Lincoln Elem School, Calumet City IL

Original Research by School Decision on Lincoln Elem School

Lincoln Elementary School serves prekindergarten through eighth grade in Calumet City, a southern Chicago suburb on the Illinois-Indiana border. The school enrolls students across all grades served, with representation that is predominantly Black and Hispanic. Demographically, the school reflects the broader Calumet City community, which is a diverse, working-class residential area with some light manufacturing and retail anchors like the River Oaks shopping center.

The school's state assessment results reveal a pattern of modest proficiency across tested grades and subjects. In English language arts, proficiency ranges from about one-third of students in the earliest tested grades to roughly two-thirds by eighth grade, showing stronger performance at the upper end of the school. Math proficiency is more uniformly low, ranging from roughly one-quarter to one-tenth of students across grades three through eight, with a marked decline in the middle grades. Science testing, which occurs in grades five and eight, shows proficiency rates in the low-to-mid-range. Participation in testing is consistent and near-universal across all subjects and grades. Lincoln Elementary's overall proficiency index places it below the midpoint among districts in Cook County, based on the average of reported proficiency rates across tested subjects and grades.

The school operates within Lincoln ESD 156, a single-school prekindergarten-eight district in Calumet City. No recent major curriculum changes, referenda, or property-tax shifts appear in available public records; the district completed a new administration building in 2023, which was an operational facility move rather than a change affecting school programs. The school's location at 410 157th Street places it in a community that is partly walkable along major commercial corridors like Sibley Boulevard, though most residents rely on cars. Transit access includes Pace suburban bus service and the South Shore Line commuter rail. Housing values in the surrounding zip code area are moderate, with median rental rates reflecting a balance typical of working-class south-suburban Chicago neighborhoods.

Parents considering Lincoln Elementary should understand that the school serves a student population similar in composition to its residential neighborhood and sits within a district of modest scale. The assessment data shows particular strength in English language arts at the eighth-grade level but reveals consistent challenge in mathematics across the school. A parent may want to look further into the school's mathematics support structures and any targeted interventions in place for the middle grades, where proficiency rates decline notably. The school's long career is in a community actively working to refresh its economic base through redevelopment of commercial anchors and new housing, though enrollment patterns in the district itself have not been reported here. State testing results align with economic and demographic patterns common in this region, and the school participates fully in state assessment programs.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 337%

School 37% · District 37%

▼ 10 pts below state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Grade 435%

School 35% · District 35%

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 524%

School 24% · District 24%

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Grade 69%

School 9% · District 9%

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

Grade 79%

School 9% · District 9%

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

Grade 820%

School 20% · District 20%

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 333%

School 33% · District 33%

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

Grade 447%

School 47% · District 47%

▼ 1 pts below state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

Grade 546%

School 46% · District 46%

▼ 6 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 643%

School 43% · District 43%

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

Grade 754%

School 54% · District 54%

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

Grade 868%

School 68% · District 68%

▲ 15 pts above state median · ▲ 22 pts above county median

Science

Grade 532%

School 32% · District 32%

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

Grade 827%

School 27% · District 27%

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

This schoolLincoln ESD 156, 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.