Disney Elem Magnet School, Chicago IL

Original Research by School Decision on Disney Elem Magnet School

Disney Elementary Magnet School serves prekindergarten through eighth grade in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood, a densely residential area on the city's North Lakefront with a mix of mid-rise and high-rise housing along tree-lined streets. The school draws from a catchment that includes lakefront blocks and tree-lined neighborhoods; median home values in the 60613 zip code are moderate for Chicago, with median rent also in the mid-range by city standards. The neighborhood has sustained modest population growth and is part of a broader resurgence in Chicago's downtown and North Lakefront areas, where recent multifamily housing development has been concentrated.

The school's test results show uneven performance by grade level and subject. In English language arts, third and fourth graders run around the midpoint of proficiency; by sixth grade, performance rises substantially, with seventh and eighth graders reaching strong results. Math tells a different story: third graders show the highest proficiency, while performance drops steeply in grades five and six, hovering below the midpoint, before recovering slightly in grades seven and eight. Science proficiency in fifth grade sits modestly below the midpoint; eighth grade science is notably stronger. Across the school's tested grades overall, proficiency sits above the midpoint relative to other schools in Cook County, a meaningful positioning within the district's context. A parent examining these numbers may want to look into whether the school has identified the roots of the middle-grade math softness and what supports are in place to address it.

The school's enrollment is diverse and substantial, serving a mixed neighborhood. Black students make up the largest group, followed by Hispanic students, with meaningful presences of Asian and white students. The racial and ethnic mix reflects Uptown's character. Enrollment data on free- or reduced-price lunch eligibility and the count of students with disabilities or English learner status were not available in the reported data. The school houses all its students in the same building across ten grades, from pre-K to eighth, creating a small-school feel within a larger enrollment.

Disney is a regular public magnet school, not a charter, and sits within Chicago Public Schools District 299. The school benefits from the district's rollout of Skyline, the PreK-12 curriculum launched district-wide beginning in 2021-2022, which standardizes instructional materials across content areas. The district has also replaced numeric school ratings with holistic accountability dashboards as of December 2024, shifting how schools are evaluated beyond test scores alone. Families choosing CPS are also navigating a structural shift: the school board transitioned from fully appointed to a hybrid model in 2024 (10 elected, 11 appointed members) and will become fully elected in 2026, giving parents a direct voice in governance.

The district's strategic plan adopted in 2024, "Together We Rise," emphasizes neighborhood schools while backing away from swift changes to selective enrollment and magnet admissions, keeping magnet schools like Disney in their current posture. Housing costs in the school's zip code are affordable relative to much of Chicago's lakefront, and the transit-rich neighborhood offers short connections to the Loop and other parts of the city via CTA rail and bus.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 358%

School 58% · District 38% · ▲ 20 pts above district

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

Grade 447%

School 47% · District 29% · ▲ 18 pts above district

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

Grade 525%

School 25% · District 24% · ▲ 2 pts above district

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

Grade 626%

School 26% · District 23% · ▲ 3 pts above district

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

Grade 738%

School 38% · District 27% · ▲ 10 pts above district

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

Grade 835%

School 35% · District 23% · ▲ 12 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 352%

School 52% · District 36% · ▲ 16 pts above district

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

Grade 454%

School 54% · District 39% · ▲ 15 pts above district

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

Grade 559%

School 59% · District 43% · ▲ 16 pts above district

▲ 7 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

Grade 663%

School 63% · District 45% · ▲ 18 pts above district

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

Grade 761%

School 61% · District 46% · ▲ 15 pts above district

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

Grade 865%

School 65% · District 48% · ▲ 17 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 544%

School 44% · District 29% · ▲ 15 pts above district

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

Grade 859%

School 59% · District 31% · ▲ 27 pts above district

▲ 19 pts above state median · ▲ 32 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.