Ericson Elem Scholastic Academy, Chicago IL

Original Research by School Decision on Ericson Elem Scholastic Academy

Ericson Elementary Scholastic Academy is a public school serving pre-K through eighth grade in Chicago's Lower West Side neighborhood. The school enrolls a small population of students distributed evenly across its grade band, with a student body that is predominantly Black. Detailed data on free-or-reduced-price lunch eligibility and counts of students with disabilities or English learners are not publicly available.

On the 2024-25 state assessment (IAR for English language arts and mathematics, ISA 2.0 for science), Ericson's proficiency results are consistently low across all tested grades. In mathematics, proficiency rates range from single digits in grades three through eight, with the fourth grade showing the strongest result among elementary grades. In English language arts, results are somewhat higher, particularly in grades seven and eight, where just over half and half of students respectively meet state proficiency standards. Science proficiency, tested only in grades five and eight, remains very low. The school's overall proficiency index sits in the bottom quartile when compared to the districts across Cook County, reflecting a substantial academic challenge.

All students participated in state testing, indicating full assessment administration and no assessment opt-out patterns in the reported data. However, the school's sustained low proficiency across grades and subjects suggests that students are not meeting grade-level standards as measured by state metrics. A parent may want to look into what academic supports and instructional strategies the school is implementing to address these outcomes, and whether the school has a clear plan for improvement. The range of performance across grade levels and subjects, with relative strength in seventh-grade literacy, hints at variability that merits direct conversation with school leadership.

Ericson sits within Chicago Public Schools, a large urban district serving hundreds of thousands of students across hundreds of schools. The district recently replaced its older numeric school ratings with new holistic dashboards in late 2024, meaning the framing of how schools are evaluated has shifted. More broadly, CPS is in the middle of a governance transition: voters elected the first ten school board members in 2024, with a fully elected 21-member board taking office after elections in 2026. The district is also pursuing a strategic plan called "Together We Rise" that emphasizes strengthening neighborhood schools over the school-choice model that has long defined CPS. Simultaneously, the district has introduced Skyline, a universal curriculum spanning multiple subject areas, intended to standardize instructional materials across all district schools.

The school's location in Chicago's Lower West Side situates it in a dense, walkable urban neighborhood connected by the city's transit system. Housing costs in the surrounding area are below state and national benchmarks, making the neighborhood relatively affordable. The broader Chicago economy remains diverse and growing after a period of decline; the city added residents in both 2023-2024 and 2024-2025, and housing approvals have risen. This growth context may affect school capacity, community investment, and the availability of neighborhood resources over time.

For families evaluating Ericson, the decisive question is what the school's response has been to these low assessment results. Understanding whether the school has a coherent turnaround strategy, what staffing and resources have been devoted to academic improvement, and whether there are signs of progress in early literacy or numeracy interventions would help frame realistic expectations. The school's relatively small enrollment can mean both closer relationships and potentially fewer specialized supports. A direct conversation with the principal about the school's current priorities and measurable goals for the coming year would be essential before deciding whether Ericson aligns with a family's needs and timeline.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 312%

School 12% · District 38% · ▼ 26 pts below district

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

Grade 429%

School 29% · District 29%

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

Grade 57%

School 7% · District 24% · ▼ 17 pts below district

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

Grade 63%

School 3% · District 23% · ▼ 19 pts below district

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

Grade 79%

School 9% · District 27% · ▼ 18 pts below district

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

Grade 84%

School 4% · District 23% · ▼ 20 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 332%

School 32% · District 36% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Grade 438%

School 38% · District 39%

▼ 10 pts below state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Grade 523%

School 23% · District 43% · ▼ 19 pts below district

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

Grade 635%

School 35% · District 45% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Grade 756%

School 56% · District 46% · ▲ 10 pts above district

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

Grade 850%

School 50% · District 48% · ▲ 2 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 57%

School 7% · District 29% · ▼ 22 pts below district

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

Grade 811%

School 11% · District 31% · ▼ 20 pts below district

▼ 28 pts below state median · ▼ 16 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.