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Alumni: what's one memory from Booth Tarkington Elem School that still sticks with you?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
540
Elementary
DISTRICT 480 · STATE 381
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·WHEELING CCSD 21·NCES 174221004234
Booth Tarkington Elementary School
310 Scott St, Wheeling, IL 60090 · (847) 520-2775 · Cook County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL540 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
14.2:1
38 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 12.9:1 · STATE 13.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
45%
245 students
DISTRICT 59% · STATE 56%
Community
5
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 73 | 14% |
| Kindergarten | 70 | 13% |
| Grade 1 | 67 | 12% |
| Grade 2 | 79 | 15% |
| Grade 3 | 77 | 14% |
| Grade 4 | 86 | 16% |
| Grade 5 | 88 | 16% |
This year's kindergarten class (70) is 20% smaller than its 5th grade class (88).
Student demographics
73%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 65% · STATE 69% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
IAR + ISA 2024-25 . % Proficient (Levels 4-5)English Language Arts
44.1%
IL avg 51.0% . +21.7pp since 2023
Math
48.4%
IL avg 37.9% . +17.3pp since 2023
What this means: On the IAR + ISA, Illinois's statewide test, about 44 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 48 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Illinois schools, those numbers are about 51 and 38. Reading and writing scores are up about 22 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 17 points.
IAR + ISA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 44.1% | 48.4% |
| 2023-24 | 22.4% | 31.1% |
% Proficient (Levels 4-5), all students and all tested grades.
Source: IAR + ISA. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
43.4%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
45.3%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-1.9pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 43% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 45% typical for Illinois schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Illinois's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like Booth Tarkington Elementary School
Booth Tarkington Elementary School's state test result (43.4% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 4 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Booth Tarkington Elementary School this school | 540 | 45.4% | 43.4% |
| Hilltop Elementary School Elgin | 521 | 49.3% | 45.1% |
| East Prairie Elementary School Skokie | 513 | 43.3% | 62.5% |
| Cloverdale Elementary School Carol Stream | 466 | 41.8% | 51.8% |
| Spring Trail Elementary School Carol Stream | 486 | 39.7% | 61.5% |
| Holmes Elementary School Clarendon Hills | 519 | 48.7% | N/A |
Matched among Illinois elementary schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Booth Tarkington Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois | In Cook County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 43.4% | #815 of 1,925 | #213 of 760 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 48.4% | #716 of 2,077 ▲ 59 | #214 of 829 ▲ 26 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 44.1% | #1,208 of 2,077 ▲ 277 | #399 of 829 ▲ 140 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 540 | #409 of 2,419 | #207 of 901 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.2:1 | #1,304 of 2,035 | #583 of 817 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 72.5% | #68 of 2,042 | #31 of 819 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 45.4% | #1,423 of 2,132 | #635 of 804 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +21.9% | #103 of 615 | #26 of 186 |
Ranked against other public elementary schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
540
+65 (+14%) vs 2020
-14% since 1990-91, when it was 625
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 540 | 38 | 14.2:1 | 45% (245) |
| 2023-24 | 565 | 38.5 | 14.7:1 | 43% (241) |
| 2022-23 | 551 | 37 | 14.9:1 | 38% (209) |
| 2020-21 | 475 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 443 | 21.1 | 21.0:1 | 44% (194) |
| 2015-16 | 497 | 24 | 20.7:1 | 40% (198) |
| 2010-11 | 458 | 26 | 17.6:1 | 37% (169) |
| 2000-01 | 604 | 32 | 18.9:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 625 | 35 | 17.9:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Booth Tarkington Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students up 22% (443 to 540); teachers up 80% (21.1 to 38).
About Booth Tarkington Elementary School
Booth Tarkington Elementary School operates as a medium-sized elementary school in Wheeling, Illinois. The latest federal count shows 540 students in pre-K through 5. The average for elementary schools in Illinois is about 381 students, so this school is 42% above average.
Booth Tarkington Elementary School is one of 12 schools in Wheeling CCSD 21, which enrolls 6,298 students in total.
Booth Tarkington Elementary School has no majority group; Hispanic students are the largest, at 33%. The rest of enrollment is 30% White, 26% Asian, 7% multiracial, and 4% Black. The school's diversity index is 73%, meaning two students picked at random have a 73% chance of belonging to different racial or ethnic groups.
Booth Tarkington Elementary School's 38 full-time-equivalent teachers put its ratio at 14.2:1. That is close to the 13.9:1 average for elementary schools in Illinois. The school's rate of free or reduced-price lunch eligibility is 45%. The 66% average for public schools in Cook County is 21 points higher.
The school's average proficiency rate on state tests is 43.4%. For its free or reduced-price lunch share, the predicted value is 45.3%.
In Cook County (population about 5,182,090), the median household income is $83,498, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 43%, and roughly 10% of residents are in poverty. Booth Tarkington Elementary School is one of 1,406 public schools in the county.
Of nearby public schools, Jack London Middle School is the closest, at about 0.5 miles. In all, at least 8 other public schools sit within five miles of Booth Tarkington Elementary School. Its average proficiency rate of 43.4% is below the 44.9% average for nearby schools.
On the NCES locale scale, the school is Suburb: Large.
2024-25 enrollment was 540, a 14% increase from 475 in 2020-21.
Community posts for Booth Tarkington Elementary School can cover school safety, transportation, and start times. Questions from prospective families are welcome too.
Cook County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
5,182,090
Census ACS
Median income
$83,498
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
43%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
10%
Below federal line
Schools in county
1,406
697,934 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Wheeling CCSD 21
- Cooper Middle SchoolMiddle · 732 students
- Jack London Middle SchoolMiddle · 628 students
- Oliver W Holmes Middle SchoolMiddle · 615 students
- Eugene Field Elementary SchoolElementary · 613 students
- Joyce Kilmer Elementary SchoolElementary · 590 students
- Robert Frost Elementary SchoolElementary · 532 students
Other schools in Wheeling
- Wheeling High SchoolHigh · 1,743 students
- Jack London Middle SchoolMiddle · 628 students
- Oliver W Holmes Middle SchoolMiddle · 615 students
- Eugene Field Elementary SchoolElementary · 613 students
- Mark Twain Elementary SchoolElementary · 524 students
- Walt Whitman Elementary SchoolElementary · 378 students
Nearby schools
- Jack London Middle School0.5 mi · 628
- Eugene Field Elementary School0.6 mi · 613
- Wheeling High School0.8 mi · 1,743
- J W Riley Elementary School0.9 mi · 319
- Joyce Kilmer Elementary School0.9 mi · 590
- Mark Twain Elementary School1.0 mi · 524
Frequently asked questions
About Booth Tarkington Elementary SchoolHow large is Booth Tarkington Elementary School?
Booth Tarkington Elementary School enrolls approximately 540 students in grades PK-05.
What age range does Booth Tarkington Elementary School serve?
Booth Tarkington Elementary School serves students from grade PK through grade 05.
How many students per teacher at Booth Tarkington Elementary School?
Approximately 14.2:1 students per teacher at Booth Tarkington Elementary School.
What is the student diversity at Booth Tarkington Elementary School?
Student demographics at Booth Tarkington Elementary School are roughly 30% White, 33% Hispanic, 4% Black, 26% Asian, 7% Two or more.
What district is Booth Tarkington Elementary School in?
Booth Tarkington Elementary School is part of Wheeling CCSD 21.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.