The top reported proficiency rate is 55% in English language arts. The lowest is 19% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Evergreen Academy Elem School
Evergreen Academy is a small middle school serving grades six through eight in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago. The school enrolls around two hundred students, drawn predominantly from the local community, with the overwhelming majority identifying as Hispanic or Latino. It is a regular public school within Chicago Public Schools District 299 and has no charter or magnet designation.
The academic picture is mixed, with notable strengths in English language arts but significant challenges in mathematics. On state assessments administered in spring 2025, sixth-grade English language arts showed solid performance at just under three-fifths of students proficient. Seventh grade performed similarly well, at a bit above one-half proficient. These are meaningful scores in literacy at the middle grades. In eighth-grade English language arts, performance remained above one-half proficient. Mathematics tells a different story. Sixth-grade math proficiency stood at just over one-fifth; it rose slightly to closer to one-quarter in seventh grade, but fell sharply in eighth grade to just above one-tenth. The school's eighth-grade science performance, at just under one-third proficient, sits between the math and literacy results. Across all tested grades and subjects, the school's overall proficiency index places it below the midpoint among the districts in Cook County. The school's participation rate in testing was very high, hovering near or at full participation in the tested grades, suggesting results reflect the actual student population taking the exams rather than represent a narrower group. State testing data for grades three through five were not available; this school serves grades six through eight only, so those younger grades do not apply.
The student body is predominantly low-income and Latino. The school does not report free-or-reduced-price-lunch counts or English learner enrollment, so a parent may want to look into those details directly with the school. The limited demographic transparency in the public data is a gap, though the racial composition is clear from enrollment records.
Pilsen, the neighborhood where Evergreen Academy is located, is part of Chicago's diverse south-side fabric. Chicago itself is a large, dense city with strong public transit, including 24/7 'L' train service on some lines, a substantial bus network, and deep integration of schools and parks within neighborhood fabric rather than on isolated campuses. The city has recently resumed population growth after a decade of decline, and housing approvals have risen, though much new development has concentrated downtown and along the lakefront. In the immediate zip code, median home values and rental costs reflect a working-to-moderate-income area, and housing affordability metrics suggest a price-to-income ratio modestly below the national benchmark.
Chicago Public Schools is undergoing significant structural change. The district is transitioning from a mayor-appointed board to a fully elected 21-member Board of Education, with the first direct elections held in November 2024 and all seats to be elected in November 2026. The district has also adopted a five-year strategic plan emphasizing neighborhood schools over the choice-driven model that has long defined CPS, and it has replaced its longtime numeric school ratings with new holistic accountability dashboards. These shifts reshape how the district allocates resources and sets priorities, and they matter for families evaluating CPS schools.
For students in Evergreen Academy's grades, instruction draws from Skyline, the district's PreK-12 universal curriculum implemented across six content areas including math and English language arts. This is the first comprehensive district-wide curriculum in CPS history, standardizing materials across schools that previously chose their own. The curriculum is available at no school-level cost to district-managed schools. Beyond that, the data does not describe Evergreen Academy's specific course offerings, support services, staffing, or school climate, so a parent should inquire with the school directly about program design, academic interventions, and student support structure, especially given the gaps in math performance.
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