The top reported proficiency rate is 17% in English language arts. The lowest is 10% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Carl Sandburg Elementary
Carl Sandburg Elementary is a small-to-mid-sized regular public school serving kindergarten through fifth grade in Joliet, a large suburban city southwest of Chicago. The school sits in a city with strong infrastructure investment and job growth, where the school district itself has moved to address aging facilities through a major facilities bond approved by voters in 2023.
The school's recent state assessment results show a pattern of very low proficiency across tested subjects. In English language arts, proficiency ranges from about one in thirteen to over one in four students, depending on grade, with fifth graders performing noticeably better than third and fourth graders. In mathematics, the picture is weaker and more consistent: across grades three through five, fewer than one in eight students reached proficiency, with fifth grade at its lowest point. Science testing in fifth grade showed proficiency at about one in ten students. These figures place the school in the bottom quartile among districts in Will County when proficiency is averaged across subjects and grades. A parent may want to look into the school's instructional approach and any specialized support available for students not meeting grade-level standards.
The student body is racially and ethnically diverse. Black and Hispanic students together make up roughly nine in ten of the enrollment, with smaller shares of white, Asian, and multiracial students. Data on students receiving free or reduced-price lunch, English learners, and students with individualized education plans were not available, so a fuller picture of family economic circumstances and student needs cannot be drawn from the available information.
Enrollment is stable at around 367 students across the full school. The kindergarten cohort is the largest single grade; enrollment in the upper elementary grades ranges narrowly, with small declines from grade to grade, a pattern typical of schools in stable neighborhoods.
Joliet itself is experiencing measured change. The city lost its position as Illinois's third-largest city and population growth has slowed in recent years. Housing in the area is comparatively affordable, with home values well below the state and national medians and monthly rents moderate. The rental market is tightening slightly, with asking rents rising, while home-sale activity remains steady in the broader county market. Employment is anchored by logistics, manufacturing, healthcare, and education, with major employers including Amazon, ExxonMobil, IKEA, and Ascension Saint Joseph Medical Center. Downtown Joliet is undergoing targeted revitalization, including streetscape work and a new civic plaza, and the city has invested in a multimodal transit hub. New residential development is concentrated on the west side, with tract housing expanding toward the region's outer suburbs.
The district is investing substantially in facility upgrades funded by the 2023 bond. Two replacement junior high schools are slated to open for the 2026-2027 school year, and Thomas Jefferson Elementary is undergoing an expansion. These are responses to documented overcrowding and aging school buildings, and the district stated the bond would maintain the current tax rate by replacing expiring debt.
Carl Sandburg serves a diverse, stable elementary population in a city marked by steady if moderate economic activity and family housing. State proficiency results are substantially below county averages, an important fact for families evaluating instructional quality and student support in the tested grades. A conversation with the school about its literacy and mathematics interventions and recent shifts in approach would help clarify whether the low results reflect recent staffing or program changes, and what resources are deployed to move proficiency upward.
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