Enrollment
279
Elementary
DISTRICT 463 · STATE 381
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS DIST 299·NCES 170993000653
Carter Elementary School
5740 S Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60637 · (773) 535-0860 · Cook County
GRADES PK–08ELEMENTARY11-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL279 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
17.4:1
16 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.6:1 · STATE 13.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
71%
197 students
DISTRICT 78% · STATE 56%
Community
0
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 | 18 | 6% |
| Kindergarten | 24 | 9% |
| Grade 1 | 19 | 7% |
| Grade 2 | 31 | 11% |
| Grade 3 | 38 | 14% |
| Grade 4 | 35 | 13% |
| Grade 5 | 26 | 9% |
| Grade 6 | 26 | 9% |
| Grade 7 | 32 | 11% |
| Grade 8 | 28 | 10% |
| Grade 9 | 2 | 1% |
This year's kindergarten class (24) is 14% smaller than its 8th grade class (28).
Student demographics
10%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
Carter Elementary School→Phillips 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
18.6%
IL avg 51.0% . +11.6pp since 2023
Math
7.7%
IL avg 37.9% . +3.5pp since 2023
What this means: On the IAR + ISA, Illinois's statewide test, about 19 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 8 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 12 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 4 points.
IAR + ISA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 18.6% | 7.7% |
| 2023-24 | 7.0% | 4.2% |
% 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
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of IL schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
12.6%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
30.7%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-18.1pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 13% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 31% typical for Illinois schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
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 Carter Elementary School
Carter Elementary School's state test result (12.6% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carter Elementary School this school | 279 | 70.6% | 12.6% |
| Green W Elementary School Chicago | 267 | 72.3% | 24.8% |
| Woodson South Elementary School Chicago | 298 | 70.8% | 13.9% |
| Woodgate Elementary School Matteson | 260 | 72.7% | 33.7% |
| Mays Elementary Academy Chicago | 277 | 67.9% | 9.9% |
| Neil Armstrong Elementary School Richton Park | 266 | 69.9% | 26.5% |
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 Carter Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois | In Cook County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 12.6% | #1,823 of 1,925 | #707 of 760 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 7.7% | #1,971 of 2,077 ▼ 69 | #755 of 829 ▼ 38 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 18.6% | #1,951 of 2,077 ▲ 62 | #775 of 829 ▲ 33 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 279 | #1,654 of 2,419 | #681 of 901 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 17.4:1 | #1,884 of 2,035 | #771 of 817 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 10.3% | #1,884 of 2,042 | #722 of 819 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 70.6% | #722 of 2,132 | #453 of 804 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -35.1% | #99 of 1,461 | #63 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
279
-42 (-13%) vs 2020
-63% since 1990-91, when it was 746
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 | 279 | 16 | 17.4:1 | 71% (197) |
| 2023-24 | 279 | 20 | 13.9:1 | 82% (228) |
| 2022-23 | 299 | 18 | 16.6:1 | 80% (239) |
| 2020-21 | 321 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 430 | 19.6 | 21.9:1 | 98% (422) |
| 2015-16 | 420 | 22 | 19.1:1 | 97% (409) |
| 2010-11 | 405 | 18 | 22.5:1 | 99% (402) |
| 2000-01 | 759 | 35 | 21.7:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 746 | 47 | 15.9:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Carter Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 35% (430 to 279); teachers down 18% (19.6 to 16).
About Carter Elementary School
Students in Chicago, Illinois, attend Carter Elementary School, a low-enrollment elementary school. It covers pre-K through 8, with a total enrollment of 279 students. Enrollment is 27% lower than the average for elementary schools in Illinois, which is about 381.
Chicago Public Schools Dist 299 oversees Carter Elementary School and 621 other schools, with 324,396 students in total.
The large majority of students at Carter Elementary School, 95%, are Black. The next largest groups are 4% Hispanic. The school's Black share is 72 points above the 22% share among Cook County residents. By the diversity index, Carter Elementary School comes in at 10%.
Dividing enrollment by its 16 full-time-equivalent teachers gives a ratio of about 17.4:1. Among elementary schools in Illinois, the typical ratio is 13.9:1. Eligible students account for 71% of enrollment in the free or reduced-price lunch program.
On BeatsExpectations, which compares test results with what a school's student poverty level would predict, Carter Elementary School ranks in the bottom 10% in Illinois. Its average proficiency rate on state tests is 12.6%, against a prediction of 30.7%.
In the county around the school, Cook County, median household income is about $83,498, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 43% of adults, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 10%. A total of 1,406 public schools operate in Cook County, serving about 697,934 students.
Nearby, CICS - Washington Pk Campus is about 0.4 miles away. Other public schools within five miles number at least 8. On average proficiency, Carter Elementary School is 5th of 9 nearby schools with test data.
The school's setting, by NCES definition, is City: Large: inside a principal city with a population of 250,000 or more.
Between 2020-21 and 2024-25, the student count dropped from 321 to 279.
Questions about sports schedules, lunch menus, and spirit week can be posted here. Questions from prospective families are welcome too.
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 Carter Elementary schools
3 other US public schools in 4 states are named Carter Elementary. Carter Elementary School is the 4th largest of the 4.
- Carter ElementaryKnoxville, TN · 530 students
- Carter Elementary SchoolMacon, GA · 520 students
- Carter Elementary SchoolMONTROSE, MI · 367 students
Nearby schools
- CICS - Washington Pk Campus0.4 mi · 493
- Sherwood Elementary School0.4 mi · 204
- Burke Elementary School0.6 mi · 323
- Beasley Elementary Magnet Academic Center0.6 mi · 1,119
- Dulles Elementary School0.8 mi · 651
- Urban Prep Chtr Academy Englewood High School0.8 mi · 87
Frequently asked questions
About Carter Elementary SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Carter Elementary School?
Carter Elementary School enrolls approximately 279 students in grades PK-08.
Is Carter Elementary School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Carter Elementary School is an elementary school covering grades PK-08.
How many students per teacher at Carter Elementary School?
Approximately 17.4:1 students per teacher at Carter Elementary School.
What is the student diversity at Carter Elementary School?
Student demographics at Carter Elementary School are roughly 4% Hispanic, 95% Black, 0% Asian, 1% Two or more.
Who oversees Carter Elementary School?
Carter 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.