Enrollment
328
Elementary
DISTRICT 355 · STATE 381
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·DEKALB CUSD 428·NCES 171200003572
Gwendolyn Brooks Elementary School
3225 Sangamon Dr, Dekalb, IL 60115 · (815) 754-9936 · DeKalb County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY23-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL328 STUDENTS
F
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 4% of Illinois public elementary schools
- DTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- DBeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Illinois public elementary schools
Student : Teacher
14.0:1
23 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.7:1 · STATE 13.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
80%
263 students
DISTRICT 69% · STATE 56%
Community
0
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten | 50 | 15% |
| Grade 1 | 43 | 13% |
| Grade 2 | 54 | 16% |
| Grade 3 | 52 | 16% |
| Grade 4 | 75 | 23% |
| Grade 5 | 54 | 16% |
This year's kindergarten class (50) is 7% smaller than its 5th grade class (54).
Student demographics
63%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 72% · 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
QUIET COMMUNITY
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START A DISCUSSIONTest scores
IAR + ISA 2024-25 . % Proficient (Levels 4-5)English Language Arts
17.8%
IL avg 51.0% . +9.3pp since 2023
Math
12.1%
IL avg 37.9% . +6.5pp since 2023
What this means: On the IAR + ISA, Illinois's statewide test, about 18 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 12 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 9 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 7 points.
IAR + ISA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 17.8% | 12.1% |
| 2023-24 | 8.5% | 5.6% |
% 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
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
13.3%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
25.2%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-11.9pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 13% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 25% typical for Illinois schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Illinois's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like Gwendolyn Brooks Elementary School
Gwendolyn Brooks Elementary School's state test result (13.3% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 4 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gwendolyn Brooks Elementary School this school | 328 | 80.2% | 13.3% |
| Tyler Elementary School De Kalb | 265 | 78.9% | 13.7% |
| Dr. C.T. Vivian Primary School Peoria | 378 | 84.7% | 27.9% |
| Sheridan Elementary School Bloomington | 314 | 82.8% | 15.2% |
| Whittier Primary School Peoria | 366 | 79.5% | 24.1% |
| Pershing Early Learning Center Decatur | 416 | 81.5% | N/A |
Matched among Illinois elementary schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Gwendolyn Brooks Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois | In DeKalb County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 13.3% | #1,804 of 1,925 | #22 of 22 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 12.1% | #1,830 of 2,077 ▲ 9 | #21 of 22 no change |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 17.8% | #1,973 of 2,077 ▲ 3 | #22 of 22 no change |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 328 | #1,368 of 2,419 | #7 of 24 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.0:1 | #1,233 of 2,035 | #14 of 23 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 62.7% | #460 of 2,042 | #8 of 23 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 80.2% | #500 of 2,132 | #1 of 23 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +3.8% | #475 of 615 | #8 of 8 |
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. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
328
+11 (+3%) vs 2020
-10% since 2000-01, when it was 365
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 | 328 | 23.5 | 14.0:1 | 80% (263) |
| 2023-24 | 323 | 24 | 13.4:1 | 83% (269) |
| 2022-23 | 342 | 20.6 | 16.6:1 | 73% (251) |
| 2020-21 | 317 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 316 | 18.8 | 16.8:1 | 65% (204) |
| 2015-16 | 337 | 18 | 18.7:1 | 63% (211) |
| 2010-11 | 374 | 17 | 22.0:1 | 38% (141) |
| 2000-01 | 365 | 20 | 18.3:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Gwendolyn Brooks Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students up 4% (316 to 328); teachers up 25% (18.8 to 23.5).
About Gwendolyn Brooks Elementary School
At 3225 Sangamon Dr in Dekalb, Illinois, Gwendolyn Brooks Elementary School operates as a medium-sized elementary school. The school enrolls 328 students, from kindergarten through 5.
DeKalb CUSD 428 serves 6,771 students across 12 schools.
Black students are the majority at Gwendolyn Brooks Elementary School, with 55% of enrollment. It is also 16% White, 15% Hispanic, and 13% multiracial. DeKalb County's residents are about 7% Black, 48 points below the school's share. Gwendolyn Brooks Elementary School's diversity index is 63%, against a US figure of 70%.
The ratio of students to teachers is 14.0:1, with 23.5 full-time-equivalent teachers on staff. That matches the 13.9:1 average for elementary schools in Illinois fairly closely. Lunch subsidy eligibility at Gwendolyn Brooks Elementary School is 80%. Compared with the 48% average for public schools in DeKalb County, the school's rate is higher.
Measured against Illinois public elementary schools, Gwendolyn Brooks Elementary School receives an F. The grade weighs proficiency most heavily, then how results compare with what the school's low-income share predicts, then the three-year change.
Gwendolyn Brooks Elementary School is 11.9 points below its predicted average proficiency rate on state tests (13.3% versus 25.2%), which places it in neither the top nor the bottom 10% in Illinois.
According to the American Community Survey, in DeKalb County, the median household income is $70,724, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 33% of adults, and the poverty rate is about 10%. There are 43 public schools in DeKalb County, enrolling about 16,328 students in all.
The nearest public school is DeKalb High School, at about 0.9 miles. Around the school, at least 8 other public schools are within five miles. Of the 9 nearby schools with scores, including this one, Gwendolyn Brooks Elementary School is 9th on average proficiency.
The NCES locale for Gwendolyn Brooks Elementary School is Suburb: Small, which covers schools in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population under 100,000.
Enrollment grew 3% from its 2020-21 level of 317.
Discussion on this page can cover science fairs, picture day, and bus routes. Reviews and ratings from people who know the school are welcome.
DeKalb County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
100,703
Census ACS
Median income
$70,724
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
33%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
10%
Below federal line
Schools in county
43
16,328 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in DeKalb CUSD 428
- DeKalb High SchoolHigh · 2,134 students
- Huntley Middle SchoolMiddle · 865 students
- Clinton Rosette Middle SchoolMiddle · 575 students
- Founders Elementary SchoolElementary · 565 students
- Cortland Elementary SchoolElementary · 523 students
- Littlejohn Elementary SchoolElementary · 362 students
Other schools in Dekalb
- DeKalb High SchoolHigh · 2,134 students
- Huntley Middle SchoolMiddle · 865 students
- Clinton Rosette Middle SchoolMiddle · 575 students
- Founders Elementary SchoolElementary · 565 students
- Littlejohn Elementary SchoolElementary · 362 students
- Jefferson Elementary SchoolElementary · 308 students
Other Gwendolyn Brooks Elementary schools
One other US public school is named Gwendolyn Brooks Elementary. Gwendolyn Brooks Elementary School is the 2nd largest of the 2.
- Gwendolyn Brooks ElementaryAurora, IL · 683 students
Nearby schools
- DeKalb High School0.9 mi · 2,134
- Jefferson Elementary School1.3 mi · 308
- Clinton Rosette Middle School2.0 mi · 575
- Littlejohn Elementary School2.1 mi · 362
- Sycamore High School2.8 mi · 1,161
- South Prairie Elementary School2.8 mi · 456
Frequently asked questions
About Gwendolyn Brooks Elementary SchoolHow large is Gwendolyn Brooks Elementary School?
Gwendolyn Brooks Elementary School enrolls approximately 328 students in grades KG-05.
What age range does Gwendolyn Brooks Elementary School serve?
Gwendolyn Brooks Elementary School serves students from grade KG through grade 05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Gwendolyn Brooks Elementary School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Gwendolyn Brooks Elementary School is approximately 14.0:1 (23 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Gwendolyn Brooks Elementary School?
At Gwendolyn Brooks Elementary School, the student body is approximately 16% White, 15% Hispanic, 55% Black, 0% Asian, 13% Two or more.
Is Gwendolyn Brooks Elementary School public or private?
Gwendolyn Brooks Elementary School is a public K-12 school, overseen by DeKalb CUSD 428.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.