Fenwick High School landed No. 13 on Niche's 2027 Best Private High Schools in Illinois list. It is the only school from Oak Park or River Forest in the top 25.

The rankings, first reported by Patch, were released Monday, Sept. 28. Niche, a school-research platform, analyzed 30,000 private schools nationwide using federal and state data, school statistics and more than 3 million reviews from students, parents and teachers.

Lake Forest Academy topped the private list. British International School of Chicago placed second, North Shore Country Day School in Winnetka third and the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools fourth.

Fenwick earned A+ grades from Niche in academics, college prep, clubs and activities, and sports. The school also received an A in diversity and an A- in teachers, according to its Niche profile.

The Dominican Catholic school at 505 Washington Blvd. enrolls 1,101 students for the 2026-27 school year and draws from 86 zip codes. Fenwick offers 27 Advanced Placement (AP) courses and 35 athletic teams, according to the school's website. Its student-teacher ratio is 13-to-1, with 89% of faculty holding advanced degrees.

The Class of 2026 earned $44.6 million in college scholarships, Fenwick's admissions page states. Eleven seniors received Evans Scholarships, which the school describes as the most for any school in the nation. The class also produced 66 Illinois state scholars and 106 AP Scholars.

Fenwick provides $2.4 million in tuition assistance annually, with an average grant of $6,220. About 34% of students received in-house aid during the 2023-24 school year.

A notable change for this cycle: Niche dropped SAT and ACT scores from its methodology, reflecting a broader de-emphasis on standardized testing in college admissions. The heaviest weight now goes to the percentage of seniors enrolling in four-year colleges, at 20%, followed by culture and diversity, parent and student surveys, and college-destination scores at 14% each.

"This year's rankings give families more ways to find the right fit," Luke Skurman, founder and CEO of Niche, said when the rankings were released.