Early Childhood Cntr

Early Childhood Cntr is one of the small elementary campuss in Dolton, Illinois, run under Dolton SD 148, with 196 students on its rolls from grade pre-K. By comparison, Illinois's public schools average about 381 students each, so Early Childhood Cntr sits 49% below that benchmark.

Across the 10 schools in Dolton SD 148 (2,077 students total), Early Childhood Cntr accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

On demographics, Early Childhood Cntr shows that 89% of students identify as Black, making the school strongly Black-majority. Beyond that, the school shows 8% Hispanic, 3% multiracial. The wider county runs roughly 22% Black, putting the school's mix meaningfully more Black than the area baseline.

On the resource side, On paper, Early Childhood Cntr has 12 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 16.3:1. That figure is higher than the state norm's 13.9:1 average. Roughly 99% of students at Early Childhood Cntr qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment. That share is higher than Cook County's rate of about 66%.

In the broader community, community-level numbers for Cook County indicate median household income runs about $83,498, roughly 43% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and the poverty rate sits near 10%. Across Cook County's 1406 public schools (combined enrollment of about 697,934 students), Early Childhood Cntr is one campus in the mix.

The closest other public school is Lincoln Junior High School, roughly 0.5 miles away. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius.

Geographically, the school is in a bedroom-community area.

Looking at the recent track record. Over the past 7-year window, the student count rose 139%: 82 students in 2018 compared to 196 in 2025. Class-load math has pulled in: from 20.5:1 in 2018 to 16.3:1 in 2025.

Within the allk12 community for this school, recent activity here tends to focus on science fair prep, picture-day reminders, and bus-route questions. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.