The top reported proficiency rate is 44% in English language arts. The lowest is 30% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Bryant Elem School
Bryant Elem serves kindergarten through fifth grade in Harvey, a dense, struggling south suburb of Chicago. The school enrolls a small population of students, most of them Black, with substantial Hispanic and Asian representation. Like the city around it, Bryant sits in a district under fiscal pressure: Harvey School District 152 has faced steep, state-authorized property tax increases well above the normal cap, coupled with chronic collection shortfalls that leave the district chronically underfunded.
On state assessments, Bryant's results show uneven performance. In third-grade math, roughly half of students tested at proficiency or above. That performance dips sharply in fourth grade, where proficiency dropped to well below one in three students, then recovers somewhat in fifth grade to near one in two. English language arts follows a similar pattern: third graders performed modestly, fourth graders were weaker still (around three in ten proficient), and fifth graders' proficiency rose to above three in five, the strongest grade-level result the school reported. In science, fifth graders showed low proficiency, with roughly three in ten meeting the standard. The data shows no results for grades six through eight, which reflects that Bryant serves only through fifth grade; it does not suggest a missing data gap but rather that the school's grade band does not include those grades.
Across all tested grades and subjects, Bryant's proficiency index sits below the midpoint among districts across Cook County. A parent may want to look into this further with the school—particularly whether the sharp grade-four dip is a known pattern and what interventions the school uses to address it. The fourth-grade performance is notably weak and represents a significant soft spot in the school's profile.
No Title I status was recorded in the data provided. Free-or-reduced-price-lunch eligibility information was not available. State testing participation rates were high, consistently at or near full, signaling that the school administered assessments fully and did not flag significant attendance barriers during testing windows.
Harvey itself is a city in active reinvestment after decades of disinvestment. The median home value in the surrounding area is modest, reflecting the city's economic history as a blue-collar manufacturing hub that has struggled as that industrial base left. Employment today centers on the nearby Ingalls Memorial Hospital, warehousing and transportation work, and retail and service sectors. The city's population has declined for decades but is now turning, with new downtown development around the Metra station and transit-oriented development projects underway. Schools, however, remain scattered across neighborhood campuses rather than concentrated downtown, and Bryant sits on Main Street in a residential neighborhood setting, not in a walkable urban core.
For a family considering Harvey schools, the fiscal picture matters. The district's property tax collection rate has lagged below what property taxes should generate, adding strain to school funding. A family should factor in both that context and Bryant's below-midpoint proficiency results when weighing whether this school aligns with their child's needs and their willingness to engage with a school working within tight fiscal constraints.
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