Edison Elem Regional Gifted Cntr, Chicago IL

Original Research by School Decision on Edison Elem Regional Gifted Cntr

Edison Elementary Regional Gifted Center serves kindergarten through eighth grade in Chicago's North Side neighborhood, serving a small cohort of students drawn from across the district through its gifted designation. The school is part of Chicago Public Schools District 299, which enrolls hundreds of thousands of students across a much larger footprint.

Academic proficiency at Edison is consistently high across tested subjects and grade levels. In English language arts, students in grades three through eight score well above state benchmarks, with grade four and grade six both achieving complete proficiency. Grade seven trails slightly at just over ninety percent, while grades three, five, and eight all exceed ninety-five percent. Mathematics shows similar strength: grade three reached full proficiency, grades four through six hold in the mid-ninety percent range, while grades seven and eight dip to around ninety percent and just under, respectively. Science proficiency appears in the assessed grades (five and eight only), with both reaching or nearing full proficiency. Across the three tested subjects and six grade levels where data is reported, Edison's overall proficiency index positions it in the top quartile relative to districts across Cook County, a distinction that reflects the selective nature of the enrollment and the school's academic mission.

The student population is small, around two hundred and sixty students. Demographically, the enrollment is predominantly white, with Asian students making up a substantial secondary share, followed by smaller groups identifying as multiracial, Hispanic, and other races. The enrollment appears stable by grade, with roughly equal cohorts from kindergarten through eighth grade. No data on free-or-reduced-price lunch eligibility was available, nor were counts of English learner or special education students provided; parents may want to look into the school's support structure for these populations directly with the school.

Edison's identity as a regional gifted center shapes the entire profile. Admission is by gifted identification rather than neighborhood enrollment, which means students arrive having demonstrated advanced academic potential through the district's screening process. The resulting peer environment is academically oriented and selective. The school draws from across Chicago rather than serving a single neighborhood, so families commute to attend. The school operates as a regular public school within the district system, not a charter or magnet school with separate governance.

Chicago itself is a dense, walkable major city with extensive public transit on the CTA and is the nation's second-largest central business district. The city has resumed population growth after years of decline and is approving housing at higher rates in recent years, though much recent multifamily construction concentrates downtown and the North Lakefront. Housing values in the broader Chicago market are moderate relative to the nation and hold steady year over year. Rents have risen faster than home prices. The neighborhood immediate to the school's North Side location on Sawyer Avenue sits within a larger urban fabric of residential streets and commercial corridors typical of Chicago's diverse community areas.

The district itself is undergoing significant structural change. In November 2024, Chicago held its first school board elections as part of a shift from a fully mayor-appointed board to an elected one; all twenty-one seats will be elected in November 2026. The Board of Education adopted a strategic plan in 2024 called Together We Rise that signals a shift away from the school-choice model that has shaped CPS for decades and toward investment in neighborhood schools. The district also replaced its numeric school ratings in late 2024 with new holistic dashboards covering test scores, attendance, school experience, and resources. At the instructional level, CPS rolled out Skyline, a district-developed PreK-12 curriculum spanning six content areas, beginning in 2021-2022; it is the first comprehensive curriculum in district history and is available at no school-level cost.

A parent or resident considering Edison should weigh the selective entry requirement, the commute from outside the immediate neighborhood, and the small size against the consistent, strong academic outcomes and the focused peer environment that gifted identification creates. The school's performance suggests effective instruction for academically advanced students, though the absence of data on how the school serves students with different needs is a gap a parent should pursue directly.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 3100%

School 100% · District 38% · ▲ 62 pts above district

▲ 54 pts above state median · ▲ 61 pts above county median

Grade 494%

School 94% · District 29% · ▲ 65 pts above district

▲ 57 pts above state median · ▲ 65 pts above county median

Grade 593%

School 93% · District 24% · ▲ 70 pts above district

▲ 64 pts above state median · ▲ 72 pts above county median

Grade 697%

School 97% · District 23% · ▲ 74 pts above district

▲ 73 pts above state median · ▲ 80 pts above county median

Grade 790%

School 90% · District 27% · ▲ 63 pts above district

▲ 61 pts above state median · ▲ 69 pts above county median

Grade 889%

School 89% · District 23% · ▲ 66 pts above district

▲ 67 pts above state median · ▲ 72 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 396%

School 96% · District 36% · ▲ 60 pts above district

▲ 52 pts above state median · ▲ 59 pts above county median

Grade 4100%

School 100% · District 39% · ▲ 61 pts above district

▲ 52 pts above state median · ▲ 60 pts above county median

Grade 597%

School 97% · District 43% · ▲ 54 pts above district

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

Grade 6100%

School 100% · District 45% · ▲ 55 pts above district

▲ 50 pts above state median · ▲ 57 pts above county median

Grade 790%

School 90% · District 46% · ▲ 44 pts above district

▲ 39 pts above state median · ▲ 46 pts above county median

Grade 896%

School 96% · District 48% · ▲ 49 pts above district

▲ 43 pts above state median · ▲ 50 pts above county median

Science

Grade 597%

School 97% · District 29% · ▲ 68 pts above district

▲ 60 pts above state median · ▲ 70 pts above county median

Grade 8100%

School 100% · District 31% · ▲ 69 pts above district

▲ 60 pts above state median · ▲ 73 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.