J B Kennedy Elem School, Burbank IL

Original Research by School Decision on J B Kennedy Elem School

J B Kennedy Elementary is a small K–5 public school in Burbank, a working- and middle-class southwest Chicago suburb. The school serves a substantially Hispanic student body drawn from the dense residential neighborhoods that make up the community's interior, away from the commercial corridors along Cicero and Harlem Avenues.

The enrollment is modest and stable. About three-quarters of the student population is Hispanic, with smaller shares of white students and students of other races. The school does not report its free-or-reduced-price-lunch rate, so family income composition cannot be determined from available data. Likewise, no data on special education, English learner rates, or chronic absenteeism was available, so the profile of student needs and attendance patterns remains unclear. A parent may want to ask the school directly about these population breakdowns and support services.

State assessment results show mixed performance across grades. In math, proficiency drops sharply as students move from third to fifth grade, beginning at a solid level in third grade but falling to low proficiency by fifth. Reading (English Language Arts) is more consistent across grades, though proficiency in third grade lags behind fourth grade and science proficiency in fifth grade is below half. All students took the state assessments, showing full participation. The overall pattern suggests students grasp material in early grades but struggle with the more demanding content and problem-solving expected in upper elementary. Against other districts in Cook County, J B Kennedy's overall proficiency index places it below the county's midpoint.

The school sits within Burbank School District 111, which recently restructured its grade configuration. Elementary schools in the district now serve through fifth grade, with all sixth through eighth graders moving to Liberty Junior High. This means families can expect their children to remain in the elementary building through fifth grade before transitioning to the larger, departmentalized junior high, where they will join students from across the entire district. The junior high facility was substantially renovated and expanded in 2020 with new science labs and classrooms. The district has also adopted new English Language Arts curriculum materials at the junior high level designed to align with state testing formats.

Burbank itself is a built-out, mature suburb near Midway Airport with limited new residential construction. Home values have risen modestly in recent years. The community is anchored by the Burbank Park District, the Prairie Trails Public Library, and local recreation facilities. Residents work predominantly in manufacturing, health care, construction, and transportation logistics across the southwest suburban corridor, though some commute into Chicago. The town has a moderate Walk Score, with quieter residential streets in the interior and commercial activity concentrated along the main avenues.

For a family considering J B Kennedy, the essential question is whether the early-grade instruction aligns with your child's needs, given the later-grade performance dip evident in the data. The school's small size and location within a dense neighborhood offer a community feel, and the fifth-grade transition to junior high is a relatively natural curriculum break. A parent may want to visit, observe classroom teaching, and ask about interventions and remediation for students who fall below proficiency levels, especially in upper elementary mathematics.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 367%

School 67% · District 46% · ▲ 20 pts above district

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

Grade 440%

School 40% · District 30% · ▲ 10 pts above district

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

Grade 523%

School 23% · District 26% · ▼ 3 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 344%

School 44% · District 46% · ▼ 2 pts below district

even with state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

Grade 456%

School 56% · District 44% · ▲ 12 pts above district

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▲ 16 pts above county median

Grade 548%

School 48% · District 56% · ▼ 8 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 529%

School 29% · District 28%

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

This schoolBurbank SD 111, 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.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 6Lower-income15%Higher-income44%28 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income9%Higher-income35%26 pp gap