Free Illinois Online School Records

Kenneth Marks March 13, 2020June 21, 2021 Leave a comment

Do you research school records? I’m not talking about yearbooks. Those can be found on the Yearbooks Page. I’m talking about actual school records, such as enrollment, attendance, and grade reports for example. These are interesting source documents because they might record the student’s age, birth date and location, and possibly their parents’ names. All great ways to find this information if you haven’t found them in other documents about your target ancestor. Besides, finding out your grandmother’s grades would be interesting!

The record collection links, listed below, feature school records from the state, and list collections of records that are available for free online.

If you wish to get educated with some basic information regarding what is available and how to navigate your research for school records, you can read these summaries:

So, what types of records related to schools are maintained and often available?

School Census
School Catalogs
Teacher’s Registers
Attendance Records
Report Cards
Class Logs
Teacher Rosters
School Board Meetings/Reports
Academic Team and Class Photos
Local Newspaper Articles:
- Graduation Lists
- School Activities
- School Sports
Student Newspapers
Alumni Directories and Publications
Yearbooks
Yearbook Indexes

And, what types of information can you derive from these school records?

Name (often includes a middle name which is useful).
Age
Physical Characteristics – color/race, disability.
Birth Date
Current Residence Address
Name of Father
Name of Mother
Occupations of parents
Grades
Classes Taken
Activities (from Photos)
Date left school (can help with family residence relocation)

Below is a list of links to free online school record collections for the state;

Note: Some of the links go to sites with not much information and some go to sites with an extensive set of records.

Note: Some of the links listed below take you to a FamilySearch Collection of digital images. Near the bottom of the page under Film/Digital Notes is the name of each sub-collection. If there is a camera icon at the right of the name (in the Format column) then the collections’ images are browsable. If there is a camera with a key icon, it is only available at a Family History Center or affiliated library. If there is a film reel icon, then it is only available in microfilm format, not digital.

(Updated March 2020; recently added links are in BOLD)

Good Luck and Happy Hunting!

For other Free Illinois Links, click on the category of interest:

Newspapers
Obituaries
BMD Records
Photos
Yearbooks
Directories
Divorce Records
Naturalizations
Church Records
School Records
Coroner Records
Voter Records
Probate and Wills
Immigration
Mortuary Records
Alumni Records
Cemetery Records

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