Morton Elem Career Academy, Chicago IL

Original Research by School Decision on Morton Elem Career Academy

Morton Elem Career Academy is a small elementary school serving pre-K through eighth grade in Chicago's West Loop neighborhood. It draws a student body that is predominantly Black, with a smaller Hispanic enrollment and very few white students enrolled. The school itself is compact, with a total enrollment in the low hundreds spread across ten grades.

The data shows academic proficiency rates that are persistently low across tested grades and subjects. In math, third grade reaches about fifty percent proficiency, a relative high point; from fourth grade onward, math proficiency drops sharply, falling to single digits by sixth and seventh grade. English language arts performance is similarly weak: third grade sits around forty percent, but proficiency rates in fourth through seventh grades remain in the low teens to high thirties. Science data are sparse—a grade five result is missing, and eighth grade science shows proficiency in the low teens. Across math, ELA, and science, the school's overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile relative to other districts in Cook County. Students do participate in state assessments at high rates, so the low numbers are not a reporting artifact.

The school's name points to a career-focus mission, though program details are not available in the data provided. Whether this orientation shapes instruction, offers pathways that engage students differently, or influences how academic content is framed remains unknown from the information at hand. A parent may want to look into what the career academy component means in practice and how it relates to the elementary and middle-grade curriculum.

The school is located in Chicago, a large dense city with strong public transit, diverse neighborhoods, and an extensive park system. Morton sits in the West Loop, an area experiencing housing growth and increasing real estate values. The broader district, Chicago Public Schools, is currently undergoing shifts: the school board is transitioning from mayor-appointed to fully elected, and the district has adopted a five-year plan emphasizing neighborhood schools over choice-driven enrollment models. The district also launched new school dashboards in late 2024 that move beyond numeric ratings to more comprehensive school profiles. These shifts are likely to shape how schools like Morton are resourced and evaluated going forward.

Families considering Morton should understand that the school's test results reveal substantial academic gaps, especially in upper elementary and middle grades. The strengths in literacy and math instruction that would close those gaps are not evident in the data. There is no information on special education or English learner supports, attendance patterns, school climate, or discipline approaches. A visit to the school, conversation with current families, and direct inquiry about how the career academy framework supports academic recovery would help parents assess whether Morton is the right fit, particularly for families whose children need intensive literacy or math intervention.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 352%

School 52% · District 38% · ▲ 14 pts above district

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▲ 13 pts above county median

Grade 420%

School 20% · District 29% · ▼ 9 pts below district

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

Grade 66%

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

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

Grade 70%

School 0% · District 27% · ▼ 27 pts below district

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

Grade 88%

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

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

English language arts

Grade 341%

School 41% · District 36% · ▲ 4 pts above district

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

Grade 413%

School 13% · District 39% · ▼ 25 pts below district

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

Grade 639%

School 39% · District 45% · ▼ 6 pts below district

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

Grade 726%

School 26% · District 46% · ▼ 20 pts below district

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

Grade 839%

School 39% · District 48% · ▼ 9 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 815%

School 15% · District 31% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▼ 11 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.