Burke Elem School

Burke Elem School is one of the tight-knit K-5 schools in Chicago, Illinois, run under Chicago Public Schools Dist 299, with 323 students on its rolls from grades pre-K through 8.

Chicago Public Schools Dist 299 runs 622 schools in total, collectively educating 324,396 students. Burke Elem School is one of those campuses.

For racial and ethnic makeup, Burke Elem School reports that nearly all students (81%) are Black. Beyond that, the school records 16% Hispanic. That is noticeably more Black than the county at large, where the share is closer to 22%.

Looking at school resources, The school lists 25 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 12.9:1. The state averages around 13.9:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. An estimated 96% 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 somewhat above typical.

With demographic context factored in, Burke Elem School sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 16.1%; this one delivers 10.0%.

Zooming out to the county, ACS estimates for Cook County put median household income runs about $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. Burke Elem School is one of 1406 public schools in Cook County (combined enrollment of about 697,934 students).

Nearest neighbor: Walter Henri Dyett HS for Arts, around 0.4 miles off. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Burke Elem School. Among the 7 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Burke Elem School ranks 5th on composite proficiency, behind the local average of 16.3%.

The school occupies an urban site.

Trend over the last 7 years. Over the past 7-year window, the student count shrank 25%: 430 students in 2018 compared to 323 in 2025. The Black share of enrollment declined from 99% to 81% over that span.

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