The top reported proficiency rate is 13% in English language arts. The lowest is 10% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on L D Brady Elem School
L D Brady Elementary sits on Columbia Street in Aurora, a mixed-use suburban city that has long served as both a residential neighborhood hub and a secondary employment center in the Chicago region. It is a small school serving pre-K through fifth grade, with an enrollment that is almost entirely Hispanic, reflecting the makeup of the city's West Side neighborhoods where the school is located.
The academic picture here is challenging and requires direct conversation with the school. On the Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) for math, third graders scored in the low range, with only a small fraction meeting or exceeding proficiency; the rate was even lower by fifth grade. In English language arts, similar patterns hold across the tested grades, with proficiency rates in single digits to low double digits in third and fourth grade. Fifth-grade science results, the only science grade tested at this school, showed proficiency well below what the state expects. The school participates in full testing, meaning the results are not driven by selective participation. These are concrete data that a parent needs to understand before enrolling.
Two important caveats apply. Illinois changed its proficiency standards starting with the 2024-25 school year, raising the bar for what counts as proficient, so historical trend information is not available to show whether this is a shift in the standard or in actual performance. Additionally, no enrollment context was available—state data did not report the free-and-reduced-price lunch rate or the share of students who are English learners, which are often key to understanding test performance in schools serving communities like this one. A parent would benefit from asking the school directly about those population characteristics and how much reading, writing, and math support is built into the day.
The school is part of Aurora East USD 131, which has committed to a district-wide dual language program rolling out grade by grade with the goal of all students becoming bilingual and biliterate. This is a substantial long-term curriculum choice that shapes how reading, writing, and content are taught from kindergarten onward. The district also adopted a new five-year strategic plan in 2024 focused on equity, operational excellence, and closing opportunity gaps, which will shape resource allocation and program priorities at schools like this one.
Housing in the 60505 zip code where Brady sits is affordable relative to state and national benchmarks, with median home values well below the state average and rental rates similarly modest. The area is undergoing downtown revitalization with multiple new apartment projects either breaking ground or in planning stages, suggesting the neighborhood is in transition. That context—new housing supply, rising foot traffic, school-district-wide curriculum change—matters for families trying to understand what Brady will look like in the next few years.
The civil rights compliance and special population data were not available in the state reporting, so you would need to ask the school directly about how it identifies and serves students with disabilities, what special education options exist, and how English learner support is structured. With such a heavily Hispanic enrollment and the stated dual language initiative, English learner programming will be a key piece of what Brady offers, but those specifics are not in the available data.
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