Stowe Elem School, Chicago IL - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Stowe Elem School

Stowe Elementary serves pre-kindergarten through eighth grade in Chicago's Bucktown neighborhood, on the northwest side. The school enrolls students from a densely residential area that is predominantly Hispanic. The student body reflects the neighborhood: about three-quarters of enrolled students are Hispanic, with smaller shares of Black and white students, and very few Asian or multiracial students.

The school's performance on state assessments shows substantial challenges. In mathematics, proficiency rates across tested grades (three through eight) range from around seven percent to nineteen percent. Reading proficiency is similarly low, spanning from thirteen percent to thirty-eight percent, with the notable exception of sixth grade, where about thirty-eight percent of students meet state proficiency standards in English language arts. In science, where testing occurs in grades five and eight, proficiency rates are particularly low: around five to six percent in grade five and around twelve percent in grade eight. All students who were tested took the assessment (one hundred percent participation), so these figures reflect actual performance rather than opt-out effects.

The broader context matters here. Across the county's school districts, this school sits in the bottom quartile on an overall proficiency index. That positioning signals that many districts in Cook County serve populations with substantially higher tested achievement. The state assessments used here are relatively new with shifted scoring standards, which can affect year-to-year comparisons; trend data was not available.

The school's enrollment is small to moderate for an elementary-middle school. Early grades (pre-K through second) run around fifty to fifty-six students per grade, with slight tapering in upper grades, so the school holds students from pre-K through eighth. The neighborhood housing market shows moderate values relative to Chicago's broader market, and rents are in the mid-range for the city. Chicago as a place is walkable, transit-served, and anchored by substantial civic and cultural institutions; families choosing this school would be in a well-connected neighborhood with park access through the Chicago Park District.

For families considering Stowe, the academic picture is one of persistently low proficiency. That does not mean the school is inactive or unsupportive; it means that most students are not meeting state standards in core subjects, and the school's tested outcomes rank significantly below the median among Cook County districts. A parent may want to look into further what instructional supports, small-group interventions, or special programs the school provides, and whether the school's approach to curriculum (the district rolled out Skyline, a universal PreK-12 curriculum, beginning in 2022) is being effectively implemented in these classrooms. The strong performance in sixth-grade ELA suggests some variability in results; understanding what drives that spike could help families grasp the school's strengths. A parent would also benefit from asking directly about how the school is using district resources, what professional development teachers are receiving, and how the school measures progress in students not yet at proficiency. Free-or-reduced-price lunch data was not available, so the share of economically disadvantaged students cannot be described here. Chicago's school board is undergoing transition to full election in 2026 and the district is shifting policy emphasis toward neighborhood schools, which is the context in which this school operates.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 319%

School 19% · District 38% · ▼ 19 pts below district

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

Grade 415%

School 15% · District 29% · ▼ 14 pts below district

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

Grade 57%

School 7% · District 24% · ▼ 16 pts below district

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

Grade 615%

School 15% · District 23% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Grade 711%

School 11% · District 27% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

Grade 89%

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

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

English language arts

Grade 325%

School 25% · District 36% · ▼ 12 pts below district

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

Grade 420%

School 20% · District 39% · ▼ 18 pts below district

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

Grade 513%

School 13% · District 43% · ▼ 30 pts below district

▼ 39 pts below state median · ▼ 33 pts below county median

Grade 638%

School 38% · District 45% · ▼ 7 pts below district

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

Grade 716%

School 16% · District 46% · ▼ 30 pts below district

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

Grade 823%

School 23% · District 48% · ▼ 24 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 56%

School 6% · District 29% · ▼ 23 pts below district

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

Grade 812%

School 12% · District 31% · ▼ 20 pts below district

▼ 28 pts below state median · ▼ 15 pts below 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.