Mozart Elem School, Chicago IL - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Mozart Elem School

Mozart Elementary School is a neighborhood public school serving pre-K through eighth grade on Chicago's Northwest Side. The school draws a highly concentrated student population: the vast majority of students are Hispanic, with small populations of Black, white, and Asian students. Enrollment sits at a small-to-mid-size level for its grade span, with reasonably balanced class sizes across pre-K through eighth grade. No data was available on the share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, or on English learner enrollment, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about these populations and the support services available to them.

The school participates in the Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR), which tests reading and math in grades 3 through 8, and in Illinois Science Assessment in grades 5 and 8. Mozart's proficiency rates are persistently low across both subjects in grades 3 through 7. In math, proficiency hovers in the single digits across grades 3 through 7, with only eighth grade showing higher performance. In English language arts, the pattern is similar: grades 3 and 4 post low proficiency, grades 5 and 6 show modest improvement, and proficiency climbs notably in grades 7 and 8. Science proficiency in grade 5 is very low; grade 8 science is higher. This progression, with weaker performance in the elementary grades and a marked uptick by seventh and eighth grade, is a real pattern worth understanding. A parent may want to explore what changes in instruction, student maturity, or school environment account for this shift.

Positioned against other districts in Cook County, Mozart's overall proficiency index falls in the bottom quartile, meaning that across tested subjects and grades, fewer students here reach proficiency compared to the midpoint of peer districts in the county. This is a low-performance environment by the county standard, a fact important to weigh if academic proficiency is a primary driver in your choice.

The school is located in Chicago proper, on the Northwest Side, within Chicago Public Schools District 299. Chicago itself is a large, dense, mixed-use city with a major downtown, extensive transit via the CTA and commuter rail, and a distinctive patchwork of neighborhoods. The housing market in the school's zip code shows moderate affordability; median home values have appreciated modestly year over year, and median rent is rising but remains below state and national benchmarks. The neighborhood is part of a broader Chicago region that has resumed population growth after a decade of decline, with new housing construction concentrated downtown and along the lakefront, though the city is actively approving new units across neighborhoods as well.

A parent considering Mozart should recognize that this school serves a neighborhood student body and sits within a district that is shifting policy emphasis toward strengthening neighborhood schools rather than the school-choice model of prior decades. CPS has also replaced its old numeric school ratings with new holistic dashboards (as of December 2024) and rolled out a universal PreK-12 curriculum called Skyline. These district-level changes create a different policy climate from years past. The teaching and learning environment at Mozart itself, particularly the factors driving higher eighth-grade performance, would be well worth exploring in conversation with the school leadership and current families.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 310%

School 10% · District 38% · ▼ 28 pts below district

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

Grade 410%

School 10% · District 29% · ▼ 19 pts below district

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

Grade 513%

School 13% · District 24% · ▼ 11 pts below district

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

Grade 69%

School 9% · District 23% · ▼ 14 pts below district

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Grade 710%

School 10% · District 27% · ▼ 17 pts below district

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

Grade 819%

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

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

English language arts

Grade 316%

School 16% · District 36% · ▼ 20 pts below district

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

Grade 417%

School 17% · District 39% · ▼ 22 pts below district

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

Grade 528%

School 28% · District 43% · ▼ 15 pts below district

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

Grade 637%

School 37% · District 45% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Grade 743%

School 43% · District 46% · ▼ 3 pts below district

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

Grade 862%

School 62% · District 48% · ▲ 14 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 510%

School 10% · District 29% · ▼ 19 pts below district

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

Grade 829%

School 29% · District 31% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▲ 2 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.