Pilsen Elem Community Academy, Chicago IL

Original Research by School Decision on Pilsen Elem Community Academy

Pilsen Elementary Community Academy is a public school serving prekindergarten through eighth grade on Chicago's lower West Side, within Chicago Public Schools District 299. It is a small, neighborhood-based school whose enrollment is heavily concentrated among Latino students, with the remainder Black and a handful of students from other backgrounds. The student body is economically modest, though specific free-or-reduced-price-lunch data is not available; the enrollment sits below the district median in raw size.

The school's most recent state test results reveal a serious academic challenge. Across tested grades in English language arts and mathematics, proficiency rates are markedly low. In third-grade math, about half the tested students met proficiency; in every other grade tested, proficiency in math ranges from nearly zero in grades seven and eight to single digits in grades four through six. English language arts shows a similar pattern: third grade reaches the low-to-mid twenties in proficiency, grades four and six in the high single digits to low teens, and seventh and eighth grade in the high twenties to high thirties. Science proficiency data comes only for grades five and eight, both in the low teens. Students participate in state assessments at near-universal rates, suggesting the data reflects actual performance rather than testing gaps.

When placed against the county's district cohort, Pilsen Elementary's overall proficiency index sits in the bottom quartile, well below the county median. A parent may want to look into this further with the school, particularly to understand the scope and nature of academic supports in place, intervention structures, staffing, and any recent shifts in approach or leadership that might bear on the pattern.

The school operates within a district currently undergoing significant structural change. Chicago Public Schools transitioned in late 2024 to a partially elected board of education, with full elections coming in November 2026, giving parents a voice in district governance that did not exist before. The district adopted a five-year strategic plan in 2024 shifting policy toward strengthening neighborhood schools rather than relying primarily on selective-enrollment and choice mechanisms. It also replaced its longtime numeric school ratings with new holistic accountability dashboards, changing the way families evaluate schools.

District-wide, CPS rolled out Skyline, a comprehensive PreK-12 curriculum developed internally, beginning in 2021. It is available at no school-level cost to all district-managed schools, standardizing materials across campuses that historically chose their own. This is the first time CPS has offered a unified curriculum of that scope. Pilsen Elementary would have access to this resource.

Chicago itself is a large, dense, mixed-use city combining downtown and lakefront with dozens of distinct residential neighborhoods. The city ranks sixth nationally in walkability and is served by the CTA's eight rail lines and an extensive bus network, including 24-hour service on some routes. After nearly a decade of decline, Chicago resumed population growth beginning in 2023, and housing approvals have risen in 2025 and early 2026. The region's unemployment rate hovers around mid-single digits; median household income stands in the mid-eighties. Housing values in the 60608 zip code where the school sits are moderate, with median home prices considerably below both state and national benchmarks. Rents have risen over the past year and remain a growing share of household budgets for renters.

Pilsen Elementary serves an economically mixed neighborhood within one of the nation's most economically stratified metros. The school's academic performance is well below district and county norms, a fact that any parent or guardian considering this school should weigh heavily against its location, small size, and neighborhood identity.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 347%

School 47% · District 38% · ▲ 9 pts above district

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

Grade 45%

School 5% · District 29% · ▼ 24 pts below district

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

Grade 55%

School 5% · District 24% · ▼ 18 pts below district

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

Grade 65%

School 5% · District 23% · ▼ 18 pts below district

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

Grade 70%

School 0% · District 27% · ▼ 27 pts below district

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

Grade 84%

School 4% · District 23% · ▼ 19 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 327%

School 27% · District 36% · ▼ 10 pts below district

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

Grade 45%

School 5% · District 39% · ▼ 33 pts below district

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

Grade 516%

School 16% · District 43% · ▼ 27 pts below district

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

Grade 618%

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

▼ 32 pts below state median · ▼ 25 pts below county median

Grade 738%

School 38% · District 46% · ▼ 8 pts below district

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

Grade 830%

School 30% · District 48% · ▼ 17 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 516%

School 16% · District 29% · ▼ 13 pts below district

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

Grade 817%

School 17% · District 31% · ▼ 14 pts below district

▼ 22 pts below state median · ▼ 9 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.