Wells Preparatory Elem Academy, Chicago IL

Original Research by School Decision on Wells Preparatory Elem Academy

Wells Preparatory Elem Academy is a small public school serving pre-kindergarten through eighth grade on Chicago's South Side, in the 60653 zip code. It is part of Chicago Public Schools District 299, the nation's third-largest school system.

The school enrolls a small cohort across its ten grade bands. Nearly all students are Black, with small Hispanic and multiracial populations; enrollment data does not show the rate of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, nor does it report counts of students with individual education plans or English learners. The school's neighborhood context, along with broader housing and economic conditions in Cook County, shows home values and rents in the low-to-moderate range relative to the state and national benchmarks, with mounting rental pressure year over year.

Academic performance across tested grades shows a bifurcated picture. In English language arts, students perform at proficiency rates that rise sharply as they progress through middle grades. Third through fifth graders show lower proficiency, but sixth and seventh graders reach substantially higher rates, and eighth graders remain at similar levels. This upward trajectory in ELA is marked enough to signal that the older students in the building are accessing material at grade level. Mathematics presents a different story. Proficiency rates in math fall across almost all tested grades, dropping from the upper grades downward. Third graders sit at a modest proficiency rate; by sixth grade, proficiency has fallen to low single digits. Eighth grade remains similarly low. Science proficiency data was available for grade five and eight only; both show low proficiency. On all measures, the school's overall proficiency index sits below the midpoint among districts in Cook County.

A parent evaluating Wells should look into what accounts for the sharp contrast between ELA and math performance, and why the middle-grades ELA strength does not extend into upper middle grades in mathematics. The school's size and grade span mean that any given grade contains a small number of students, so year-to-year swings in proficiency rates may reflect the particular composition of small cohorts rather than program-wide trends. State assessment data from a single year also cannot show whether these patterns are new or have held steady. A conversation with school leadership about recent curriculum work, instructional priorities, and any recent staffing or program changes would help clarify what lies behind these results.

CPS has recently undergone significant structural change. The district adopted a five-year strategic plan in 2024 that emphasizes neighborhood schools and has backed away from the school-choice model that has shaped enrollment patterns for decades. At the same time, the district replaced its longstanding numeric school ratings with new holistic accountability dashboards, so the way families evaluate schools is shifting. All 21 school board seats will be elected in November 2026 for the first time, giving parents direct voice in district governance. These are material changes for any family in CPS. The district has also rolled out Skyline, a comprehensive PreK-12 curriculum available to all district-managed schools at no cost, standardizing instructional resources across hundreds of campuses that previously sourced their own materials.

Wells sits within a city that is walkable, transit-rich, and anchored by extensive park infrastructure, civic institutions, and a highly diversified economy. Chicago has resumed population growth after nearly a decade of decline, and housing approvals have been rising. For families choosing an elementary school on the South Side, Wells offers a neighborhood location in a district that is actively reorienting itself toward such schools, but the academic results warrant direct inquiry into program strengths and areas of focus before enrolling.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 329%

School 29% · District 38% · ▼ 9 pts below district

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

Grade 423%

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

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

Grade 526%

School 26% · District 24% · ▲ 2 pts above district

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

Grade 617%

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

▼ 7 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 717%

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

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

Grade 814%

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

▼ 8 pts below state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 326%

School 26% · District 36% · ▼ 10 pts below district

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

Grade 439%

School 39% · District 39%

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

Grade 544%

School 44% · District 43% · ▲ 2 pts above district

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

Grade 667%

School 67% · District 45% · ▲ 22 pts above district

▲ 16 pts above state median · ▲ 24 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 879%

School 79% · District 48% · ▲ 31 pts above district

▲ 25 pts above state median · ▲ 32 pts above county median

Science

Grade 523%

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

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

Grade 814%

School 14% · District 31% · ▼ 17 pts below district

▼ 25 pts below state median · ▼ 12 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.