Central Park Elem School, Midlothian IL

Original Research by School Decision on Central Park Elem School

Central Park Elementary School in Midlothian, Illinois, is a kindergarten through eighth grade school serving a student population that is primarily Hispanic and Black, with smaller shares of White and Native American students. About half the enrollment is Hispanic, roughly a quarter is Black, and about a fifth is White. The school's total enrollment is mid-sized for its grade span.

The school's 2024-25 state assessment results show widespread academic struggle across all tested grades and subjects. In math, proficiency rates are persistently low, ranging from single digits in grades 5 and 8 to roughly a third in grades 3 and 4. The trajectory is particularly concerning in upper grades: fifth grade math proficiency falls to near zero, then remains very low through grade 8. English language arts performance is somewhat less dire but still reflects limited proficiency, with rates in the low twenties to mid-forties across tested grades. Notably, grade 8 ELA shows the school's strongest result at around half of students meeting proficiency. Science proficiency, measured in grades 5 and 8, sits in the high teens to low twenties. When looking at overall proficiency as a composite measure across subjects and grades, Central Park ranks in the bottom quartile relative to districts across Cook County.

The school participates fully in state testing with near complete participation rates. Data on free-or-reduced-price lunch eligibility and special education or English learner enrollment were not available, so the full economic and linguistic profile is incomplete. Similarly, staff information, attendance metrics, and discipline data were not provided.

Midlothian itself is a compact post-war suburban village in southwestern Cook County, settled primarily in the 1950s and 1960s, with a car-dependent layout centered loosely around 147th Street near the Metra commuter rail station. The village is predominantly residential with retail and service businesses along major corridors. The community has been slowly declining in population, and the housing market is modestly affordable relative to county and state benchmarks. Central Park sits within Midlothian School District 143, a Pre-K through 8 district that recently introduced a new literacy curriculum district-wide and has faced enrollment pressure that led to the reduction of junior high social studies staffing in early 2026. Those staffing constraints and enrollment declines are worth monitoring as context for school planning and course access.

The mismatch between Central Park's proficiency levels and the county benchmark is substantial enough that a parent considering this school should seek a direct conversation with school leadership about specific intervention strategies, literacy and math support structures, and what additional academic services or monitoring the school provides to students who are not meeting grade-level standards. Understanding the school's approach to reading instruction under the new curriculum, the availability of small group instruction or tutoring, and the school's goals for improvement over the coming years would help set realistic expectations about what academic environment and support the school offers.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 343%

School 43% · District 35% · ▲ 8 pts above district

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

Grade 431%

School 31% · District 34% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

Grade 55%

School 5% · District 11% · ▼ 5 pts below district

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

Grade 614%

School 14% · District 14% · ▲ 1 pts above district

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

Grade 726%

School 26% · District 20% · ▲ 6 pts above district

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

Grade 89%

School 9% · District 11% · ▼ 2 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 322%

School 22% · District 28% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 22 pts below state median · ▼ 15 pts below county median

Grade 437%

School 37% · District 50% · ▼ 13 pts below district

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

Grade 531%

School 31% · District 36% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▼ 22 pts below state median · ▼ 15 pts below county median

Grade 641%

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

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 740%

School 40% · District 34% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Grade 852%

School 52% · District 45% · ▲ 7 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 518%

School 18% · District 23% · ▼ 5 pts below district

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

Grade 823%

School 23% · District 19% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

This schoolMidlothian SD 143, 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.