The top reported proficiency rate is 39% in English language arts. The lowest is 16% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Scott Elementary School
Scott Elementary serves kindergarten through fifth grade in Melrose Park, a densely built village on Chicago's west side that mixes residential blocks, commercial corridors, and industrial areas. The school sits within Mannheim School District 83, a PreK–8 district serving Melrose Park, Franklin Park, and Northlake with six schools total. In January 2024 the district adopted a 2024–2029 Strategic Plan organized around five goals: student achievement, inclusive culture, family involvement, staff development, and equitable resource use. That direction will shape programming and spending through the rest of the decade.
The school's enrollment is small for its grade span, with roughly even cohorts from kindergarten through grade three and slightly larger classes in grades four and five. The student body is predominantly Latino, with a small share of white and Asian students and very few students of other racial and ethnic backgrounds. Free-or-reduced-price-lunch data and special education enrollment rates were not available, so a reader cannot see the full economic and support profile from state reporting.
State testing results show math and English language arts proficiency that falls well below what parents find in comparable Illinois schools. In grade three, proficiency in math stands near the midpoint for individual grades but drops sharply by grade five, where it falls to a low single-digit range. English language arts proficiency in grade three is in the lower range and rises somewhat by grade four before declining again in grade five. Science proficiency in grade five is also low. Across all tested grades and subjects, the school's overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile when compared against other schools in Cook County. The state recently changed proficiency cut scores, so direct year-to-year trend comparison is not possible with the data on hand. A parent may want to ask the school directly whether specific curriculum changes or staffing shifts are underway to address these results, and what supports the school offers to students who test below proficiency.
Melrose Park itself is a largely built-out suburban community with a mix of residential walkability and industrial legacy. The area has long been an employment hub, historically tied to the Proviso freight yards and companies like Zenith and Ford, and today home to employers like Navistar, Amazon, Gottlieb Memorial Hospital, and a large Costco warehouse. The village markets itself as the "Corporate King of the Suburbs." Median home list prices in the area were around the mid-300,000s in early 2026, with a year-over-year increase of a few percentage points. Civic life centers on the Melrose Park Public Library, which runs bilingual programming; the Shrine of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel; and parks like Bataan Park, which received a major renovation in 2022. A Metra commuter rail station provides service to downtown Chicago, though ridership is low.
The housing market in Cook County shows modest supply and soft demand relative to recent years, with active listings down from a year earlier and pending sales relatively flat. Mortgage rates remain elevated, and rent-to-income ratios suggest housing costs consume a significant portion of household budgets for renters in the area.
State testing data for grades six through eight are missing because Scott Elementary only serves through grade five. A student moving to middle school would transition elsewhere within the district.
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