1
Enrollment
724
Elementary
DISTRICT 463 · STATE 381
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS DIST 299·NCES 170993005546
Carson Elementary School
5516 S Maplewood Ave, Chicago, IL 60629 · (773) 535-9222 · Cook County
GRADES PK–08ELEMENTARY11-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL724 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
14.3:1
51 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.6:1 · STATE 13.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
84%
607 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 | 47 | 6% |
| Kindergarten | 53 | 7% |
| Grade 1 | 68 | 9% |
| Grade 2 | 83 | 11% |
| Grade 3 | 72 | 10% |
| Grade 4 | 78 | 11% |
| Grade 5 | 103 | 14% |
| Grade 6 | 73 | 10% |
| Grade 7 | 78 | 11% |
| Grade 8 | 69 | 10% |
This year's kindergarten class (53) is 23% smaller than its 8th grade class (69).
Student demographics
8%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
Carson Elementary School→Gage Park 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
46.8%
IL avg 51.0% . +12.8pp since 2023
Math
30.9%
IL avg 37.9% . +15.9pp since 2023
What this means: On the IAR + ISA, Illinois's statewide test, about 47 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 13 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 16 points.
IAR + ISA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 46.8% | 30.9% |
| 2023-24 | 34.0% | 15.0% |
% 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
35.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
23.1%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+12.8pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 36% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 23% 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 Carson Elementary School
Carson Elementary School's state test result (35.9% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carson Elementary School this school | 724 | 83.8% | 35.9% |
| Columbia Explorers Elementary Academy Chicago | 718 | 86.2% | 46.0% |
| Camras Elementary School Chicago | 702 | 82.6% | 25.4% |
| Gunsaulus Elementary Scholastic Academy Chicago | 658 | 86.0% | 35.4% |
| Sadlowski Elementary School Chicago | 655 | 83.2% | 22.9% |
| Prieto Math-Science Elementary School Chicago | 733 | 88.1% | 25.7% |
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 Carson Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois | In Cook County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 35.9% | #1,060 of 1,925 | #303 of 760 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 30.9% | #1,249 of 2,077 ▲ 151 | #381 of 829 ▲ 70 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 46.8% | #1,118 of 2,077 ▼ 110 | #368 of 829 ▼ 41 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 724 | #104 of 2,419 | #69 of 901 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.3:1 | #1,341 of 2,035 | #602 of 817 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 7.5% | #1,946 of 2,042 | #759 of 819 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 83.8% | #429 of 2,132 | #299 of 804 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -34.1% | #111 of 1,461 | #72 of 661 |
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
724
-209 (-22%) vs 2020
-42% since 2000-01, when it was 1,249
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 | 724 | 50.5 | 14.3:1 | 84% (607) |
| 2023-24 | 747 | 51 | 14.7:1 | 92% (689) |
| 2022-23 | 788 | 54.5 | 14.5:1 | 94% (740) |
| 2020-21 | 933 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 1,099 | 51.8 | 21.2:1 | 97% (1,067) |
| 2015-16 | 1,082 | 60 | 18.0:1 | 97% (1,050) |
| 2010-11 | 1,293 | 59 | 21.9:1 | 98% (1,265) |
| 2000-01 | 1,249 | 56 | 22.3:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Carson Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 34% (1,099 to 724); teachers down 2% (51.8 to 50.5).
About Carson Elementary School
Carson Elementary School is a high-enrollment elementary school in Chicago, Illinois, (ZIP code 60629). It teaches 724 students in pre-K through 8. That is 90% larger than the average of about 381 students for elementary schools in Illinois.
District-wide, Chicago Public Schools Dist 299 has 622 schools and 324,396 students.
Hispanic students are 96% of those enrolled at Carson Elementary School. The next largest groups are 3% Black. In Cook County overall, about 27% of residents are Hispanic. A diversity index of 8% means there is an 8% chance two randomly chosen students at Carson Elementary School are from different groups.
Based on 50.5 full-time-equivalent teachers, Carson Elementary School has a ratio of 14.3:1. The ratio is within a point of the 13.9:1 average for elementary schools in Illinois. Income data for the school show 84% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. Among public schools in Cook County, the average eligibility rate is 66%.
In Illinois, Carson Elementary School is in the middle band of BeatsExpectations: 35.9% actual against a predicted 23.1%.
Census data for Cook County show the median household earns about $83,498 a year, 43% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 10% of people live in poverty. Counting Carson Elementary School, Cook County has 1,406 public schools.
Carson Elementary School is about 0.1 miles from Talman Elementary School, its nearest public school. Within five miles are at least 8 other public schools. In a group of 9 nearby schools with scores, Carson Elementary School ranks 3rd on average proficiency.
Carson Elementary School is inside a principal city with a population of 250,000 or more, a location NCES labels City: Large.
Enrollment decreased 22% over 4 years, reaching 724 in 2024-25.
Use the discussion section to ask about special education services, counseling, and support programs at Carson Elementary School. You can also rate the school on this page.
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
Other Carson Elementary schools
8 other US public schools in 7 states are named Carson Elementary. Carson Elementary School is the largest of the 9.
- Carson Elementary SchoolDECATUR, TX · 489 students
- Carson Elementary SchoolSAN ANTONIO, TX · 488 students
- Carson Elementary SchoolNewark, OH · 414 students
- Carson Elementary SchoolDENVER, CO · 412 students
- Carson ElementarySan Diego, CA · 336 students
Nearby schools
- Talman Elementary School0.1 mi · 332
- Gage Park High School0.2 mi · 392
- Nightingale Elementary School0.3 mi · 917
- Horizon Sci Academy - Southwest Chtr0.4 mi · 712
- Acero Chtr - Rufino Tamayo Elementary School0.5 mi · 266
- Christopher Elementary School0.6 mi · 315
Frequently asked questions
About Carson Elementary SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Carson Elementary School?
Carson Elementary School enrolls approximately 724 students in grades PK-08.
What grades does Carson Elementary School serve?
Carson Elementary School serves grades PK-08.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Carson Elementary School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Carson Elementary School is approximately 14.3:1 (51 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Carson Elementary School?
At Carson Elementary School, the student body is approximately 0% White, 96% Hispanic, 3% Black, 0% Asian, 0% Two or more.
What district is Carson Elementary School in?
Carson Elementary School is part of Chicago Public Schools Dist 299.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.