Perez Elem School, Chicago IL - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Perez Elem School

Perez Elem School is a small, publicly operated K-8 school serving a neighborhood on the city's Near West Side, in Chicago's 60608 zip code. The school enrolls students from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade, with a total population of approximately three hundred students. The vast majority of the student body—roughly nine out of ten—identify as Hispanic, with much smaller numbers of Black, Asian, and white students; data on the share of students qualifying for free- or reduced-price lunch and the enrollment of English learners was not available.

The school's academic performance, reflected in state test results from 2024-25, shows a sharp divide between English language arts and math. In ELA across grades three through eight, the school's results are substantially stronger. Third-graders posted proficiency at about a strong two-thirds level, and eighth-graders at roughly three-quarters, with the middle grades holding steady in the 40-50 percent range. Math, by contrast, is a significant area of concern. Proficiency rates in grades three through six and in eighth grade all sit in the low teens to low thirties; only seventh grade pulls appreciably higher, at around 40 percent. Science results at the tested grades (five and eight) hover near one-third proficiency. Across all tested subjects and grades, Perez's overall proficiency index sits below the midpoint among the Cook County districts with available data, a position that a parent may want to discuss directly with school leadership to understand what is being done to address the math gap and where students who fall below the proficiency bar are receiving support.

The school sits within Chicago Public Schools District 299, which is undergoing structural changes that reshape how families engage with the system. The district moved to a hybrid elected and appointed board in 2024 and will hold its first fully elected school board election in November 2026, giving parents direct representation in governance for the first time. At the same time, CPS is shifting its strategic direction away from school choice and toward neighborhood schools as the anchor of the system. The district also retired its old numeric school ratings in December 2024 and launched new accountability dashboards that take a broader view of school quality beyond test scores. These shifts are part of a larger conversation about what matters in schools and how the district serves its neighborhoods.

Chicago itself is a large, walkable city with a substantial downtown, extensive public transit, and strong civic institutions including an enormous park system and public library network. The real estate market in the area is moderately priced; median home values in the school's zip code are in the mid-hundreds of thousands, and median monthly rent is around two thousand dollars, both reflecting a relatively stable market with modest inventory. Chicago has resumed population growth after a long decline, adding residents in recent years, though the neighborhoods served by the school's district are more variable in their trajectory. The city and region are diversifying economically, with strength in finance, healthcare, technology, manufacturing, and major institutional employment.

For a family choosing Perez, the school offers the stability of a neighborhood school and a strong foundation in ELA, paired with a math program that will require close partnership between parents and teachers. The school's environment reflects the composition and traditions of its immediate neighborhood. A parent may want to visit, ask specifically how the school approaches math instruction and remediation, and speak with current families about how they navigate support for students working below grade level.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 327%

School 27% · District 38% · ▼ 11 pts below district

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

Grade 411%

School 11% · District 29% · ▼ 18 pts below district

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

Grade 523%

School 23% · District 24%

▼ 7 pts below state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Grade 612%

School 12% · District 23% · ▼ 11 pts below district

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

Grade 740%

School 40% · District 27% · ▲ 13 pts above district

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▲ 19 pts above county median

Grade 811%

School 11% · District 23% · ▼ 13 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 368%

School 68% · District 36% · ▲ 32 pts above district

▲ 24 pts above state median · ▲ 31 pts above county median

Grade 439%

School 39% · District 39% · ▲ 1 pts above district

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

Grade 558%

School 58% · District 43% · ▲ 15 pts above district

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

Grade 645%

School 45% · District 45%

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

Grade 752%

School 52% · District 46% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

Grade 874%

School 74% · District 48% · ▲ 26 pts above district

▲ 20 pts above state median · ▲ 27 pts above county median

Science

Grade 531%

School 31% · District 29% · ▲ 2 pts above district

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

Grade 832%

School 32% · District 31%

▼ 8 pts below state median · ▲ 5 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.