Aspira Charter - Bus and Fin

Aspira Charter - Bus and Fin is one of the modestly sized four-year high schools in Chicago, Illinois, run under Chicago Public Schools Dist 299, with 426 students on its rolls from grades 9 through 12. Enrollment runs roughly 49% leaner than the state mean of about 834.

Chicago Public Schools Dist 299 runs 622 schools in total, collectively educating 324,396 students. Aspira Charter - Bus and Fin is one of those campuses.

Looking at the student body, Aspira Charter - Bus and Fin reports that nearly all students (92%) are Hispanic. Beyond that, the school records 6% Black. The wider county runs roughly 27% Hispanic, putting the school's mix noticeably more Hispanic than the area baseline.

In terms of school funding signals, The school lists 34 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 12.5:1. The state averages around 13.8:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. An estimated 84% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. Set against Cook County (around 66%), the school's rate is north of typical.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), Aspira Charter - Bus and Fin performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 23.1%, the actual is 9.5%, a residual of -13.6 points.

Across the wider county, Cook County reports that median household earnings sit near $83,498, roughly 43% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 10% of residents live below the federal poverty line. In all, Cook County runs 1406 public schools (combined enrollment of about 697,934 students), of which Aspira Charter - Bus and Fin is one.

The closest other public school is Reilly Elem School, roughly 0.4 miles away. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Aspira Charter - Bus and Fin at 8th of 9; the average score across the group is 23.5%.

The school occupies a city-core site. Aspira Charter - Bus and Fin operates as a public charter school, meaning it is publicly funded but governed independently of the surrounding district's traditional schools.

Trend over the last 7 years. Over the past 7-year window, the student count edged down 13%: 489 students in 2018 compared to 426 in 2025. The student-to-teacher ratio narrowed from 244.5:1 in 2018 to 12.5:1 today.

In the discussion threads here, recent activity here tends to focus on open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.