Diekman Elem School

Diekman Elem School is one of the tight-knit K-5 schools in Dolton, Illinois, one of the schools within Dolton SD 149, with 227 students on its rolls from grades pre-K through 5. By comparison, Illinois's public schools average about 381 students each, so Diekman Elem School sits 40% smaller than that benchmark.

Dolton SD 149 runs 8 schools in total, collectively educating 2,192 students. Diekman Elem School is one of those campuses.

For racial and ethnic makeup, Diekman Elem School records that 92% of students identify as Black, making the school strongly Black-majority. Beyond that, the school records 7% Hispanic. The wider county runs roughly 22% Black, putting the school's mix considerably more Black than the area baseline.

Looking at school resources, Staff filings list 12 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 18.9:1 students per teacher. That figure is higher than the state norm's 13.9:1 average. Around 98% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. Set against Cook County (around 66%), the school's rate is somewhat above typical.

On a demographically-adjusted basis, Diekman Elem School sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 15.0%; this one delivers 20.4%.

Around the school, community-level numbers for Cook County indicate median household earnings sit near $83,498, about 43% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and the poverty rate sits near 10%. Diekman Elem School is one of 1406 public schools in Cook County (combined enrollment of about 697,934 students).

Nearest neighbor: Berger-Vandenberg Elem School, around 0.3 miles off. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Diekman Elem School. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Diekman Elem School at 3rd of 9; the average score across the group is 15.6%.

Geographically, the school is in a suburban area.

Five-year trend. Diekman Elem School's enrollment has declined 41% since 2018, when it stood at 382 (now 227). Over the same period, the Black share fell from 97% to 92%. The student-to-teacher ratio loosened from 17.4:1 in 2018 to 18.9:1 today.

On the community side, the feed for Diekman Elem School typically covers fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.