The top reported proficiency rate is 32% in Math. The lowest is 27% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Cicero West Elementary School
Cicero West Elementary School is a small public school serving pre-kindergarten through third grade in a densely built, heavily Hispanic working-class town just west of Chicago. The school enrolls a relatively small student body, nearly all of whom identify as Hispanic or Latino. The school sits within Cicero School District 99, which in recent years has made two district-wide shifts that shape the instructional environment here: adoption of structured literacy with explicit, systematic instruction in phonics and decoding starting in 2021–2022, and implementation of the Professional Learning Communities model to deepen how teachers collaborate around student data and lesson design.
The school's third-grade state assessment results show proficiency below what the district and state typically see overall. In math, roughly a third of third-graders met or exceeded the state's proficiency standard. In English language arts, the rate was lower, around a quarter of third-graders. The school provided data only for third grade, the tested grade at this school level; Illinois does not administer state assessments in pre-K through second grade. A parent looking at these numbers may want to ask the school directly about what instructional supports are in place for the students not yet meeting grade-level benchmarks, how the school's adoption of structured literacy is being implemented in the classroom, and what baseline data showed before the district's reading initiative took hold so they can understand whether results are moving in response to that work.
The school's student composition is predominantly Hispanic, with a very small number of students identifying as Black, Asian, or white. The district data does not break out whether students speak English as an additional language or what share of the school's enrollment qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, so a parent interested in that detail should contact the school directly. The school feeds into Cicero's broader elementary and middle school system, which means third-graders will transition to other district buildings at higher grades.
Cicero itself is a place of dense residential neighborhoods mixed with commercial corridors. The Cermak Road spine holds town government, the public library, and local business. The community has significant homeownership, and housing values have risen modestly in recent years. The town is served by public transit including the CTA Pink Line, making it connected to Chicago without requiring a car for every trip. Employment is anchored by the school district itself, Morton College, manufacturing, retail, and service industries. This is an established, fully built-out suburb rather than a growth area.
If you are considering this school for your child, the key practical questions would be: what does the school's reading instruction look like in the classroom, what progress have individual grades shown since the district shifted to structured literacy, whether the school offers any enrichment or specialized programs, and what the attendance and discipline environment feels like. The state testing results here suggest the school is contending with gaps in foundational skills, which is not unusual in schools serving economically stretched communities, but it warrants a direct conversation with the principal about how the school is addressing those gaps and what support is available to students who are still building proficiency.
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