Dirksen Elem School

Dirksen Elem School operates as a sprawling K-5 school in Chicago, Illinois, overseen by Chicago Public Schools Dist 299. Current enrollment sits at 1,263 students spanning grades pre-K through 8. That puts it 231% bigger than the typical public school in Illinois, which averages around 381 students.

Chicago Public Schools Dist 299 runs 622 schools in total, collectively educating 324,396 students. Dirksen Elem School is one of those campuses.

On demographics, Dirksen Elem School lists that the largest single group is White, at 67% of enrollment. Other groups include 20% Asian, 9% Hispanic, 2% Black. That is considerably more White than the county at large, where the share is closer to 44%.

On the income-and-resources front, Staff filings list 76 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 16.7:1 students per teacher. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 13.9:1, putting Dirksen Elem School higher than the state norm the norm. Around 76% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, often used as a Title I proxy. That share is higher than Cook County's rate of about 66%.

After controlling for student poverty, Dirksen 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 27.7%; Dirksen Elem School posts 47.5%, +19.7 points above that line.

Zooming out to the county, Cook County reports that median household income runs about $83,498, roughly 43% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 10% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Across Cook County's 1406 public schools (combined enrollment of about 697,934 students), Dirksen Elem School is one campus in the mix.

Nearest neighbor: Pennoyer Elem School, around 0.2 miles off. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. On composite proficiency, Dirksen Elem School comes 4th of 7 in the immediate cluster, beneath the nearby-schools average of 52.1%.

The campus sits in an inner-city setting.

Five-year trend. Over the past 7-year window, the student count expanded 34%: 944 students in 2018 compared to 1,263 in 2025. The Asian share of enrollment edged up from 13% to 20% over that span. The student-to-teacher ratio tightened from 25.0:1 in 2018 to 16.7:1 today.

Within the allk12 community for this school, members of the Dirksen Elem School community share and discuss school events, parent volunteer needs, and clubs. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to weigh in.