Enrollment across Burr Ridge's three elementary school districts has fallen by more than 400 students since 2006, a slide driven largely by the village's aging population.

Burr Ridge's median age is about 57, compared to 39 for Illinois overall, according to Census data. The village is roughly 1.5 times older than the state as a whole. That gap helps explain why local schools keep losing students, Patch reported Nov. 5.

The three locally based districts, Burr Ridge Community Consolidated School District 180, Gower School District 62 and Pleasantdale District 107, enrolled a combined 2,124 students in the 2025-26 school year, according to state data cited by Patch. All three serve elementary and middle school students.

District 180 hit hardest

Three-fourths of the enrollment drop landed on District 180. The district covers southern Burr Ridge and unincorporated areas that include both million-dollar homes and federally subsidized housing such as the Hinsdale Lake Terrace Apartments.

In 2006, District 180 reported 769 students, according to an earlier Patch report. By the 2021-22 school year, the district had 432, a 44 percent decrease. The district lost about 200 students between 2019 and 2021 alone.

The district's student body has also shifted economically. In 2006, 35 percent of District 180 students were considered low-income, according to state data cited by Patch. That figure rose to two-thirds by 2015. The Nov. 5 Patch report put the current share at more than three-quarters.

More than a quarter of school-age children in the district enroll in private schools, a higher rate than most area districts, according to state reports. A quarter of those private-school students attend Kindi Academy in Lisle. The state cautions that private-school data is self-reported and has a "high likelihood of errors."

Tom Schneider, who signed a District 180 report card letter in October 2025 as interim superintendent, said in an earlier Patch interview that the district sees fluctuations in the number of students from subsidized housing. He also pointed to aging homeowners: "You have some families who have children who have grown. The family still owns the house, but they have no children."

Gower and Pleasantdale

Gower School District 62 enrolled 877 students in the 2025-26 school year, a drop of about 50 from the prior year. In 2006, Gower's enrollment was 956. The district's median age is 49 to 52, depending on the Census vintage, with nearly a third of residents 65 or older.

Pleasantdale District 107 has been more stable. Its enrollment has ranged between 806 and 855 since 2006, according to the Illinois Report Card. Still, the 2025-26 figure of 803 students was the district's lowest in two decades. Pleasantdale's population has the highest median age among the three districts, at 53 to 55 per Census estimates, with 28 percent of residents 65 or older.

New housing could reverse the trend

Pleasantdale Superintendent Dave Palzet told Patch in a March 2025 interview that the district expects enrollment to rise as older residents move and younger families replace them. "We're expecting to see some turnover there," Palzet said.

A 26-unit townhome and rowhouse development is planned northwest of German Church and Wolf roads, with prices starting at $750,000, the Des Plaines Valley News reported in December 2024.

Lyons Township High School is also looking to sell 70 acres southwest of 79th Street and Willow Springs Road. A bid opening was scheduled for Monday, Nov. 9. Residential development is one possibility for the site. Atlanta-based Pulte Homes proposed building nearly 200 ranch homes and townhomes there in early 2024. If that proposal came to fruition, Palzet said, "That would produce a significant number of students."