Wildwood Elem School, Chicago IL

Original Research by School Decision on Wildwood Elem School

Wildwood Elementary serves Chicago's north lakefront from preK through eighth grade, drawing a mixed student body in a neighborhood setting well-positioned for walkable urban life. The school enrolls a broad cross-section of Chicago families: a solid majority of the enrollment is white, with sizable shares of Hispanic and multiracial students, along with a smaller but present Asian community. No data on free-or-reduced-price lunch rates or English learner enrollment was available, so a reader cannot easily gauge economic diversity or the scale of language support; a parent may want to ask the school directly about these figures if they matter to a family's choice.

Academic performance sits above the midpoint among Cook County districts on a proficiency index spanning tested subjects and grades. The school shows variable strength across the grades and subjects. In math, third graders perform at a solid level, while upper-elementary math proficiency dips more sharply through fifth grade before recovering in sixth and seventh grades; eighth-grade math stabilizes at a moderate level. English language arts shows a different pattern. Third-grade ELA trails math, but fourth-grade students bounce up noticeably, and by eighth grade ELA proficiency reaches its highest point across both subjects. Science proficiency is assessed only in fifth and eighth grades; fifth-grade science is the school's softest spot across all tested areas, while eighth-grade science rebounds. These shifts suggest some volatility in instruction or student readiness across the grade span, and a parent curious about what causes the dip in fifth-grade performance across multiple subjects may find it worthwhile to discuss with school leaders.

Wildwood sits in a neighborhood with moderate housing value relative to Cook County, and monthly rent is in the mid-range for the area. Chicago itself is in its third straight year of population growth after nearly a decade of decline, and housing approvals have risen sharply in 2026. The city's built environment and transit system make walkability routine, and the school sits within Chicago's dense network of neighborhoods, parks, and 24/7 public transit, so families are not car-dependent for school access or daily life.

The school is part of Chicago Public Schools, a district undergoing substantial governance and curricular change. Chicago is transitioning to a fully elected 21-member school board for the first time in its history, with all seats up for election in November 2026; this restructures who sets policy and marks a significant shift in how families can influence CPS decisions. The district has moved away from its historic school-choice model, signaling renewed emphasis on neighborhood school investment, though specific changes to enrollment policies remain modest so far. CPS launched new school accountability dashboards in December 2024 that move beyond test-score ratings to broader school-experience metrics, and all district schools now use Skyline, a district-developed unified curriculum in English language arts, math, science, social science, world languages, and arts. For Wildwood specifically, that means instructional materials and frameworks are now standardized rather than school-selected, a structural change worth noting for families attuned to pedagogy.

Wildwood is a conventional public elementary school with no charter, magnet, or selective-enrollment status. Families choosing it are choosing a neighborhood seat, not applying through a competitive process. Test participation rates are consistently strong, and the attendance data provided does not flag chronic absenteeism as a systemic issue. The school's class sizes and overall enrollment are modest by urban standards, suggesting reasonable adult-to-student ratios and a smaller total student body than a mega-school. A parent weighing Wildwood would be looking at a local neighborhood school in a transit-rich, walkable part of the city, with moderate academic performance relative to its peer district landscape, and a school now embedded in a district that is reshaping its approach to public education, equity, and governance.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 375%

School 75% · District 38% · ▲ 38 pts above district

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

Grade 464%

School 64% · District 29% · ▲ 35 pts above district

▲ 27 pts above state median · ▲ 35 pts above county median

Grade 556%

School 56% · District 24% · ▲ 33 pts above district

▲ 27 pts above state median · ▲ 35 pts above county median

Grade 669%

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

▲ 45 pts above state median · ▲ 51 pts above county median

Grade 766%

School 66% · District 27% · ▲ 39 pts above district

▲ 37 pts above state median · ▲ 45 pts above county median

Grade 864%

School 64% · District 23% · ▲ 40 pts above district

▲ 41 pts above state median · ▲ 46 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 356%

School 56% · District 36% · ▲ 20 pts above district

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

Grade 471%

School 71% · District 39% · ▲ 33 pts above district

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

Grade 556%

School 56% · District 43% · ▲ 14 pts above district

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

Grade 680%

School 80% · District 45% · ▲ 35 pts above district

▲ 29 pts above state median · ▲ 37 pts above county median

Grade 769%

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

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

Grade 877%

School 77% · District 48% · ▲ 30 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 551%

School 51% · District 29% · ▲ 22 pts above district

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

Grade 864%

School 64% · District 31% · ▲ 32 pts above district

▲ 24 pts above state median · ▲ 37 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.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 5Lower-income40%Higher-income70%30 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 5Lower-income30%Higher-income57%27 pp gap