 06 12 848 N Mill Rd Addison
84 East Aurora HS RSSP 06 12 1685 N Farnsworth Ave Aurora
85 ECHO Juvenile Detention Ctr 04 12 409 E Washington St Benton
86 Evergreen Academy 06 12 6506 National St Union
87 Five County Regional Alternative 06 12 1001 Walnut Street Murphysboro
88 FLEX Program 09 12 704 W Abe St Plano
89 Greeley Alternative School 06 12 1800 NE Perry Ave Peoria
90 IL Center for Rehab & Educ-R 04 12 1950 W Roosevelt Rd Chicago
91 Jackson/Perry MS TAOEP 06 08 120 E Spring St Du Quoin
92 Juvenile Detention Center 06 11 400 Art Bartell Rd Urbana
93 Lake Co Collaborative Alop 07 12 18160 W Gages Lake Rd Grayslake
94 Mades-Johnstone RSSP 06 12 1304 Ronzheimer Ave St Charles
95 Middlefork School RSSP 06 12 15009 Catlin Tilton Rd Danville
96 MLK A R T Program 06 08 9607 14th St W Rock Island
97 Morrison Alt Learning Program 09 12 300 Academic Dr Morrison
98 Morton Alternative Schools 09 12 4413 Roosevelt Rd Hillside
99 New Beginnings Regnl Safe Sch Pgm 06 12 46 S Gifford St Elgin
100 New Directions – Geneva 09 12 416 McKinley Ave Geneva
101 New Directions Program 04 12 1304 Ronzheimer Ave St Charles
102 Northeast Academy East 09 12 201 S 7th St St Charles
103 Northeast Academy North 09 12 201 S 7th St St Charles
104 Oak Ridge RSSP 06 12 300 Cleveland Ave Carpentersville
105 Oswego GOAL 06 12 4209 State Route 71 Oswego
106 PACE Alternative School 06 12 201 E Higbee St Pittsfield
107 Partners for Success-Old Mill Sch 06 12 848 N Mill Rd Addison
108 PAWS 09 12 1201 Main St Batavia
109 PAWS Academy 06 08 1501 S Raddant Rd Batavia
110 Phoenix Safe Schools Program 06 12 113 N School St Raymond
111 PROJECT IMPACT 2201 S Dirksen Pkwy Springfield
112 Project Indian 09 12 101 W Wapella St Minooka
113 Project SOAR 09 12 120 E Spring St Du Quoin
114 Proviso THSD 209 Dream School 09 12 4413 Roosevelt Rd Hillside
115 RAES East Alt Ed 06 12 121 S Prairie St Galesburg
116 RAES Night School 06 12 121 S Prairie St. Galesburg
117 RE-Start Program 09 12 45 E University Ave Champaign
118 Reg’l Learning Center Star Winn 09 12 5949 Safford Rd Rockford
119 Reg’l Safe School Program ROE #28 06 12 107 S State St Atkinson
120 Regional Alop School 07 12 200 W Front St Ste 500D Bloomington
121 Regional Alternative School 09 12 5949 Safford Rd Rockford
122 Revive Alternative High School 09 12 113 N School St Raymond
123 Rock River Challenge 06 12 PO Box 91 Chana
124 ROE #40 Safe School Jersey 06 12 225 E Nicholas St Carlinville
125 ROE Adult Learning Ctr Jersey 10 12 225 E. Nicholas Street Carlinville
126 ROE Adult Learning Ctr Macoupin 10 12 225 E. Nicholas Street Carlinville
127 ROE Alternative Prog of Lake Co 06 12 1415 27th St Zion
128 ROE20 Learning Alternative Branch 06 12 307 E Cherry St Carmi
129 ROYALS RSSP Carthage 06 12 553 Main St Carthage
130 Safe School Program 07 12 200 W Front St Ste 500D Bloomington
131 St Marys Adolescent Ed Program 01 11 1800 E Lake Shore Dr Decatur
132 STEM Partnership School 03 08 405 S Gladstone Ave Aurora
133 Success Academy 06 12 100 Cleveland Ave Carpentersville
134 SUCCESS Academy 06 12 1870 W Galena Blvd Aurora
135 Success Academy 4-5 04 05 2550 Harnish Dr Algonquin
136 Success Academy HS 09 12 1500 Kings Rd Carpentersville
137 TAPESTRY ALOP 09 12 4413 Roosevelt Rd Hillside
138 Wauconda CUSD 118 ALOP 09 10 555 N Main St Wauconda
139 West 40 ALOP Achievers 09 12 4413 Roosevelt Rd Hillside
140 West Aurora HS RSSP 06 12 1870 W Galena Blvd Aurora
141 YEA Program 06 12 709 Game Farm Rd Yorkville

Best Private Alternative Schools in Illinois for 2022

Rank School Low Grade High Grade Address City Student Teacher Ratio
1 TLC LEARNING CENTER 2 3 2844 BURR OAK AVE BLUE ISLAND 0.37
2 CHANCE AFTER CHANCE COLLEGE PREPARATORY 2 3 305 N CICERO AVE # 9 CHICAGO 0.5
3 FIRST SCHOOL 2 3 1403 E OAK ST MAHOMET 0.51
4 NOAHS ARK CHRISTIAN PRESCHOOL 2 3 98 ALGONQUIN RD BARRINGTON 0.83
5 CREME DE LA CREME GLENVIEW 2 3 2401 PATRIOT BLVD GLENVIEW 1.25
6 LES FINCH’S LEARNING TREE DAY 2 3 4217 W 16TH ST CHICAGO 1.45
7 GERTRUGE B NIELSEN CHILD CARE & LEARNING CENTER 3 3 3835 WILLOW RD NORTHBROOK 1.51
8 ROSELAND DAYCARE CENTER 2 3 10520 S HALSTED ST CHICAGO 1.51
9 ACADEMIC MASTERY ACADEMY 6 6 16341 S PARK AVE SOUTH HOLLAND 2
10 LOS PEQUENOS ANGELITOS 2 3 3711 W 55TH ST CHICAGO 2.38
11 MAYWOOD MARGERY DAW DAY CARE 2 4 PO BOX 758 MAYWOOD 2.4
12 KINGDOM ACADEMY LEARNING CENTER 2 3 2053 W HOWARD ST CHICAGO 2.41
13 FUSION ACADEMY LAKE FOREST 12 17 840 S WAUKEGANRD STE 224 LAKE FOREST 2.42
14 CDW AT PLAY CHILD CARE CENTER 2 3 165 LAKEVIEW PKWY VERNON HILLS 2.5
15 BETHLEHEM LUTHERAN CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTER 2 3 340 GRAND BLVD ELGIN 3
16 CHRISTIAN LIFE ACADEMY 2 17 133 S HIGHLAND ST CREVE COEUR 3
17 HINES CHILD CARE CENTER 2 3 5000 S 5TH AVE HINES 3.15
18 MONTICELLO CHRISTIAN ACADEMY 2 7 225 E LIVINGSTON ST MONTICELLO 3.22
19 FARM AND NATURE DISCOVERY SCHOOL 2 6 12700 SW HWY PALOS PARK 3.6
20 ALTERNATIVE ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT ACADEMY 6 13 13801 CHATHAM ST BLUE ISLAND 3.66
21 YOUTHBUILD MCLEAN COUNTY ACADEMY 16 17 360 WYLIE DR, STE 305 NORMAL 3.66
22 ST MATTHEW LUTHERAN SCHOOL 2 3 24480 N OLD MCHENRY RD HAWTHORN WOODS 4
23 NEW LIFE CHRISTIAN ACADEMY 6 17 3510 W MALONE ST PEORIA 4.28
24 MONTESSORI & MUSIC CENTER 2 3 1200 S LAKE ST MUNDELEIN 4.5
25 SAFE HARBOR SCHOOL 12 17 101 N BRAMBLE ST MANTENO 4.88
26 FOUNDATIONS 4 ADVANCEMENT 2 6 32 E 34TH ST STEGER 5
27 THE BARBEREUX SCHOOL 2 4 3333 CULVER ST EVANSTON 6
28 CHILDREN’S SCHOOL OF OAK PARK 3 13 1428 WESLEY AVE BERWYN 6.31
29 ICN FULL-TIME SCHOOL 2 3 2844 W OGDEN AVE NAPERVILLE 6.66
30 PIXIE & DIXIE DAY CARE CENTER INC 2 3 199 S ADDISON RD UNIT 100 WOOD DALE 7
31 SANDBOX LEARNING CENTER 2 3 12832 S RIDGELAND AVE PALOS HEIGHTS 7
32 KINDERCARE LEARNING CENTER-LINDENHURST 2 5 6480 GURNEE MILLS CIR GURNEE 7.2
33 ST JOSEPH ACADEMY 2 17 310 N OTTAWA ST JOLIET 7.35
34 THE GODDARD SCHOOL IN ROUND LAKE 2 3 1155 S AMARIAS DR ROUND LAKE 7.5
35 PLATO ACADEMY 2 13 733 LEE ST STE 200 DES PLAINES 7.81
36 CHICAGO FREE SCHOOL 2 13 1100 E HYDE PARK BLVD CHICAGO 8
37 BAKER DEMONSTRATION SCHOOL 2 13 201 SHERIDAN RD WILMETTE 8.23
38 THE GODDARD SCHOOL 2 3 1928 SPRINGBROOK SQ DR NAPERVILLE 8.75
39 ATONEMENT CHRISTIAN DAY SCHOOL 2 4 909 E MAIN ST BARRINGTON 9
40 BOBBIE NOONANS CHILD CARE CENTER 2 3 947 E DIVISION ST LOCKPORT 9
41 KID’Z COLONY 2 3 6287 S ARCHER AVE CHICAGO 9
42 OPEN ARMS CHRISTIAN CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTER 3 5 1850 CHESTNUT AVE GLENVIEW 10
43 POKO LOKO EARLY LEARNING CENTER 2 3 1601 NORTHWIND BLVD LIBERTYVILLE 10
44 ZION LUTHERAN EARLY CHILDHOOD CENTER 2 3 17100 69TH AVE TINLEY PARK 10
45 JOSEPH ACADEMY 9 17 9003 S KOSTNER AVE HOMETOWN 11.33
46 HOUSE OF CHILDREN 2 3 2521 HARDING LN WOODSTOCK 16.42
47 PROVIDENCE CATHOLIC CHILDRENS ACADEMY 2 3 1800 W LINCOLN HWY NEW LENOX 25
48 AUSTIN CAREER EDUCATION CENTER 15 17 5352 W CHICAGO AVE CHICAGO 29.79
49 CHESTERBROOK ACADEMY 2 4 2001 S OAK ST STE A CHAMPAIGN 31
50 BOBBIE NOONANS CHILD CARE 2 3 10155 S ROBERTS RD PALOS HILLS 54
51 HERITAGE PREPARATORY ACADEMY 10 17 202 W GREEN BOX 96 ROBERTS 57.5
52 KINDERCARE LEARNING CENTER 2 3 2S726 IL ROUTE 53 GLEN ELLYN 63

 

For ranking the schools, I’ve relied upon the ‘Student Teacher Ratio’ factor. What is student teacher ratio, some of you may ask. It is the number used to indicate the number of students for every teacher in a school.

 

For example, a student teacher ratio of 16 indicates that a teacher is available for 16 students in that school. When it comes to quality of education, student teacher ratio plays an important role. If the student teacher ratio is 100, it means that few teachers are available to attend to the needs of students in a school. This may lead to inadequate attention, inadequate engagement, and may even have a negative impact on student success!

 

Student teacher ratio is like a two way street. Fewer students per teacher setup is an ideal classroom where students may enjoy adequate individual-attention from teachers. Under this setup, a teacher may take care of individuals’ needs and weaknesses. Similarly, under this setup, teachers may modify/adapt their teaching techniques according to learning styles/needs of the students.

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