Learn Chtr - South Chicago Campus, Chicago IL

Original Research by School Decision on Learn Chtr - South Chicago Campus

LEARN Chtr - South Chicago Campus is a charter school serving kindergarten through eighth grade on Chicago's South Side, in the 60617 zip code. The school enrolls a small population distributed evenly across its grade span, with an especially strong majority of Black students and a small Hispanic enrollment. Racial composition data shows the school serves a predominantly Black community with virtually no Asian, white, or multiracial representation.

State test results from the most recent year reveal academic performance well below state average across both math and English language arts. In math, proficiency rates range from the low-20s in fourth and fifth grades to about 40 percent in eighth grade, with only third grade reaching the mid-30s and seventh grade at about one-third. English language arts shows similar patterns: fourth grade is at 14 percent, while fifth through eighth grades hover between 41 and 56 percent, with seventh grade performing best. Science proficiency is particularly low, at 13 percent in fifth grade and 24 percent in eighth grade. Across the school, the overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile relative to other districts in Cook County. These results mark the school as a place where academic support and intervention are central to its mission.

The school's enrollment is stable and small, distributed across traditional elementary and middle grades. Enrollment data was available; free-and-reduced-price-lunch status and English learner percentages were not reported in the available records, leaving those characteristics unconfirmed. Special education enrollment numbers were also not provided. A parent may want to look into what academic support structures, intervention programs, and staffing levels are in place to address the proficiency gaps shown in state testing.

The South Chicago location is part of a broader Chicago context. Chicago itself is a dense, multiethnic city with extensive public transit, a strong parks system, and a substantial lakefront. Housing values in the 60617 zip code are moderate relative to national benchmarks and to the broader Cook County and Illinois markets. Median home values sit modestly below state and national benchmarks, and rental prices suggest affordability pressures consistent with much of Chicago's South Side.

CPS District 299, the parent district, is undergoing significant structural change. A newly elected school board is in place, with all 21 seats to be elected by voters in November 2026, replacing the prior mayor-appointed model. The district has adopted a strategic plan that emphasizes neighborhood schools over school-choice enrollment patterns, a shift that creates new context for charter schools within CPS. The district also rolled out a universal PreK-12 curriculum called Skyline across all district-managed schools in 2021-22, though this school, as a charter, may operate under its own instructional framework. The district replaced its prior numeric school rating system with holistic dashboards in late 2024, changing how school quality is publicly communicated.

As a charter school within CPS, this campus sits between district accountability and the operational independence typical of charters. A parent considering this school should confirm what curriculum it uses, what specific academic supports it offers given the state test results, what the enrollment and admissions process entails, and how its performance has moved over time. The state data provided covers one year only, so trends are unknown. The school serves a concentrated, neighborhood-based student body in a part of Chicago with moderate housing costs and substantial transportation access via CTA. Whether it is the right fit depends on what programs it offers, what your child's academic needs are, and how the school's mission aligns with your family's priorities.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 333%

School 33% · District 38% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Grade 421%

School 21% · District 29% · ▼ 8 pts below district

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

Grade 523%

School 23% · District 24%

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

Grade 627%

School 27% · District 23% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

Grade 733%

School 33% · District 27% · ▲ 6 pts above district

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

Grade 841%

School 41% · District 23% · ▲ 17 pts above district

▲ 18 pts above state median · ▲ 23 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 339%

School 39% · District 36% · ▲ 3 pts above district

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

Grade 414%

School 14% · District 39% · ▼ 24 pts below district

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

Grade 541%

School 41% · District 43% · ▼ 2 pts below district

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

Grade 644%

School 44% · District 45% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 756%

School 56% · District 46% · ▲ 10 pts above district

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

Grade 843%

School 43% · District 48% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 10 pts below state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Science

Grade 513%

School 13% · District 29% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▼ 14 pts below county median

Grade 824%

School 24% · District 31% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 2 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.