Sandoval Elem School, Chicago IL

Original Research by School Decision on Sandoval Elem School

Sandoval Elementary is a small public school in Chicago serving PreK through fifth grade, with an enrollment drawn almost entirely from the surrounding neighborhood. The vast majority of students are Hispanic, reflecting the composition of the South Side area where the school is located. The school participates in Chicago Public Schools' Skyline curriculum, a district-wide instructional framework that covers English language arts, math, science, social science, world languages, and arts.

Academic performance on Illinois state assessments reveals a pattern that parents should look at closely. Third-grade math proficiency sits at the midpoint of the tested range, but performance drops sharply in the upper grades. Fourth and fifth grade math proficiency falls to roughly the bottom quarter, and English language arts similarly shows lower attainment in grades three and four, though fifth grade improves notably. Fifth-grade English results come in around the midpoint. Science, tested only in grade five, shows proficiency below the midpoint. Across the board, results on state reading and math tests sit in the bottom quarter relative to other schools assessed in Cook County. A parent may want to discuss with the school leadership what support structures are in place to address these trends, particularly the drop-off in the upper elementary grades.

The school's size and composition are stable. Enrollment is distributed across grades with third through fifth grades each holding about the same number of students. The combination of small cohorts and neighborhood-based enrollment means this is a school deeply rooted in its immediate community rather than drawing from across the district.

Chicago itself is adding residents again after years of decline, and the housing market in the school's 60629 zip code reflects modest modest activity and affordability relative to state and national benchmarks. Rents have ticked up modestly, and home values have risen slightly year over year. The area offers housing stock that sits below both state and national median home values, making it accessible to families looking for affordability in the city.

The district has been undergoing significant changes. A fully elected school board is taking shape, completing the transition in November 2026, and the district's strategic direction has shifted toward strengthening neighborhood schools. A new accountability dashboard has replaced the older numeric rating system, giving families a different lens for evaluating performance. These shifts mean the context for neighborhood schools like Sandoval is shifting, though implementation is still unfolding.

A parent choosing Sandoval would be choosing a neighborhood school with a tight community base, accessible housing costs, and participation in a district-wide curriculum. The state test results indicate areas where the school needs strengthening, particularly in sustaining math and reading gains as students move through the upper elementary grades. Understanding the school's specific strategies for addressing these gaps and the quality of classroom instruction would be important before enrollment.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 343%

School 43% · District 38% · ▲ 5 pts above district

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

Grade 429%

School 29% · District 29%

▼ 8 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 527%

School 27% · District 24% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 325%

School 25% · District 36% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 19 pts below state median · ▼ 12 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 543%

School 43% · District 43% · ▲ 1 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 526%

School 26% · District 29% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▼ 1 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.