Garfield Elem School, Maywood IL

Original Research by School Decision on Garfield Elem School

Garfield Elementary serves a diverse student body in Maywood, a densely populated village in Cook County with a predominantly Black population and substantial Hispanic community. The school enrolls students in pre-kindergarten through sixth grade, with a substantial enrollment that includes a meaningful share of students who are Black and a similar significant share who are Hispanic.

State test results for Garfield show low performance across both English language arts and mathematics. In third-grade English, about a quarter of students met or exceeded proficiency. Fourth-grade English performance was notably higher, with results roughly in the low-to-mid range. Fifth-grade English results sat around the mid-range. In mathematics, proficiency fell substantially lower across grades three through five, with results in the range of one in ten to roughly one in seven students meeting proficiency in each grade. Fifth-grade science results reached about a third of students meeting proficiency. State testing data for sixth grade and above was not available, likely because Garfield does not retain students beyond sixth grade; the data sections confirm the school serves only pre-K through sixth.

Compared to other school districts across Cook County, Garfield's overall proficiency index sits in the bottom quartile, meaning its performance trails a clear majority of the county's districts. A parent looking at these numbers may want to discuss with the school what specific supports are in place for students working significantly below grade-level standards, and what progress tracking systems exist to measure growth in early grades where the foundations for later academic work take shape.

Maywood itself is a walkable, historically rooted residential village built around the Union Pacific West Line and anchored by the Maywood Metra station. The housing stock is predominantly older, with a significant concentration of pre-1940 homes alongside neighborhood commercial corridors on streets like Lake Street. Housing values in the immediate area are modest, and the overall housing market in Cook County shows a supply-heavy profile with relatively modest demand. Recent development in the village has focused on affordable and supportive housing rather than market-rate growth, reflecting both demographic stability and intentional community investment.

The district itself, Maywood-Melrose Park-Broadview 89, has recently shifted its approach to bilingual instruction. Rather than self-contained transitional bilingual classrooms, the district is rolling out a one-way dual language program at multiple elementary schools including Jane Addams, Lincoln, and Melrose Park Schools, adding a grade each year through fifth. A separate two-way dual language academy, Washington Dual Language Academy, operates as a K-8 option for families seeking immersive bilingual education. For families considering Garfield or other schools in the district, this shift represents a meaningful change in how English learners and Spanish speakers engage with instruction.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 311%

School 11% · District 30% · ▼ 18 pts below district

▼ 35 pts below state median · ▼ 28 pts below county median

Grade 410%

School 10% · District 27% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▼ 26 pts below state median · ▼ 18 pts below county median

Grade 514%

School 14% · District 23% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 328%

School 28% · District 37% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

Grade 441%

School 41% · District 44% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▼ 7 pts below state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 542%

School 42% · District 52% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▼ 10 pts below state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Science

Grade 531%

School 31% · District 30% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

This schoolMaywood-Melrose Park-Broadview 89, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.