The top reported proficiency rate is 61% in English language arts. The lowest is 40% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Greenbriar Elem School
Greenbriar Elem School serves prekindergarten through fifth grade in Chicago Heights, a mixed-use industrial suburb about thirty miles south of downtown Chicago. The school enrolls a small cohort of students, with roughly equal numbers across most grades and a slightly larger third-grade class. The student body is predominantly Hispanic or Latino, with a meaningful Black population and a smaller white enrollment; no students identified as Asian, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, American Indian, or Alaska Native. Free-or-reduced-price lunch eligibility data was not available.
Third grade shows the school's strongest proficiency results. In math, most students achieved proficiency or above, and in ELA about seven in ten did. Both subjects showed near-universal test participation. By fourth and fifth grades, however, proficiency drops markedly. In fourth-grade math, only about one in five students reached proficiency despite universal participation; in ELA, about half did. Fifth grade holds slightly better in math (about one in four proficient) and ELA (about six in ten), though ELA proficiency in fifth grade trails third-grade performance. Science proficiency in fifth grade was around four in ten. The school did not report testing data for sixth, seventh, or eighth grade, which aligns with its designation as serving only early grades; state testing in Illinois measures students in these grades but only when a school enrolls them.
Overall, Greenbriar's proficiency index sits above the midpoint among schools across Cook County, a positioning that reflects strength in the earlier grades. The sharp decline from third to fourth grade warrants attention. A parent may want to look into this further with the school, particularly what instructional or support changes occur as students transition to upper elementary, whether students are meeting grade-level benchmarks in foundational skills before that shift, and what strategies the school uses to maintain momentum in older grades.
Chicago Heights School District 170 has made two major commitments relevant to families here. In the 2020-2021 school year, the district opened a new, state-of-the-art middle school in Bloom Plaza, consolidating sixth through eighth grade into a single modern facility with pod-centered learning spaces and replacing an older system. Second, the district has built out a K-5 Dual Language program using the Literacy Squared biliteracy model, with dedicated dual-language classrooms at schools including Washington-McKinley and Garfield and bilingual teacher hiring ongoing through 2025. For a district whose student body runs nearly two-thirds Hispanic or Latino, this dual-language commitment shapes how children learn to read and write from the start and signals a lasting pedagogical direction for families considering the school.
Housing in Chicago Heights clusters around vintage ranch-style homes, Cape Cods, bungalows, and split-levels in established neighborhoods. The local market shows home values and rental costs below the state and national benchmarks, with affordability measured as manageable relative to regional income. The city is car-oriented, with Route 30 and Route 1 serving as main thoroughfares; the nearest Metra station is in neighboring Olympia Fields. Population has declined modestly in recent years. Recent development is centered on downtown infill, including the Otto Veterans Square affordable housing project that opened in 2024 on the former hospital site, and industrial expansion rather than new residential growth in established neighborhoods.
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