Finkl Elem School, Chicago IL - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Finkl Elem School

Finkl Elementary School is a small neighborhood school in Chicago serving grades Pre-K through 8, with an enrollment distributed fairly evenly across its grade band. The student body is predominantly Hispanic, with a significant Black student population and a much smaller share of white and Asian students. The school sits on the city's South Side, in the Bridgeport area near Western Avenue, within Chicago Public Schools District 299.

On Illinois state assessments given in the current school year, Finkl's proficiency results show considerable strain. In math, the school's performance declines sharply as grade level rises: a modest share of fourth graders achieved proficiency, but the proportion drops substantially in fifth and sixth grades, with sixth and eighth grade recording no students at proficiency. In seventh grade math, roughly one in ten students met the proficiency bar. English language arts results follow a similar downward trajectory in the middle grades. Fourth and fifth graders showed proficiency rates in the low-to-mid range, while sixth grade fell to a very low mark, seventh grade recovered somewhat, and eighth grade landed at roughly one in three students. In science, where testing occurs in grades five and eight, the school saw a gap: fifth graders achieved proficiency at a rate approaching four in ten, but eighth graders fell to just a handful.

These test results position Finkl at the bottom quartile of overall proficiency among the schools in Cook County that serve similar tested grades. Data on the school's enrollment in free or reduced-price lunch, English learner status, or students with individualized education plans was not available, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about the student population's socioeconomic composition and language or special needs support.

The Chicago Public Schools has undergone significant governance and policy shifts recently. The school board transitioned from mayoral appointment to an elected body, with its full membership to be elected in 2026. The district also adopted a strategic plan in 2024 that emphasizes neighborhood schools over school choice and choice-based admissions, and replaced its old numeric school ratings with new holistic accountability dashboards. The district rolled out a comprehensive PreK-12 curriculum called Skyline beginning in 2022, available at no cost to district schools, aimed at standardizing instruction across hundreds of campuses.

Housing in the neighborhood reflects modest affordability. The median home value in the area is in the mid-range for the Cook County housing market, with median rents well below countywide levels. Mortgage and rent costs remain manageable relative to household income, though housing supply has tightened somewhat recently.

For a parent considering Finkl, the core question will center on what support systems exist to address the proficiency gap evident in the test data. The school's small size, neighborhood location, and student composition are concrete facts; how the school serves students who are struggling academically, what instructional changes or additional resources may be planned, and how families can engage with the shift toward neighborhood-school strength in the district's new strategic direction are questions best answered in conversation with the school itself.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 425%

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

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

Grade 522%

School 22% · District 24% · ▼ 1 pts below district

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

Grade 60%

School 0% · District 23% · ▼ 23 pts below district

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

Grade 711%

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

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

Grade 80%

School 0% · District 23% · ▼ 23 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 433%

School 33% · District 39% · ▼ 5 pts below district

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

Grade 533%

School 33% · District 43% · ▼ 9 pts below district

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

Grade 65%

School 5% · District 45% · ▼ 40 pts below district

▼ 45 pts below state median · ▼ 38 pts below county median

Grade 737%

School 37% · District 46% · ▼ 9 pts below district

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

Grade 833%

School 33% · District 48% · ▼ 14 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 539%

School 39% · District 29% · ▲ 10 pts above district

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

Grade 86%

School 6% · District 31% · ▼ 26 pts below district

▼ 34 pts below state median · ▼ 21 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.