Garvy J Elem School, Chicago IL - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Garvy J Elem School

Garvy J Elementary School serves kindergarten through eighth grade in Chicago, on the North Side in the 60656 zip code near Oak Park Avenue. The school enrolls a school of moderate size for its grade band, with a student body that is roughly half White and roughly a third Hispanic, with smaller shares of Asian, Pacific Islander, and Black students.

On the most recent state assessments, Garvy's proficiency profile shows a mixed picture across grades and subjects. In English language arts, performance is uneven: third grade sits below the midpoint at roughly mid-40s, while fourth grade performs solidly in the low 60s. Middle grades show strength, with sixth and seventh grade both in the mid-to-high 60s, though eighth grade dips back to around mid-40s. Math results are generally lower. Third grade achieves roughly 59 percent proficiency, the school's strongest math performance, but fourth grade falls to 40 percent, sixth grade to 36 percent, and eighth grade to about 33 percent. Fifth and seventh grades cluster around 50 percent. Science results, available only for grades five and eight, show fifth graders reaching nearly 65 percent proficiency while eighth graders reach roughly 49 percent. Across the school, proficiency sits above the midpoint among Cook County districts, though the trajectory downward in upper grades and the consistent weakness in middle-grades math are patterns a parent may want to discuss with the school.

The school participates in the Skyline curriculum, a districtwide universal program developed by Chicago Public Schools and available at no cost to the school, which standardizes instructional materials across the district's managed schools in English language arts, math, science, social science, world languages, and arts. This represents a shift toward consistency in classroom materials after years in which individual schools sourced their own curricula.

Free-or-reduced-price-lunch data and special populations counts (students with IEPs, English learners) were not available in the published data. Chronic absenteeism rates were also not reported. Graduation rate data do not apply, as the school's highest grade is eighth.

Chicago itself is a large, dense city combining a substantial central business district with 77 distinct community areas and neighborhoods, each with its own character. The city ranks among the nation's most walkable, with an extensive CTA transit network running eight rail lines and roughly 150 bus routes, including 24/7 service on some train lines. Housing in the school's zip code is mid-priced for the region; median home values have risen modestly year-over-year, and rents have declined slightly. The area is part of Cook County's housing market, which shows a slight surplus of available listings and modest demand.

Chicago Public Schools is undergoing structural change. The district is transitioning from a mayor-appointed board to a fully elected 21-member board of education, a process that will complete after elections in November 2026. This shift gives parents direct voting power over who sets district policy. The district has also moved away from its longstanding school-choice model, adopting a strategic plan that prioritizes neighborhood schools and is reshaping resource allocation. Additionally, CPS replaced its numeric school ratings with new holistic accountability dashboards in late 2024, changing how families evaluate schools against one another. For families considering Garvy, these shifts mean the policy environment and comparative evaluation framework are in transition.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 359%

School 59% · District 38% · ▲ 21 pts above district

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

Grade 440%

School 40% · District 29% · ▲ 11 pts above district

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▲ 11 pts above county median

Grade 552%

School 52% · District 24% · ▲ 29 pts above district

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

Grade 636%

School 36% · District 23% · ▲ 13 pts above district

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

Grade 747%

School 47% · District 27% · ▲ 20 pts above district

▲ 18 pts above state median · ▲ 26 pts above county median

Grade 833%

School 33% · District 23% · ▲ 9 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 344%

School 44% · District 36% · ▲ 8 pts above district

even with state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

Grade 461%

School 61% · District 39% · ▲ 23 pts above district

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

Grade 568%

School 68% · District 43% · ▲ 25 pts above district

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

Grade 664%

School 64% · District 45% · ▲ 19 pts above district

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

Grade 769%

School 69% · District 46% · ▲ 23 pts above district

▲ 18 pts above state median · ▲ 25 pts above county median

Grade 849%

School 49% · District 48% · ▲ 1 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 565%

School 65% · District 29% · ▲ 36 pts above district

▲ 28 pts above state median · ▲ 38 pts above county median

Grade 849%

School 49% · District 31% · ▲ 17 pts above district

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▲ 22 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.