Berger-Vandenberg Elem School

As a modestly sized K-5 school in Dolton, Illinois, Berger-Vandenberg Elem School educates 266 students from grades K through 5, overseen by Dolton SD 149. By comparison, Illinois's public schools average about 381 students each, so Berger-Vandenberg Elem School sits 30% leaner than that benchmark.

Dolton SD 149 runs 8 schools in total, collectively educating 2,192 students. Berger-Vandenberg Elem School is one of those campuses.

Demographically, Berger-Vandenberg Elem School lists that the student body is overwhelmingly Black (90%); the rest reads as 9% Hispanic. By comparison, Cook County as a whole is about 22% Black, so the school skews noticeably more Black than its surroundings.

Looking at the economic backdrop, Staff filings list 14 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 19.0:1 students per teacher. The state averages around 13.9:1, so this campus is higher than the state norm typical. An estimated 100% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. By comparison, Cook County runs at roughly 66%, so the school's eligibility rate is higher than the surrounding baseline.

With demographic context factored in, Berger-Vandenberg Elem School sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 14.0%; this one delivers 15.1%.

Around the school, Cook County reports that median household income runs about $83,498, 43% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 10%. Berger-Vandenberg Elem School is one of 1406 public schools in Cook County (combined enrollment of about 697,934 students).

The closest other public school is Diekman Elem School, roughly 0.3 miles away. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Berger-Vandenberg Elem School. Among the 9 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Berger-Vandenberg Elem School ranks 4th on composite proficiency, below the local average of 16.4%.

Geographically, the school is in an outer-ring area.

Over the past 7-year window. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Berger-Vandenberg Elem School has declined 16%, going from 317 students in 2018 to 266 in 2025. Over the same period, the Hispanic share climbed from 2% to 9%.

Inside the community feed, recent activity here tends to focus on enrollment questions, classroom assignments, and PTA news. Members of the school community can share what they know.