Carl Sandburg Elementary

Carl Sandburg Elementary operates as a mid-sized elementary school in Joliet, Illinois, overseen by Joliet PSD 86. Current enrollment sits at 371 students spanning grades K through 5.

Within Joliet PSD 86, which oversees 20 schools and 9,333 students, Carl Sandburg Elementary is one campus in the system.

Looking at the student body, Carl Sandburg Elementary reports that 44% of students identify as Hispanic, with the remaining enrollment distributed across several groups. Beyond that, the school logs 42% Black, 7% White, 6% multiracial. That is considerably more Hispanic than the county at large, where the share is closer to 20%.

On the resource side, Staff filings list 20 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 18.8:1 students per teacher. The state averages around 13.9:1, so this campus is higher than the state norm typical. Around 95% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, often used as a Title I proxy. Set against Will County (around 44%), the school's rate is noticeably above typical.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Carl Sandburg Elementary sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 16.6%; this one delivers 11.9%.

Across the wider county, the surrounding county (Will County) shows that median household income runs about $109,984, roughly 38% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 6% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Carl Sandburg Elementary is one of 209 public schools in Will County (combined enrollment of about 113,008 students).

The closest other public school is Hufford Junior High School, roughly 0.4 miles away. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Among the 8 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Carl Sandburg Elementary ranks 8th on composite proficiency, below the local average of 32.6%.

Geographically, the school is in a bedroom-community area.

Five-year trend. Over the past 7-year window, the student count shrank 6%: 393 students in 2018 compared to 371 in 2025. The Hispanic share of enrollment rose from 31% to 44% over that span.

Within the allk12 community for this school, members of the Carl Sandburg Elementary community share and discuss enrollment questions, classroom assignments, and PTA news. Members of the school community can share what they know.