Black Magnet Elem School, Chicago IL

Original Research by School Decision on Black Magnet Elem School

Black Magnet Elem School serves students from kindergarten through grade eight in the south Chicago area. The school enrolls a small population, with all grades represented from early childhood through middle school. The student body is predominantly Black, with a small share of Hispanic and multiracial students. The school draws from a neighborhood where median home values are modestly below the state benchmark and rents have risen notably over the past year; housing affordability, measured by rent as a percentage of household income, sits above the national average.

In state assessments, the school shows a marked grade-level split. In the elementary grades (third and fourth), proficiency rates in math are strong, with the majority of students meeting or exceeding state standards. Reading (ELA) proficiency in third and fourth grade also runs solidly above the midpoint. By fifth grade, performance shifts significantly downward. Fifth-grade math proficiency falls to around half, and science proficiency in that same grade sits below half. The decline continues through the middle grades: sixth-grade math proficiency drops further to around a third, and seventh and eighth grade math proficiency fall below that. Reading proficiency remains somewhat more stable in the middle grades, holding in the mid-to-high range, but the math gap widens as students move up.

This pattern suggests that the school succeeds in building foundational skills in elementary grades but faces challenges in deepening and extending that learning as coursework becomes more abstract and cumulative. A parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand how the transition from elementary to middle school is managed, what additional support is available in the upper grades, and whether there are specific interventions in place to help students close the gap in mathematics as it becomes more advanced.

When positioned against other districts in Cook County, the school's overall proficiency index is above the midpoint, reflecting strength in the early grades that outweighs the lower performance in later ones. State testing data for chronic absenteeism and graduation rate were not available; the latter makes sense given that the school does not serve high school grades.

Chicago Public Schools is undergoing significant structural change. The district transitioned to a hybrid school board in 2024 and will move to a fully elected 21-member board in November 2026, giving parents direct voting power over district governance. The district has also adopted a strategic plan that shifts emphasis toward neighborhood schools, moving away from the choice-heavy model that has historically shaped enrollment. Meanwhile, CPS rolled out Skyline, a district-developed PreK-12 curriculum in six content areas, available to all district-managed schools without additional cost; this standardizes instructional materials across the hundreds of schools that previously selected curriculum independently.

Black Magnet Elem sits within Chicago, a large, dense city where walkability is high and public transit is extensive. The neighborhood setting offers direct access to community schools, parks, and the broader urban fabric. Families in the area have access to the city's 77 community areas, robust park system, and multiple transit options.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 381%

School 81% · District 38% · ▲ 43 pts above district

▲ 34 pts above state median · ▲ 41 pts above county median

Grade 487%

School 87% · District 29% · ▲ 58 pts above district

▲ 50 pts above state median · ▲ 59 pts above county median

Grade 554%

School 54% · District 24% · ▲ 31 pts above district

▲ 24 pts above state median · ▲ 33 pts above county median

Grade 637%

School 37% · District 23% · ▲ 14 pts above district

▲ 13 pts above state median · ▲ 20 pts above county median

Grade 726%

School 26% · District 27% · ▼ 1 pts below district

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

Grade 824%

School 24% · District 23%

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 364%

School 64% · District 36% · ▲ 28 pts above district

▲ 20 pts above state median · ▲ 27 pts above county median

Grade 480%

School 80% · District 39% · ▲ 41 pts above district

▲ 31 pts above state median · ▲ 40 pts above county median

Grade 569%

School 69% · District 43% · ▲ 26 pts above district

▲ 16 pts above state median · ▲ 23 pts above county median

Grade 671%

School 71% · District 45% · ▲ 26 pts above district

▲ 21 pts above state median · ▲ 28 pts above county median

Grade 768%

School 68% · District 46% · ▲ 22 pts above district

▲ 17 pts above state median · ▲ 24 pts above county median

Grade 868%

School 68% · District 48% · ▲ 21 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 546%

School 46% · District 29% · ▲ 17 pts above district

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▲ 19 pts above county median

Grade 842%

School 42% · District 31% · ▲ 11 pts above district

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

This schoolChicago Public Schools Dist 299, 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.