The top reported proficiency rate is 52% in English language arts. The lowest is 16% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Learn Charter Excel Campus
LEARN Charter Excel Campus is a public elementary charter school in Chicago serving kindergarten through sixth grade with an enrollment of about mid-sized for its grade band. The school is located in the Near West Side of Chicago, in a neighborhood that combines residential and light commercial use, within the Chicago Public Schools system.
The school's student body is predominantly African American, with a small Hispanic population and very few students from other racial or ethnic backgrounds. The school does not report free or reduced-price lunch participation, English learner enrollment, or special education counts, so a parent cannot assess the economic diversity or support needs of peers from the available data. The charter status means the school operates under a performance contract rather than traditional district governance but remains publicly funded and open-enrollment.
On state assessments in 2024-25, the school reports proficiency rates by grade that reveal uneven performance across its span. In mathematics, third graders showed proficiency near the middle threshold, but proficiency declined markedly through the upper elementary grades, reaching low levels in fifth and sixth grades. English language arts tells a different story: performance dipped in fourth grade but recovered strongly in fifth and sixth grades, where sixth-grade proficiency was substantially above the overall school median. Science proficiency in fifth grade was quite low. Across tested subjects and grades, the school's overall proficiency index sits below the midpoint relative to districts elsewhere in Cook County. Test participation was full across reported grades, so these figures reflect the whole student population with no testing barriers noted.
The school's academic profile suggests mixed baseline performance in the elementary years. A parent might want to look into the school's approach to upper-elementary math in particular, and also to ask how the school supports the recovery in reading by sixth grade and whether those gains persist when students transition to middle school. The data do not show state testing results for seventh and eighth grades, which could indicate the school does not serve those grades, even though a small number of students are enrolled in sixth grade. Clarifying the grade-band cap and transition patterns would be helpful.
Chicago as a place combines a major downtown and extensive neighborhoods with strong public transit access, walkable streets, and a large park system. The city has resumed population growth in recent years after a period of decline, and housing approvals have increased. The metro region is growing for a third consecutive year. In the Near West Side, recent housing development has concentrated in the area, and median home values and rents reflect a working- to middle-income urban market with modest recent appreciation.
Chicago Public Schools is undergoing major structural change. The district is transitioning from a fully mayor-appointed board to a fully elected 21-member board, with a fully elected body taking office in 2027; this gives parents direct say in district governance for the first time. The district has also adopted a five-year strategic plan that shifts emphasis toward neighborhood schools, away from the decades-long school-choice model, and has replaced its numeric school ratings with holistic dashboards that go beyond test scores. The district rolled out Skyline, a comprehensive PreK-12 curriculum accessible to all district schools, in 2021-2022, standardizing instructional materials across the system. These are foundational changes that reshape how CPS allocates resources and how families evaluate schools.
The school's particular fit depends on parent priorities. If proximity to the Near West Side neighborhood is central, and if a family values the charter structure and community composition, the school is a concrete option to visit and evaluate. If upper-elementary math proficiency or consistent performance across grade levels is a primary concern, the current test data show areas that would warrant direct questions to the school about curriculum, staffing, and intervention strategies. The school's reading performance by sixth grade suggests the school has capacity to move students forward, but the reasons for the dip in fourth grade and the strength in the final year of elementary warrant understanding.
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