Kipling Elem School, Chicago IL - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Kipling Elem School

Kipling Elem is a neighborhood public school serving pre-K through grade 8 on the South Side of Chicago, with an enrollment of about 226 students. The student body is predominantly Black, reflecting the surrounding community, and the school draws its population from the local attendance area rather than through selective admissions or choice.

The state assessment results from the 2024-25 school year show proficiency rates that fall considerably below what the state counts as passing. In math, proficiency ranges from under 20 percent in grades four, five, and seven, to roughly 30 percent in grade three and 38 percent in grade eight. English language arts performance is somewhat stronger, particularly in the upper grades: grade eight reaches about 52 percent proficiency, and grade seven lands at 36 percent, but grades three through six cluster between 24 and 43 percent. Science testing, available only for grades five and eight, shows 24 percent proficiency in grade five and 52 percent in grade eight. When averaged across all tested subjects and grades, the school's overall proficiency sits in the bottom quartile among the Cook County school districts for which comparable data is available. Students are demonstrating full participation in testing, so these results reflect actual performance rather than incomplete assessment data.

The school's profile suggests modest enrollment, with particularly small cohorts in some grades. Grade four has roughly 30 tested students in math, which indicates a very small testing group. This grade-level unevenness is typical of neighborhood elementary and middle schools with no selective admissions, and parents should understand that very small grade levels can lead to year-to-year variation in aggregate performance as cohorts move through.

Kipling serves a neighborhood school role in a South Side Chicago community. Chicago Public Schools has recently shifted its strategic direction toward strengthening neighborhood options, moving away from decades of school-choice and selective-enrollment emphasis. That reframing makes the district's continued investment in neighborhood schools like Kipling a stated priority, though execution and resource allocation remain factors parents may want to understand more deeply by speaking directly with school leadership. The district also deployed a new universal curriculum called Skyline beginning in 2021-22, available at no school cost to all CPS buildings, which standardizes instructional materials across the system for the first time in its history.

Chicago itself continues to grow after a period of decline, and the South Side housing market shows modest affordability relative to national benchmarks, with a median home value and rental costs that reflect a middle-income residential area. The neighborhood has transit access through the CTA, and the city has resuming population growth and new housing approvals, though construction activity has concentrated downtown and on the North Lakefront rather than on the South Side.

For a family considering Kipling, the key questions center on the school's instructional response to its assessment outcomes. Current proficiency rates are low, and parents will want to understand what academic support systems the school has in place, whether there are turnaround efforts underway, and what trajectory the school leadership envisions. A site visit and direct conversation with school administration about teaching and intervention strategies would be valuable. The school's role as a neighborhood anchor in a working community is clear, but the academic performance data indicates that parents should evaluate this school with eyes open to the need for strong home engagement and possibly supplemental academic support.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 331%

School 31% · District 38% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

Grade 420%

School 20% · District 29% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

Grade 518%

School 18% · District 24% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Grade 625%

School 25% · District 23% · ▲ 2 pts above district

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

Grade 720%

School 20% · District 27% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 838%

School 38% · District 23% · ▲ 15 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 342%

School 42% · District 36% · ▲ 6 pts above district

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

Grade 427%

School 27% · District 39% · ▼ 12 pts below district

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

Grade 524%

School 24% · District 43% · ▼ 19 pts below district

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

Grade 631%

School 31% · District 45% · ▼ 14 pts below district

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

Grade 736%

School 36% · District 46% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

Grade 852%

School 52% · District 48% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▼ 1 pts below state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Science

Grade 524%

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

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Grade 852%

School 52% · District 31% · ▲ 21 pts above district

▲ 13 pts above state median · ▲ 26 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.