Skinner Elem School, Chicago IL - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Skinner Elem School

Skinner Elementary School serves grades pre-K through eighth in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago, a few blocks south of downtown. It is a regular public school operated by Chicago Public Schools District 299, the city's largest school system.

The school enrolls a diverse student body that mirrors Chicago's composition. About three in ten students are Asian, roughly one in four are Black, roughly one in four are white, and smaller shares are Hispanic, multiracial, or Native American. The overall enrollment is just over a thousand, spread across eleven grade levels. The school participates in the Skyline curriculum, a PreK-12 program launched district-wide to standardize instruction across CPS.

In the most recent state assessments (2024-25), Skinner's proficiency results show a pattern. In the early elementary grades tested, math and English language arts proficiency sit in the high seventies to low eighties across third, fourth, and fifth grade. Sixth-grade English reaches the low eighties as well. By middle grades, performance softens. Sixth-grade math drops to the low seventies, seventh-grade math falls to the low sixties, and eighth-grade math proficiency falls to near half. English language arts holds more steadily in the middle grades, staying in the high seventies to mid-sixties through eighth. Science proficiency in fifth grade registers in the mid-sixties, and eighth-grade science sits near sixty. The school's overall proficiency index across tested subjects and grades places it in the top quartile among schools in Cook County, a meaningful strength that reflects solid early-grade work even as middle-grade results suggest an area to monitor.

Testing participation is consistently strong, above ninety-five percent in all grades and subjects, indicating reliable data. Free-or-reduced-price lunch eligibility data was not available; enrollment counts by race and ethnicity are on the profile page above.

The school's location in Pilsen, a neighborhood of historical significance and demographic change, sits within a housing market showing modest recent price shifts. Median home values in the zip code are stable with a slight recent decline, and median rents have grown modestly. The neighborhood carries a mix of older apartment buildings, commercial corridors, and community institutions, with CPS schools deliberately embedded in the neighborhood fabric rather than set apart.

Skinner's transition to middle school years is a moment many families watch closely. The step down in eighth-grade math and science proficiency, compared to earlier grades, is worth discussing directly with the school. Middle-grades mathematics proficiency dropping from the seventies to below fifty between grades six and eight deserves a parent conversation about instructional approach, student supports, and how the school addresses this shift. Many families find this the right moment to inquire about how the school approaches the academic and social demands of the transition, what math support looks like, and whether acceleration or remediation pathways exist.

The school benefits from being part of a large, well-resourced district undergoing substantial governance and curricular change. Chicago's recent move toward a fully elected school board, its rollout of the Skyline curriculum, and its shift in policy language toward neighborhood school investment create an evolving context. A parent choosing Skinner is also choosing to participate in a district navigating significant structural transition.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 380%

School 80% · District 38% · ▲ 42 pts above district

▲ 33 pts above state median · ▲ 40 pts above county median

Grade 479%

School 79% · District 29% · ▲ 50 pts above district

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

Grade 572%

School 72% · District 24% · ▲ 48 pts above district

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

Grade 671%

School 71% · District 23% · ▲ 48 pts above district

▲ 47 pts above state median · ▲ 54 pts above county median

Grade 762%

School 62% · District 27% · ▲ 35 pts above district

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

Grade 847%

School 47% · District 23% · ▲ 24 pts above district

▲ 25 pts above state median · ▲ 30 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 374%

School 74% · District 36% · ▲ 38 pts above district

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

Grade 479%

School 79% · District 39% · ▲ 41 pts above district

▲ 31 pts above state median · ▲ 39 pts above county median

Grade 580%

School 80% · District 43% · ▲ 38 pts above district

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

Grade 683%

School 83% · District 45% · ▲ 38 pts above district

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

Grade 778%

School 78% · District 46% · ▲ 32 pts above district

▲ 27 pts above state median · ▲ 34 pts above county median

Grade 867%

School 67% · District 48% · ▲ 19 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 565%

School 65% · District 29% · ▲ 37 pts above district

▲ 29 pts above state median · ▲ 38 pts above county median

Grade 860%

School 60% · District 31% · ▲ 28 pts above district

▲ 20 pts above state median · ▲ 33 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.