Kolmar Avenue Elem School, Oak Lawn IL

Original Research by School Decision on Kolmar Avenue Elem School

Kolmar Avenue Elementary is a small to mid-sized elementary school in Oak Lawn serving pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. The school sits within Oak Lawn-Hometown SD 123, a district that spans Oak Lawn and Hometown and has recently invested in early-childhood expansion and a district-wide shift to a content-rich reading curriculum called Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA), which is now the frame for how all elementary students learn literacy.

The student body is roughly evenly split between white and Hispanic students, with a smaller presence of Asian, Black, and multiracial students. Enrollment is stable at just over 400, spread fairly evenly across the grades, with slightly smaller fifth-grade cohorts. Free-or-reduced-price lunch data was not available.

On state assessments, Kolmar's performance shows a mixed picture by grade and subject. In English language arts, the school shows stronger proficiency in grades four and five than in grade three. Fourth graders perform at roughly three-quarters proficiency, and fifth graders at roughly three-quarters as well, while third graders land at around two-thirds. In math, a different pattern emerges: fourth graders perform at roughly two-thirds proficiency, but proficiency drops noticeably in fifth grade to under half. Grade three math sits around mid-range at just over half. Science data is available only for fifth grade, where proficiency falls under half. The data comes with a flag that assessment cut scores changed this year in Illinois, making year-to-year trend work unreliable, so a parent may want to ask the school directly how recent performance compares to prior years.

When compared against the other school districts in Cook County, Kolmar's overall proficiency index across tested subjects and grades lands above the midpoint. That is a meaningful signal of where this school sits in its broader context, though the variation within grade levels and between subjects suggests uneven strength and is worth exploring with the school.

A parent evaluating this school should know that the fourth-grade cohort appears particularly strong in English language arts, while fifth graders show notable challenge in math. The school participates in the district's adoption of CKLA, a structured, knowledge-building approach to reading that differs from more conventional balanced-literacy models. For families with younger children, the district has recently opened an Early Learning Center with dedicated pre-K classrooms, morning and afternoon sessions, and partnerships with community organizations, which sits at the former Gaddis School site and represents a lasting expansion of early-access programming in the district.

Oak Lawn itself is a mid-sized suburban village about 15 miles southwest of downtown Chicago, with strong public transit anchored by the Oak Lawn Patriot Metra station on the Southwest Service line. The housing market here is modestly priced relative to the Chicago region, with median home values well below the regional median. The community has a large Arab-American population and a vibrant Mediterranean food and retail scene concentrated along commercial corridors and in a redeveloped downtown around the Metra station. Health care, retail, and education are the dominant employment sectors for residents.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 356%

School 56% · District 52% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 10 pts above state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

Grade 464%

School 64% · District 42% · ▲ 22 pts above district

▲ 27 pts above state median · ▲ 35 pts above county median

Grade 548%

School 48% · District 32% · ▲ 16 pts above district

▲ 18 pts above state median · ▲ 26 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 361%

School 61% · District 56% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 17 pts above state median · ▲ 24 pts above county median

Grade 477%

School 77% · District 56% · ▲ 21 pts above district

▲ 29 pts above state median · ▲ 37 pts above county median

Grade 574%

School 74% · District 70% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 22 pts above state median · ▲ 28 pts above county median

Science

Grade 548%

School 48% · District 42% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▲ 21 pts above county median

This schoolOak Lawn-Hometown SD 123, 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.