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What advice would you give to incoming students at Columbia Explorers Elem Academy?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
718
Elementary
DISTRICT 463 · STATE 381
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS DIST 299·NCES 170993004277
Columbia Explorers Elementary Academy
4520 S Kedzie Ave, Chicago, IL 60632 · (773) 535-4050 · Cook County
GRADES PK–08ELEMENTARY11-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL718 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
13.4:1
54 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.6:1 · STATE 13.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
86%
619 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 | 88 | 12% |
| Kindergarten | 67 | 9% |
| Grade 1 | 68 | 9% |
| Grade 2 | 63 | 9% |
| Grade 3 | 75 | 10% |
| Grade 4 | 61 | 8% |
| Grade 5 | 78 | 11% |
| Grade 6 | 74 | 10% |
| Grade 7 | 62 | 9% |
| Grade 8 | 82 | 11% |
This year's kindergarten class (67) is 18% smaller than its 8th grade class (82).
Student demographics
6%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
Test scores
IAR + ISA 2024-25 . % Proficient (Levels 4-5)English Language Arts
59.4%
IL avg 51.0% . +17.3pp since 2023
Math
37.8%
IL avg 37.9% . +14.4pp since 2023
What this means: On the IAR + ISA, Illinois's statewide test, about 59 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 38 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 17 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 14 points.
IAR + ISA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 59.4% | 37.8% |
| 2023-24 | 42.1% | 23.4% |
% 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
46.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
21.7%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+24.2pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 46% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 22% 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 24 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 Columbia Explorers Elementary Academy
Columbia Explorers Elementary Academy's state test result (46.0% proficient) is higher than 5 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Columbia Explorers Elementary Academy this school | 718 | 86.2% | 46.0% |
| Carson Elementary School Chicago | 724 | 83.8% | 35.9% |
| Gunsaulus Elementary Scholastic Academy Chicago | 658 | 86.0% | 35.4% |
| Prieto Math-Science Elementary School Chicago | 733 | 88.1% | 25.7% |
| Burbank Elementary School Chicago | 691 | 88.0% | 19.2% |
| Woodrow Wilson Elementary School Cicero | 622 | 86.2% | 23.9% |
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 Columbia Explorers Elementary Academy ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois | In Cook County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 46.0% | #712 of 1,925 | #189 of 760 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 37.8% | #1,032 of 2,077 ▲ 19 | #302 of 829 ▲ 9 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 59.4% | #695 of 2,077 ▲ 42 | #228 of 829 ▲ 12 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 718 | #109 of 2,419 | #72 of 901 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 13.4:1 | #1,038 of 2,035 | #472 of 817 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 6.3% | #1,966 of 2,042 | #769 of 819 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 86.2% | #379 of 2,132 | #272 of 804 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -32.6% | #134 of 1,461 | #89 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
718
-120 (-14%) vs 2020
-29% since 2010-11, when it was 1,018
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 | 718 | 53.5 | 13.4:1 | 86% (619) |
| 2023-24 | 725 | 50.5 | 14.4:1 | 90% (654) |
| 2022-23 | 744 | 52 | 14.3:1 | 92% (681) |
| 2020-21 | 838 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 1,065 | 52.2 | 20.4:1 | 95% (1,017) |
| 2015-16 | 1,165 | 52 | 22.4:1 | 96% (1,121) |
| 2010-11 | 1,018 | 49 | 20.8:1 | 98% (998) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Columbia Explorers Elementary Academy.
Since 2017-18: students down 33% (1,065 to 718); teachers up 2% (52.2 to 53.5).
About Columbia Explorers Elementary Academy
Columbia Explorers Elementary Academy is the name of a high-enrollment elementary school in Chicago, Illinois. A total of 718 students attend the school, which covers pre-K through 8. The average for elementary schools in Illinois is about 381 students, so this school is 88% larger than average.
Columbia Explorers Elementary Academy belongs to Chicago Public Schools Dist 299, a district of 622 schools and 324,396 students.
The large majority of students at Columbia Explorers Elementary Academy, 97%, are Hispanic. Cook County's residents are about 27% Hispanic, 70 points below the school's share. Columbia Explorers Elementary Academy has a diversity index of 6%, compared with 70% for all US public school students.
Federal staffing data show 53.5 full-time-equivalent teachers at Columbia Explorers Elementary Academy and a ratio of 13.4:1. Across elementary schools in Illinois, the average ratio is about 13.9:1. The count of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch equals 86% of enrollment. The 66% average for public schools in Cook County is 20 points lower.
Schools in Illinois with a similar free or reduced-price lunch share are predicted to post an average proficiency rate on state tests near 21.7%. Columbia Explorers Elementary Academy posts 46.0%, 24.2 points above that, which places it in the top 10% statewide on BeatsExpectations.
According to the American Community Survey, in Cook County, median household income is about $83,498, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 43%, and about 10% of people live in poverty. A total of 1,406 public schools operate in Cook County, serving about 697,934 students.
Gunsaulus Elementary Scholastic Academy is located about 0.3 miles from Columbia Explorers Elementary Academy. Other public schools within five miles: at least 8. The nearest schools with test data average 20.7%, lower than Columbia Explorers Elementary Academy's 46.0%.
Columbia Explorers Elementary Academy has an NCES locale of City: Large.
The number of students dropped from 838 to 718 over 4 years.
If you have questions about sports schedules, lunch menus, and spirit week at Columbia Explorers Elementary Academy, you can post them here. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.
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
- Gunsaulus Elementary Scholastic Academy0.3 mi · 658
- Acero Chtr - Officer Marquez Elementary School0.4 mi · 508
- Noble St Chtr - Mansueto0.5 mi · 1,106
- Acero Chtr-Brighton Park Elementary School0.6 mi · 465
- Acero Chtr School Netwrk- Victoria0.7 mi · 561
- Thomas Kelly College Preparatory0.7 mi · 1,762
Frequently asked questions
About Columbia Explorers Elementary AcademyHow large is Columbia Explorers Elementary Academy?
Columbia Explorers Elementary Academy enrolls approximately 718 students in grades PK-08.
Is Columbia Explorers Elementary Academy an elementary, middle, or high school?
Columbia Explorers Elementary Academy is an elementary school covering grades PK-08.
How many teachers does Columbia Explorers Elementary Academy have?
Columbia Explorers Elementary Academy employs 54 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 13.4:1.
What is the student diversity at Columbia Explorers Elementary Academy?
Student demographics at Columbia Explorers Elementary Academy are roughly 1% White, 97% Hispanic, 1% Black, 1% Asian, 0% Two or more.
Who oversees Columbia Explorers Elementary Academy?
Columbia Explorers Elementary Academy 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.