Kinzie Elem School, Chicago IL - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Kinzie Elem School

Kinzie Elem serves pre-K through eighth grade in Chicago's Southwest Side, in the 60638 zip code. The school enrolls a small community of students across ten grade levels, with the largest classes in the upper elementary and middle grades. The student body is predominantly Hispanic, with smaller shares of white, Black, and Asian students. Specific counts on free and reduced price lunch eligibility and English learners were not available, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about the economic context of the population and the size of its language-support program.

On state math assessments, the school shows a grade-dependent pattern. Fourth grade performs above the school's typical range, while fifth through eighth grades cluster in the low to mid-range. Third grade lands in the middle. In English language arts, the picture is notably stronger: third and fifth grades sit solidly in the mid-range, while fourth, sixth, seventh, and especially eighth grades run well above that band. Eighth grade ELA performance stands out. Science results, available only for fifth and eighth grades, fall in the mid-range. Across all tested grades and subjects, Kinzie's overall proficiency index places it above the midpoint for schools in Cook County. State assessment methods changed in 2024-25, which means trend comparisons with prior years cannot be safely drawn from the data.

The gap between math and ELA achievement is real and worth noting. A parent might ask whether the school has identified specific supports or instructional adjustments for math in the upper grades, where proficiency dips. The fact that ELA performance strengthens in the middle grades suggests the school has instructional momentum there.

Kinzie sits within Chicago Public Schools, a large urban district navigating significant structural change. CPS held its first school board elections in November 2024 as part of a transition to a fully elected 21-member board; all seats will be elected in November 2026, giving parents direct voting power over district governance going forward. The district adopted a strategic plan in 2024 titled "Together We Rise" that emphasizes strengthening neighborhood schools and represents a deliberate shift away from the school-choice enrollment model that has dominated CPS for years. It also replaced its long-standing numeric school rating system with holistic accountability dashboards in December 2024, changing how families evaluate school quality beyond test scores alone. CPS rolled out Skyline, a districtwide PreK-12 curriculum, beginning in 2021-22, making curriculum materials and scope available to all schools at no added cost.

Chicago itself is a large, dense, mixed-use city with over seventy neighborhoods, ranging from the high-rise downtown Loop and lakefront communities to low-rise residential streets and ethnic commercial corridors. The city ranks sixth nationally in walkability and maintains 24-hour transit service on its 'L' rail system and extensive bus network. After nearly a decade of population decline, Chicago resumed growth in 2023 and continued to grow in 2024 and 2025, with recent housing development concentrated downtown and along the North Lakefront. Housing values in the 60638 zip code appear modest relative to the Chicago metro area and well below the Illinois and national benchmarks, and rents are rising at a faster clip than home values. The area's affordability relative to median household income sits below what one would spend in higher-value Chicago neighborhoods.

Kinzie has no published web presence in the available data, so a parent looking to learn more about specific programs, staff, or day-to-day operations should reach out to the school directly or visit the district's website.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 348%

School 48% · District 38% · ▲ 11 pts above district

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

Grade 462%

School 62% · District 29% · ▲ 33 pts above district

▲ 25 pts above state median · ▲ 34 pts above county median

Grade 538%

School 38% · District 24% · ▲ 14 pts above district

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

Grade 639%

School 39% · District 23% · ▲ 16 pts above district

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

Grade 732%

School 32% · District 27% · ▲ 5 pts above district

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

Grade 836%

School 36% · District 23% · ▲ 12 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 360%

School 60% · District 36% · ▲ 23 pts above district

▲ 16 pts above state median · ▲ 23 pts above county median

Grade 476%

School 76% · District 39% · ▲ 37 pts above district

▲ 28 pts above state median · ▲ 36 pts above county median

Grade 561%

School 61% · District 43% · ▲ 18 pts above district

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

Grade 676%

School 76% · District 45% · ▲ 31 pts above district

▲ 25 pts above state median · ▲ 33 pts above county median

Grade 776%

School 76% · District 46% · ▲ 30 pts above district

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

Grade 882%

School 82% · District 48% · ▲ 35 pts above district

▲ 29 pts above state median · ▲ 36 pts above county median

Science

Grade 546%

School 46% · District 29% · ▲ 17 pts above district

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

Grade 851%

School 51% · District 31% · ▲ 19 pts above district

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▲ 24 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.