The top reported proficiency rate is 36% in Math. The lowest is 29% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Matteson Elem School
Matteson Elem School serves kindergarten through third grade in the south-suburban village of Matteson, just south of Chicago in Cook County. The school enrolls a modest roster of students across its four grade bands, with the vast majority Black, reflecting the village's demographic composition. Free-or-reduced-price lunch rates were not available in the data, so a reader looking to understand the school's economic context may want to reach out directly to the school or district.
The school's academic standing reflects a gap worth understanding clearly. On the Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) administered to third graders in the most recent school year, roughly a third of students in math and under a third in English language arts met or exceeded the state's proficiency benchmark. These are low numbers. The school's overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile among the districts in Cook County. State testing data for other grades served at Matteson Elem are not reported, which appears to reflect the nature of the school itself: state assessment data in Illinois are reported for grades three through eight, and Matteson Elem serves only through grade three. Parents with students moving into upper grades would transition to a school that participates in state testing.
The school sits within Matteson ESD 162, a small district serving the immediate area. A significant development occurred in late 2023 when the district opened an in-house commercial kitchen facility called The Annex, a converted roller rink in nearby Richton Park. For more than a decade prior, the district had operated without its own cooking facility. The Annex now prepares meals for all district schools and generates revenue from other districts, a shift that affects school operations and meal service going forward.
Matteson itself is an auto-oriented suburban village anchored by high-traffic commercial corridors along U.S. 30 and IL 50, with retail shopping centers, an auto mall, and office buildings. A historic small-town core remains around 215th and Main Streets near the Metra Electric station, which offers commuter rail access to downtown Chicago roughly half an hour away. The village is planning a mixed-use redevelopment on the former Lincoln Mall site called Market Square Crossing. Housing values in the surrounding zip code are moderate for the Chicago area, and rental costs follow similarly. Population has remained stable over recent years. The Matteson Area Public Library and several neighborhood parks including Oakwood Park provide community resources.
A parent evaluating Matteson Elem would be looking at a school serving an early elementary band in a largely residential community. The academic performance data available, though limited to third grade, shows results below state norms and below the median for Cook County districts. A parent may want to look further into the school's curriculum, teaching approaches, and any specific interventions or supports in place to understand the path forward for students, particularly as they progress to grades where state testing becomes part of the school year.
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