Dawes Elem School

Located at 3810 W 81st Pl, in Chicago, Illinois, Dawes Elem School is a large elementary campus that works with 926 students (grades pre-K through 8), overseen by Chicago Public Schools Dist 299. By comparison, Illinois's public schools average about 381 students each, so Dawes Elem School sits 143% larger than that benchmark.

Across the 622 schools in Chicago Public Schools Dist 299 (324,396 students total), Dawes Elem School accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

Looking at the student body, Dawes Elem School lists that 81% of students identify as Hispanic, making the school strongly Hispanic-majority. The remainder comes out to 16% Black. That is visibly more Hispanic than the county at large, where the share is closer to 27%.

In terms of school funding signals, The school lists 67 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 13.9:1. The state averages about 13.9:1, putting this campus right in line with peers. An estimated 95% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. Set against Cook County (around 66%), the school's rate is noticeably above typical.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Dawes Elem School ranks in the top 10% of Illinois public schools. The BeatsExpectations model, a per-state regression of composite proficiency on FRL share, predicts schools with this student profile to land around 16.7%; Dawes Elem School posts 30.6%, +13.9 points above that line.

Across the wider county, ACS estimates for Cook County put the typical household earns roughly $83,498 per year, about 43% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 10%. Dawes Elem School is one of 1406 public schools in Cook County (combined enrollment of about 697,934 students).

The closest other public school is Bogan High School, roughly 0.3 miles away. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. Among the 9 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Dawes Elem School ranks 2nd on composite proficiency, ahead of the local average of 23.1%.

The school occupies a city-core site.

Over the past 7-year window. Over the past 7-year window, the student count contracted 6%: 987 students in 2018 compared to 926 in 2025. The student-to-teacher ratio pulled in from 18.6:1 in 2018 to 13.9:1 today.

In the discussion threads here, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around classroom updates, athletics, and weather closures. Members of the school community can share what they know.