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What's something Cardenas Elem School does better than most schools?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
764
Elementary
DISTRICT 463 · STATE 381
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS DIST 299·NCES 170993001099
Cardenas Elementary School
2345 S Millard Ave, Chicago, IL 60623 · (773) 534-1465 · Cook County
GRADES PK–08ELEMENTARY11-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL764 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
13.6:1
56 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.6:1 · STATE 13.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
96%
732 students
DISTRICT 78% · 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 | 40 | 5% |
| Kindergarten | 71 | 9% |
| Grade 1 | 68 | 9% |
| Grade 2 | 88 | 12% |
| Grade 3 | 76 | 10% |
| Grade 4 | 91 | 12% |
| Grade 5 | 85 | 11% |
| Grade 6 | 83 | 11% |
| Grade 7 | 81 | 11% |
| Grade 8 | 80 | 10% |
| Grade 9 | 1 | 0% |
This year's kindergarten class (71) is 11% smaller than its 8th grade class (80).
Student demographics
12%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 64% · 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
School pathway
Students here typically continue to
Cardenas Elementary School→Farragut Career Academy High School
Based on published attendance-zone data from Chicago Public Schools Dist 299. Zones change; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
IAR + ISA 2024-25 . % Proficient (Levels 4-5)English Language Arts
49.9%
IL avg 51.0% . +15.9pp since 2023
Math
30.7%
IL avg 37.9% . +12.8pp since 2023
What this means: On the IAR + ISA, Illinois's statewide test, about 50 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 31 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 16 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 13 points.
IAR + ISA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 49.9% | 30.7% |
| 2023-24 | 34.0% | 17.9% |
% 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
OUTPERFORMING
Top 10% of IL schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
37.2%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
16.2%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+21.0pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 37% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 16% typical for Illinois schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations ranks schools against others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school can post high scores and still fall short of its prediction, or post lower scores and still beat it. This school clears its prediction by about 21 points, placing it in Illinois's top 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 Cardenas Elementary School
Cardenas Elementary School's state test result (37.2% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cardenas Elementary School this school | 764 | 95.8% | 37.2% |
| Chavez Elementary Multicultural Academy Ct Chicago | 784 | 96.0% | 49.4% |
| Warren Park School Cicero | 695 | 94.8% | 29.0% |
| Nixon Elementary School Chicago | 672 | 94.9% | 16.4% |
| Sawyer Elementary School Chicago | 885 | 95.9% | 22.2% |
| Sandoval Elementary School Chicago | 736 | 91.7% | 29.5% |
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 Cardenas Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois | In Cook County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 37.2% | #1,008 of 1,925 | #280 of 760 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 30.7% | #1,256 of 2,077 ▲ 18 | #383 of 829 ▲ 17 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 49.9% | #1,002 of 2,077 ▲ 5 | #326 of 829 no change |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 764 | #81 of 2,419 | #57 of 901 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 13.6:1 | #1,107 of 2,035 | #495 of 817 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 12.5% | #1,833 of 2,042 | #696 of 819 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 95.8% | #124 of 2,132 | #96 of 804 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +36.2% | #47 of 615 | #9 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
764
-248 (-25%) vs 2020
+18% since 1990-91, when it was 650
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 | 764 | 56 | 13.6:1 | 96% (732) |
| 2023-24 | 766 | 59 | 13.0:1 | 95% (727) |
| 2022-23 | 817 | 61.5 | 13.3:1 | 93% (757) |
| 2020-21 | 1,012 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 561 | 28.7 | 19.6:1 | 97% (543) |
| 2015-16 | 665 | 33 | 20.1:1 | 98% (653) |
| 2010-11 | 635 | 32 | 19.8:1 | 100% (632) |
| 2000-01 | 829 | 37 | 22.4:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 650 | 34 | 19.1:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Cardenas Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students up 36% (561 to 764); teachers up 95% (28.7 to 56).
About Cardenas Elementary School
Cardenas Elementary School is one of the public schools in Chicago, Illinois. It is a high-enrollment elementary school. Federal data show 764 students enrolled in pre-K through 8 in 2024-25. Across elementary schools in Illinois, the average enrollment is about 381.
Cardenas Elementary School is one school in Chicago Public Schools Dist 299, a system of 622 schools with 324,396 students.
Hispanic students account for 93% of the school's enrollment. The rest of enrollment is 4% White and 3% Black. Among all residents of Cook County, the Hispanic share is about 27%. A diversity index of 12% means there is a 12% chance two randomly chosen students at Cardenas Elementary School are from different groups.
There are about 13.6 students for every full-time-equivalent teacher at Cardenas Elementary School, which has 56. The 13.9:1 average for elementary schools in Illinois is close to this figure. Free or reduced-price lunch eligibility at Cardenas Elementary School is about 96%. The gap from the 66% average for public schools in Cook County is 30 points.
In Illinois, Cardenas Elementary School is one of the top 10% of schools on BeatsExpectations, with an average proficiency rate across its state test results of 37.2% compared with a predicted 16.2%.
In Cook County, home to about 5,182,090 people, median household income comes to about $83,498, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 43%, and about 10% of people live in poverty. Cook County's 1,406 public schools enroll about 697,934 students and include Cardenas Elementary School.
Cardenas Elementary School is about 0.3 miles from Crown Elementary Comm Acd Fine Arts Center, its nearest public school. Within five miles are at least 8 other public schools. On proficiency, Cardenas Elementary School is ahead of the 17.4% nearby average, ranking 1st of 8.
Cardenas Elementary School falls in the City: Large locale category, used for schools inside a principal city with a population of 250,000 or more.
Between 2020-21 and 2024-25, Cardenas Elementary School had a net loss of 248 students, or 25%.
Use the discussion section to ask about open houses, carpools, and field trips at Cardenas Elementary School. Current and former families are welcome to add their experience.
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 Chicago Public Schools Dist 299
- Lane Technical High SchoolHigh · 4,604 students
- Taft High SchoolHigh · 4,487 students
- Curie Metropolitan High SchoolHigh · 3,099 students
- Kenwood Academy High SchoolHigh · 2,268 students
- Young Magnet High SchoolHigh · 2,223 students
- Lincoln Park High SchoolHigh · 2,214 students
Other schools in Chicago
- Lane Technical High SchoolHigh · 4,604 students
- Taft High SchoolHigh · 4,487 students
- Curie Metropolitan High SchoolHigh · 3,099 students
- Kenwood Academy High SchoolHigh · 2,268 students
- Young Magnet High SchoolHigh · 2,223 students
- Lincoln Park High SchoolHigh · 2,214 students
Nearby schools
- Crown Elementary Comm Acd Fine Arts Center0.3 mi · 92
- Little Village Elementary School0.4 mi · 575
- Farragut Career Academy High School0.4 mi · 490
- Kanoon Elementary Magnet School0.6 mi · 389
- McCormick Elementary School0.6 mi · 502
- Ortiz De Dominguez Elementary School0.7 mi · 404
Frequently asked questions
About Cardenas Elementary SchoolHow many students attend Cardenas Elementary School?
Cardenas Elementary School enrolls approximately 764 students in grades PK-08.
What grades does Cardenas Elementary School serve?
Cardenas Elementary School serves grades PK-08.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Cardenas Elementary School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Cardenas Elementary School is approximately 13.6:1 (56 FTE teachers).
What is the student diversity at Cardenas Elementary School?
Student demographics at Cardenas Elementary School are roughly 4% White, 93% Hispanic, 3% Black, 0% Two or more.
Who oversees Cardenas Elementary School?
Cardenas Elementary School is overseen by Chicago Public Schools Dist 299 in Cook County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.