Original Research by School Decision on District 99 Early Childhood Ctr
District 99 Early Childhood Center in Cicero serves pre-kindergarten students only, housing an enrollment of a small group of young learners in a single-age setting. The school is a regular public school operated by Cicero School District 99, located at 5330 W 35th St in the town's densely built residential core.
The student body is overwhelmingly Hispanic, with nearly all students identifying as Hispanic or Latino, a reflection of Cicero's broader demographics. A very small number of students identify as Black or multiracial. Demographic data on family income, English learner status, or special education enrollment were not available.
Because this is a pre-kindergarten program, there are no state testing results, no graduation data, and no comparison to other schools on academic metrics. Early childhood centers operate outside the accountability framework that applies to K-12 schools. The school's role is foundational early learning rather than measured academic attainment in traditional subjects.
Cicero is an inner-ring suburb just west of Chicago, a densely built, working-class town with mixed-use corridors and mixed-income neighborhoods. The Cermak Road corridor, historically Czech and Bohemian, is now a commercial spine lined with Spanish-language businesses, bakeries, and shops. Housing values are moderate for the region, and the town is well-served by public transit, including the CTA Pink Line and multiple bus routes. The community has a strong park system and the Cicero Public Library as civic anchors, and the broader economy rests on manufacturing, retail, healthcare, and education. District 99 itself is among the town's largest employers.
The district has implemented two significant changes relevant to families with young children. In its 2021-2022 strategic plan, District 99 shifted to structured literacy instruction emphasizing explicit, systematic teaching of word recognition and decoding in elementary reading. The 2024 state report highlighted gains in reading tied to this shift. Additionally, the district has adopted the Professional Learning Communities model district-wide, embedding collaborative inquiry cycles into how teachers plan and deliver instruction. Both of these changes represent sustained shifts in pedagogy and curriculum that will shape the classroom experience as students progress through the grades.
For a family selecting pre-kindergarten care and education, this school sits within a district that has made deliberate investments in early literacy foundations and collaborative teacher practice, in a community with accessible transit, moderate housing costs, and a predominantly Hispanic, working-class character.
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