Haley Elem Academy, Chicago IL - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Haley Elem Academy

Haley Elem Academy is a public elementary and middle school on the South Side of Chicago, serving pre-K through eighth grade. The school enrolls a student body that is predominantly Black, with smaller shares of Hispanic and white students. It is part of Chicago Public Schools District 299, which serves the city and its neighborhoods.

The academic picture at Haley is a significant concern. On the most recent state assessments, proficiency rates across tested grades and subjects are well below what parents would expect at any grade level. In English language arts, third graders showed the strongest performance, though still at a modest level; by seventh and eighth grade, ELA proficiency improves somewhat. Math proficiency is notably weak across the school. Third-grade math proficiency sits at a moderate level, but fourth grade drops sharply, and grades five through eight show proficiency rates near zero, with only isolated students meeting the standard in grades seven and eight. Science proficiency, tested in grades five and eight, is similarly low. These numbers place Haley in the bottom quartile of schools across Cook County in overall proficiency, a gap a parent should take seriously and may want to discuss directly with the school's leadership about what supports are in place, what changes are underway, and what the path forward looks like.

Participation rates are strong, with near-universal attendance at testing, so the low proficiency numbers reflect actual performance rather than testing barriers. Grade-level enrollment is fairly balanced across the school's bands, with roughly forty to fifty students per grade, creating a manageable school size.

The school sits within a Chicago neighborhood on the far South Side. Housing values in the zip code are modest and have shown only slight appreciation. Rents have risen over the past year and are moderate by Chicago standards. The immediate area has seen some real estate activity, with both supply and demand present in the market.

CPS as a district is in transition. The school board moved from mayoral appointment to partial election in late 2024 and will be fully elected by voters starting in 2027, a structural change that gives families a direct voice in district governance. The district adopted a strategic plan in 2024 called "Together We Rise" that emphasizes strengthening neighborhood schools and has backed away from its decades-long embrace of school choice. CPS also introduced a new universal curriculum, Skyline, that standardizes instructional materials across district schools at no school-level cost, and replaced its numeric school ratings with broader accountability dashboards in late 2024, so the ways parents compare schools are shifting.

For a family considering Haley, the primary question is academic support. The state test data shows the school is not meeting proficiency benchmarks for most of its students, particularly in math. A parent would be wise to reach out to the school to understand what intervention programs exist, how teachers are trained and supported, what one-on-one or small-group supports are available, whether there are summer programs, and what the school's improvement targets are. The South Side location and modest housing costs may appeal to some families, but the school's academic trajectory would need to be a central part of any enrollment decision.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 343%

School 43% · District 38% · ▲ 5 pts above district

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

Grade 418%

School 18% · District 29% · ▼ 11 pts below district

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

Grade 50%

School 0% · District 24% · ▼ 24 pts below district

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

Grade 60%

School 0% · District 23% · ▼ 23 pts below district

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

Grade 72%

School 2% · District 27% · ▼ 25 pts below district

▼ 27 pts below state median · ▼ 19 pts below county median

Grade 82%

School 2% · District 23% · ▼ 21 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 315%

School 15% · District 36% · ▼ 22 pts below district

▼ 29 pts below state median · ▼ 23 pts below county median

Grade 447%

School 47% · District 39% · ▲ 9 pts above district

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

Grade 510%

School 10% · District 43% · ▼ 32 pts below district

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

Grade 627%

School 27% · District 45% · ▼ 18 pts below district

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

Grade 730%

School 30% · District 46% · ▼ 16 pts below district

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

Grade 841%

School 41% · District 48% · ▼ 7 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 510%

School 10% · District 29% · ▼ 18 pts below district

▼ 26 pts below state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

Grade 819%

School 19% · District 31% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▼ 20 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below 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.