Nightingale Elem School, Chicago IL

Original Research by School Decision on Nightingale Elem School

Nightingale Elementary serves prekindergarten through eighth grade in Chicago's South Side neighborhood, located on South Rockwell Street in the 60632 zip code. The school enrolls a student body that is almost entirely Hispanic, with small counts of Native American and white students, and a negligible Black and Asian enrollment. The school is a regular public school operated by Chicago Public Schools.

Reading the state assessment data from 2024-25, Nightingale's academic performance is weak across both tested subjects and grades. In mathematics, proficiency ranges from the mid-teens to mid-twenties across grades three through eight, with the lowest showing around 14 percent meeting or exceeding the proficiency bar. English language arts performs somewhat better, with proficiency rates in the low thirties at the upper middle grades, though still dipping to the mid-twenties at grades four and five. Science, tested only in grades five and eight, shows around 21 percent proficiency in fifth grade and 27 percent in eighth grade. Across all assessments, participation rates are at or near complete. These results place Nightingale in the bottom quartile when compared to other schools in Cook County. The assessment itself shifted its cut scores this year, which is a note of caution when interpreting results, though the participation and testing logistics appear sound.

The school serves roughly six hundred students in its upper grades (three through eight) and considerably smaller cohorts in its early grades. The school's overall enrollment is stable and sustained by families living in the immediate neighborhood. Free or reduced price lunch counts and English learner enrollment figures were not available in the data, so a full picture of economic and linguistic need cannot be drawn from this profile. Special education identification rates are also not reported. These gaps leave unclear how much of Nightingale's student population qualifies for services or supports, an important context for understanding school-level demand and resource allocation.

Chicago's neighborhood context matters. The surrounding area is part of a large, dense city with extensive public transit, parks, and libraries. The city's economy is diversified and includes major public and private employers. Housing costs in the zip code are moderate relative to national and state benchmarks; median home values are in the mid-range for Cook County, and rents have shown upward pressure. The school sits within Chicago Public Schools' current strategic transition toward strengthening neighborhood schools, a shift away from the choice-driven enrollment policies of prior decades. The district also completed a curriculum rollout in 2024-25 called Skyline, which is now in place across subject areas and grades to standardize instruction district-wide. Parent and community engagement is changing too: the board of education is transitioning to full election by 2026 after having been mayor-appointed for decades, which reshapes how school policy gets set.

For a family choosing Nightingale, the read is straightforward: this is a neighborhood school serving a predominantly Hispanic student population with low baseline academic performance on state measures. Parents should plan for their child to receive instruction aligned to the new Skyline curriculum and within a school that is part of the district's stated commitment to improve neighborhood options. The performance gap is substantial, and a parent may want to look into further detail with the school and district about specific interventions, teacher supports, and academic recovery plans in place. Because the profile does not include chronic absenteeism data, graduation rates (the school does not serve high school), staffing details, discipline data, or program offerings, families should seek that information directly from the school. What is visible is a school in a city with real transit and community anchors, serving a stable cohort of students from the surrounding area, with room to grow academically.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 320%

School 20% · District 38% · ▼ 18 pts below district

▼ 26 pts below state median · ▼ 20 pts below county median

Grade 425%

School 25% · District 29% · ▼ 4 pts below district

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

Grade 514%

School 14% · District 24% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

Grade 617%

School 17% · District 23% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 7 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 726%

School 26% · District 27% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

Grade 816%

School 16% · District 23% · ▼ 7 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 331%

School 31% · District 36% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

Grade 426%

School 26% · District 39% · ▼ 13 pts below district

▼ 22 pts below state median · ▼ 14 pts below county median

Grade 522%

School 22% · District 43% · ▼ 21 pts below district

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

Grade 629%

School 29% · District 45% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▼ 22 pts below state median · ▼ 14 pts below county median

Grade 736%

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

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

Grade 835%

School 35% · District 48% · ▼ 13 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 521%

School 21% · District 29% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Grade 827%

School 27% · District 31% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▲ 1 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.