Bret Harte Elem School

Set in Chicago, Illinois, Bret Harte Elem School is a mid-tier elementary-level community, overseen by Chicago Public Schools Dist 299. It serves 339 students across grades pre-K through 8.

Within Chicago Public Schools Dist 299, which oversees 622 schools and 324,396 students, Bret Harte Elem School is one campus in the system.

In terms of who attends, Bret Harte Elem School reports that the largest single group is Black, at 78% of enrollment; the rest consists of 13% Hispanic, 4% White, 3% multiracial. The wider county runs roughly 22% Black, putting the school's mix considerably more Black than the area baseline.

On the resource side, Bret Harte Elem School records 27 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 12.7:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 13.9:1, putting Bret Harte Elem School tighter than the state norm the norm. Around 75% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, 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 somewhat above the surrounding baseline.

On a demographically-adjusted basis, Bret Harte Elem School performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 28.1%, the actual is 23.4%, a residual of -4.7 points.

In the surrounding community, the surrounding county (Cook County) records that the typical household earns roughly $83,498 per year, roughly 43% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 10%. Across Cook County's 1406 public schools (combined enrollment of about 697,934 students), Bret Harte Elem School is one campus in the mix.

Ray Elem School is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.4 miles from this campus. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Bret Harte Elem School. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Bret Harte Elem School at 6th of 9; the average score across the group is 27.8%.

The school occupies a high-density site.

Trend over the last 7 years. Over the past 7-year window, the student count rose 8%: 315 students in 2018 compared to 339 in 2025. Over the same period, the Black share contracted from 88% to 78%. Class-load math has tightened: from 19.5:1 in 2018 to 12.7:1 in 2025.

Inside the community feed, members of the Bret Harte Elem School community share and discuss open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.