The top reported proficiency rate is 26% in English language arts. The lowest is 12% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Mccormick Elem School
McCormick Elementary School serves prekindergarten through fifth grade in Chicago's South Lawndale neighborhood, a densely residential area on the city's southwest side. The school's enrollment of about four hundred students is heavily concentrated in early grades; the three oldest grade levels (third, fourth, and fifth) each serve about sixty students. The student body is overwhelmingly Hispanic, with a smaller number of Black and white students; the data on free-and-reduced-price lunch eligibility was not available, but the neighborhood character and school profile suggest economically strained families form the majority.
State assessment results from the 2024-25 school year show proficiency rates well below the district and state benchmarks across all tested grades and subjects. In math, third-grade proficiency reached about a fifth of students; by fourth grade it dropped to about one in eight; by fifth grade only a handful of students met proficiency. English language arts results followed a similar pattern, with third and fourth grades near or below a quarter of students proficient, though fifth grade climbed slightly above that. Science proficiency in fifth grade was similarly low. Participation in testing was high—nearly all students were assessed—and test conditions suggest reliable reporting rather than widespread absenteeism or refusal. A parent may want to look into the school's literacy and numeracy instruction and whether additional academic supports or intensive intervention programs are in place, particularly for students in grades three through five where proficiency gaps are most visible.
The school's position among Cook County's districts is telling: its overall proficiency index falls into the bottom quartile of the county's comparison cohort, placing it among the lower-performing schools in its region. This is a concrete signal that academic acceleration will not come from the school alone and that families selecting McCormick should be prepared to provide or seek supplemental learning support.
The South Lawndale neighborhood where McCormick sits is part of a large, ethnically and economically mixed city undergoing measured gentrification and housing-market shifts. The zip code's home values are modest; median rents have drifted upward modestly. Chicago itself is walkable, transit-rich, and culturally diverse, with robust civic institutions, but South Lawndale itself is a working-class residential corridor without downtown amenities. The broader Chicago Public Schools district has shifted its strategic direction toward strengthening neighborhood schools and away from choice-based enrollment, a policy change that makes neighborhood assignment schools like McCormick a more central part of the system's vision going forward.
McCormick is a regular public school operating under district mandate, not a magnet or charter program. No data on special education enrollment, English learner population, staffing depth, attendance, or suspension discipline was provided. State assessment results are the primary window into academic performance; they reveal a school where most students are not meeting grade-level standards in core subjects. The school's low proficiency does not mean it lacks dedicated teachers or school community—many under-resourced schools work hard against difficult odds—but it does mean results are not currently strong. For a family choosing between schools, this is essential information: McCormick would require active, engaged parental involvement and likely supplementary tutoring or enrichment outside school to ensure a child reaches grade-level competency.
See more original research from School Decision →