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What's the most underrated thing about Dirksen Elem School that outsiders don't know?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
1,263
Elementary
DISTRICT 463 · STATE 381
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS DIST 299·NCES 170993001174
Dirksen Elementary School
8601 W Foster Ave, Chicago, IL 60656 · (773) 534-1090 · Cook County
GRADES PK–08ELEMENTARY11-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL1,263 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
16.7:1
76 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.6:1 · STATE 13.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
76%
958 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 | 128 | 10% |
| Kindergarten | 132 | 10% |
| Grade 1 | 137 | 11% |
| Grade 2 | 134 | 11% |
| Grade 3 | 138 | 11% |
| Grade 4 | 115 | 9% |
| Grade 5 | 135 | 11% |
| Grade 6 | 124 | 10% |
| Grade 7 | 103 | 8% |
| Grade 8 | 115 | 9% |
| Grade 9 | 2 | 0% |
Student demographics
50%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
Dirksen Elementary School→Taft 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
50.4%
IL avg 51.0% . +15.8pp since 2023
Math
49.6%
IL avg 37.9% . +14.6pp since 2023
What this means: On the IAR + ISA, Illinois's statewide test, about 50 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 50 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 16 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 15 points.
IAR + ISA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 50.4% | 49.6% |
| 2023-24 | 34.6% | 35.0% |
% 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
47.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
27.7%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+19.7pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 47% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 28% 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 20 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 →
Where Dirksen Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois | In Cook County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 47.5% | #663 of 1,925 | #174 of 760 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 49.6% | #678 of 2,077 | #199 of 829 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 50.4% | #993 of 2,077 | #320 of 829 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 1,263 | #5 of 2,419 | #3 of 901 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 16.7:1 | #1,820 of 2,035 | #752 of 817 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 50.2% | #922 of 2,042 | #335 of 819 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 75.9% | #605 of 2,132 | #397 of 804 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +33.8% | #54 of 615 | #11 of 186 |
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.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
1,263
+338 (+37%) vs 2020
+122% since 1990-91, when it was 568
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 | 1,263 | 75.5 | 16.7:1 | 76% (958) |
| 2023-24 | 1,213 | 67.5 | 18.0:1 | 78% (945) |
| 2022-23 | 1,069 | 61 | 17.5:1 | 59% (626) |
| 2020-21 | 925 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 944 | 37.8 | 25.0:1 | 78% (735) |
| 2015-16 | 856 | 41 | 20.9:1 | 77% (656) |
| 2010-11 | 744 | 38 | 19.6:1 | 72% (533) |
| 2000-01 | 581 | 34 | 17.1:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 568 | 29 | 19.6:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Dirksen Elementary School.
About Dirksen Elementary School
Dirksen Elementary School is a high-enrollment elementary school with its address in Chicago, Illinois. Enrollment totals 1,263 students across pre-K through 8. On average, elementary schools in Illinois enroll around 381, and this school is 231% above that mark.
Chicago Public Schools Dist 299 has a total of 622 schools and 324,396 students, Dirksen Elementary School among them.
Federal enrollment data show Dirksen Elementary School is 67% White. The remaining shares are 20% Asian, 9% Hispanic, and 2% Black. Cook County as a whole is about 44% White, so the school's share is higher. A diversity index of 50% means there is a 50% chance two randomly chosen students at Dirksen Elementary School are from different groups.
Its ratio of 16.7:1 is based on 75.5 full-time-equivalent teachers. Statewide, elementary schools in Illinois average 13.9:1. The share of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch is 76%. It compares with 66% for public schools in Cook County.
Dirksen Elementary School is 19.7 points above expectations on state tests, given its student poverty level, placing it in the top 10% in Illinois.
In the wider Cook County area, median household income comes to about $83,498, roughly 43% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and about 10% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Cook County's 1,406 public schools enroll about 697,934 students and include Dirksen Elementary School.
Pennoyer Elementary School is about 0.2 miles from Dirksen Elementary School, the shortest distance to any other public school. The five-mile area around Dirksen Elementary School holds at least 8 other public schools. The school's 47.5% average proficiency ranks 4th among 7 nearby schools.
The school's setting, by NCES definition, is City: Large: inside a principal city with a population of 250,000 or more.
A 37% gain took enrollment from 925 in 2020-21 to 1,263 in 2024-25.
You can use this page to share news and ask questions about homework, tutoring, and testing dates. You can also rate the school on this page.
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
- Pennoyer Elementary School0.2 mi · 419
- J Leigh Elementary School0.8 mi · 612
- Washington Elementary School1.4 mi · 267
- Oriole Park Elementary School1.5 mi · 617
- Ridgewood Comm High School1.6 mi · 988
- J Giles Elementary School1.7 mi · 499
Frequently asked questions
About Dirksen Elementary SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Dirksen Elementary School?
Dirksen Elementary School enrolls approximately 1,263 students in grades PK-08.
What grades does Dirksen Elementary School serve?
Dirksen Elementary School serves grades PK-08.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Dirksen Elementary School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Dirksen Elementary School is approximately 16.7:1 (76 FTE teachers).
What is the student diversity at Dirksen Elementary School?
Student demographics at Dirksen Elementary School are roughly 67% White, 9% Hispanic, 2% Black, 20% Asian, 1% Two or more.
Who oversees Dirksen Elementary School?
Dirksen 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.