Burnham Elem School, Burnham IL - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Burnham Elem School

Burnham Elementary School is the sole public school serving the small village of Burnham, a predominantly residential and industrial community in far south Cook County. The school operates as a combined PreK through grade 8 building with an enrollment of about 150 students. Its student body is roughly evenly split between Black and Hispanic students, with a small White population and very few Asian or multiracial students. Free-or-reduced-price lunch data was not available, but the community context suggests economic strain: the village's median household income trails state and national benchmarks, and the area sits within the broader Calumet industrial region experiencing gradual population and employment decline.

The academic picture requires close attention. State assessment results from the most recent year show proficiency in math and English language arts, tested across grades 3 through 8, that sits well below what families would typically expect. In math, results are volatile by grade: grade 3 students showed modest proficiency, grade 4 students very low proficiency, grade 5 students extremely low, grade 6 students moderately better, grade 7 students low, and grade 8 students very low. English language arts proficiency follows a somewhat steadier pattern but similarly weak overall, with grade 3 at a moderate level, grade 4 and 5 low, grade 6 moderate, and grades 7 and 8 low-to-moderate. Science proficiency, tested in grades 5 and 8 only, was very low in both. Across all tested subjects and grades, the school's overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile relative to other schools in Cook County. Families evaluating this school should understand that proficiency results are substantially below state and county norms, and a parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand what support systems, instructional changes, or resource constraints may be at play.

Participation in state assessments was complete across all grades and subjects, so results reflect the full student body rather than a subset. The assessment itself changed in how it measures proficiency this year, which can affect year-to-year comparability, though the school did not provide prior-year data to assess trends.

The school occupies a neighborhood setting within the village rather than a campus; it sits at South Green Bay Avenue amid the small residential grid of Burnham. The community itself offers limited growth; population has declined since 2020 and is projected to continue declining modestly. Median home values in the Burnham area are below both state and national benchmarks, and rental costs are similarly low, making housing relatively affordable by regional standards. The Burnham Greenway, a trail system along a former railroad corridor, is a significant recreational and active-transportation asset that serves the village.

District-level strategic initiatives or recent changes were not readily available in public sources for this small single-school district, so limited insight is available into how the district intends to address academic performance or support the school's work. A parent or community member considering enrollment or residence in Burnham should recognize both the school's location within a tight-knit small village and the significant academic performance gap that will require direct conversation with school leadership to understand what pathway and support the school can offer.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 331%

School 31% · District 31%

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

Grade 414%

School 14% · District 14%

▼ 22 pts below state median · ▼ 14 pts below county median

Grade 55%

School 5% · District 5%

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▼ 16 pts below county median

Grade 642%

School 42% · District 42%

▲ 18 pts above state median · ▲ 25 pts above county median

Grade 725%

School 25% · District 25%

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

Grade 811%

School 11% · District 11%

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 346%

School 46% · District 46%

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

Grade 436%

School 36% · District 36%

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Grade 516%

School 16% · District 16%

▼ 36 pts below state median · ▼ 30 pts below county median

Grade 658%

School 58% · District 58%

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▲ 16 pts above county median

Grade 735%

School 35% · District 35%

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

Grade 839%

School 39% · District 39%

▼ 14 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Science

Grade 511%

School 11% · District 11%

▼ 26 pts below state median · ▼ 16 pts below county median

Grade 828%

School 28% · District 28%

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

This schoolBurnham SD 154-5, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.