Burr Oak Elem School, Calumet Park IL

Original Research by School Decision on Burr Oak Elem School

Burr Oak Elem School serves grades three through five in Calumet Park, a small, densely residential inner-ring Chicago suburb. The school enrolls students across roughly even distributions in each grade, with a student body that is predominantly Black, with a meaningful Hispanic population and very small counts of other racial groups. The student demographics reflect the neighborhood: a working-class residential community of post-war brick homes and bungalows where most families commute to jobs outside the village.

The academic picture shows meaningful challenges. On state math assessments, students in grade three achieved proficiency at a low level; grade four performed slightly better, though still low; and grade five showed the lowest performance of the three grades tested. In English Language Arts, grade five outperformed the other two grades markedly, with proficiency around twice that of grades three and four. On science, tested only in grade five, proficiency was low. Across all tested subjects and grades, the school's overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quarter among districts in Cook County. A parent may want to discuss with the school staff what supports exist for students below proficiency and what literacy and numeracy interventions are in place, particularly for grades three and four.

The school serves only grades three through five; grade-level data show a small number of students in grades six through eight who appear to be exceptions rather than the regular enrollment pattern. Because it does not serve high school grades, there is no graduation rate. No data on chronic absenteeism, special education enrollment, English learner enrollment, or free-and-reduced-price lunch eligibility were available; the school's website is not listed in the data, so detailed program information was not accessible.

Calumet Park itself is a slowly declining inner-ring suburb where the median home value is modest and rents are relatively affordable compared to broader regional benchmarks. The village is pursuing active redevelopment, including mixed-use housing and a transit-oriented development plan anchored by the Ashland/Calumet Park Metra station, which provides commuter rail to downtown Chicago and south toward Blue Island. The local built environment is walkable in the sense of having connected sidewalks and nearby retail strips, though most travel is car-oriented. Schools serve a community with limited in-village employment; the broader Calumet industrial region and Chicago proper are the primary job centers.

At the district level, Calumet Public SD 132 is undertaking a gymnasium addition at its middle school and has adopted a comprehensive strategic plan. Beyond those reported items, limited public information is available on the district's curriculum focus, budget decisions, or recent policy changes.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 311%

School 11% · District 11%

▼ 35 pts below state median · ▼ 29 pts below county median

Grade 415%

School 15% · District 15%

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

Grade 58%

School 8% · District 8%

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 316%

School 16% · District 16%

▼ 28 pts below state median · ▼ 21 pts below county median

Grade 420%

School 20% · District 20%

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

Grade 542%

School 42% · District 42%

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

Science

Grade 515%

School 15% · District 15%

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

This schoolCalumet Public SD 132, 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.