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Best Chicago Elementaries

Grades Enrollment IAR English attainment % IAR math attainment % Chronic absenteeism %
1 Hawthorne Scholastic Academy Lake View K–8 616 92 87 10
2 Audubon School Roscoe Village PK–8 610 76 64 12
3 Keller Regional Gifted Center (S) Mount Greenwood 1–8 221 98 90 N/A
4 Decatur Classical School (S) West Rogers Park K–8 329 90 90 15
5 James E. McDade Classical School (S) West Chesterfield K–8 217 87 68 5
6 Edison Regional Gifted Center (S) Albany Park K–8 265 97 93 13
7 Bronzeville Classical Elementary School (S) Bronzeville K–8 423 88 63 8
8 Skinner North Classical School (S) Goose Island K–8 512 94 93 12
9 William H. Prescott Elementary School Lincoln Park K–8 410 80 59 16
10 Edgar Allan Poe Classical School (S) Roseland K–8 227 86 65 8
11 Mount Greenwood Elementary School Mount Greenwood PK–8 1,153 70 48 8
12 Alexander Graham Bell School (S) North Center PK–8 847 77 64 13
13 James G. Blaine Elementary School Lake View PK–8 630 70 66 11
14 Abraham Lincoln Elementary School Lincoln Park K–8 846 77 72 15
15 Robert Healy Elementary School Bridgeport K–8 1,209 60 57 12
16 Louisa May Alcott College Preparatory ES Lincoln Park PK–8 572 71 58 15
17 Mark T. Skinner West Elementary School (S) Near West Side PK–8 1,048 68 60 24
18 Stone Scholastic Academy West Rogers Park K–8 550 66 43 21
19 James Ward Elementary School Bridgeport PK–8 495 48 45 9
20 Cassell Fine Arts School Mount Greenwood K–8 353 58 38 20
21 Mitchell Elementary School West Town PK–8 388 53 45 20
22 Edward Everett STEM Elementary School McKinley Park PK–5 97 66 34 N/A
23 Casals School of Excellence Humboldt Park PK–8 369 47 30 24
24 Sauganash Elementary School Sauganash PK–8 660 67 60 16
25 LaSalle II Magnet School East Ukrainian Village PK–8 582 63 49 19
26 Sor Juana Elementary School (S) West Elsdon PK–8 488 64 49 11
27 John H. Kinzie Elementary School Garfield Ridge PK–8 670 68 34 22
28 Oscar Mayer Magnet School Lincoln Park PK–8 697 72 56 14
29 Oriole Park School Oriole Park PK–8 589 62 46 20
30 Augustus H. Burley School Lake View K–8 498 74 63 9
31 South Loop Elementary School South Loop PK–8 839 61 50 22
32 William J. Onahan Elementary Norwood Park PK–8 643 47 39 16
33 Chicago World Language Academy University Village K–8 453 57 46 15
34 Disney II Magnet Old Irving Park PK–6 429 52 36 18
35 Mark Sheridan Math and Science Academy Bridgeport K–8 529 68 52 10
36 Cesar E. Chávez Multicultural Academic Center Back of the Yards PK–8 782 41 33 14
37 Ravenswood Elementary School Ravenswood PK–8 502 67 46 18
38 Nettelhorst School Lake View East PK–8 647 65 55 21
39 Hamilton Elementary Lake View PK–8 483 65 57 15
40 Philip Rogers Fine Arts West Rogers Park PK–8 716 51 34 26
41 Jonathan Burr Elementary School Bucktown K–8 451 69 41 17
42 Inter-American Magnet School Lake View PK–8 637 45 21 17
43 John C. Haines Elementary School Chinatown PK–8 481 52 59 8
44 Learn Excel (C) East Garfield Park K–6 389 41 22 25
45 CICS Avalon Elementary School (C) Marynook K–8 435 35 38 27
46 Learn Charles and Dorothy Campbell Campus (C) East Garfield Park K–6 355 30 21 30
47 John C. Coonley Elementary School North Center K–8 770 71 60 14
48 Robert Alfred Black Magnet Elementary School Pill Hill K–8 356 56 35 13
49 A.N. Pritzker School (S) Wicker Park PK–8 654 67 54 18
50 Columbia Explorers Academy Brighton Park PK–8 725 42 23 16

(S) SELECTIVE ENROLLMENT SCHOOL (C) CHARTER SCHOOL

How We Ranked the Schools

The performance measures were based on data obtained from the Illinois State Board of Education for the 2023–24 school year, the most recent available. Calculations were done by the research nonprofit RTI International, based on weighting instructions provided by Chicago. Not all the measures used appear in the rankings tables.

The Measures We Used

  • IAR attainment is the percentage of students meeting or exceeding state standards on the Illinois Assessment of Readiness exams for ELA (English language arts) and math.
  • IAR growth is the school’s average student growth percentile, which compares the year-over-year change by individual students on the IAR exams with that of comparable students in the state.
  • Chronic absenteeism is the percentage of students who missed 10 percent or more of school days.
  • 5Essentials is a teacher and student survey that assesses five key aspects of a school’s learning environment.
  • Spending per pupil is the instructional expenditure, reported by the district.

How We Weighted the Measures

  • IAR English attainment: 15%
  • IAR English growth: 22.5%
  • IAR math attainment: 15%
  • IAR math growth: 22.5%
  • Chronic absenteeism: 15%
  • For Chicago schools 5Essentials: 10%
  • For suburban schools Spending per pupil: 10%

NOTE: In cases where a school is missing a metric, more weight was distributed to the remaining measures.