The top reported proficiency rate is 83% in English language arts. The lowest is 66% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Chelsea Elem School
Chelsea Elementary serves grades three through five in Frankfort, a residential Chicago suburb about twenty-eight miles southwest of the city. The school enrolls roughly nine hundred students, distributed fairly evenly across the three grades.
Chelsea's proficiency performance is strong across math and English language arts. In math, third graders show the highest proficiency, while fourth graders dip slightly lower. Fifth-grade math and English both track well above the middle tier for elementary schools in Will County. Fifth-grade English proficiency is notably high. Science proficiency in grade five sits below that of reading and math, placing the school in a more typical position for elementary science. Participation rates in state testing are consistently high, near universal.
The school's overall proficiency index, which averages performance across all tested subjects and grades, places Chelsea in the top quartile among districts in Will County. That positioning reflects solid academic output across the board, with no severe gaps.
The student body is predominantly white, with Asian, Hispanic, and Black students each representing a modest share. Free-or-reduced-price lunch eligibility data was not available, so a parent may want to contact the school directly about the proportion of students qualifying for meal assistance. Special education and English learner population counts were not available in the state data.
Frankfort itself is a car-oriented suburb that has grown steadily, driven by proximity to Interstate 80 and access to the Chicago metropolitan area. The historic downtown, anchored by Breidert Green, hosts year-round events and is connected to the twenty-two-mile paved Old Plank Road Trail. Newer single-family subdivisions and townhome developments continue to expand outward from the historic core. Housing values in the area have climbed modestly in recent months. The median home value in the zip code sits in the low to mid five hundreds, and monthly mortgage estimates run in the mid-two thousands at current rates. The village's major employers include Borg-Warner, Pactiv Corporation, and various auto dealers, offering a diversified economic base.
The district, Frankfort CCSD 157C, covers the school and serves the immediate area. A search for recent parent-relevant changes at the district level, such as strategic initiatives, curriculum shifts, or property-tax actions, did not yield specific documented actions in the recent past that would shape school operations or family decisions. The statewide Illinois full-day kindergarten mandate will take effect in 2027-28 but is not a district-specific change.
Parents considering Chelsea should know they are looking at an elementary school with strong performance in reading and mathematics for its grade band, serving a mixed but predominantly white population in a growing residential suburb with a stable job base and active community amenities. The school's strength in proficiency relative to its county peers is clear. Questions about services for students with special needs, English learners, and economic support would be worth asking directly of the school.
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