Kerkstra Elem School

Set in Oak Forest, Illinois, Kerkstra Elem School is an average-sized elementary school, one of the schools within Forest Ridge SD 142. It teaches 407 students across grades 1 through 5.

Forest Ridge SD 142 comprises 4 schools with combined enrollment of 1,539 students; Kerkstra Elem School is among them.

Demographically, Kerkstra Elem School records that the largest single group is White at 48%, but no single group is in the majority. The remainder looks like 37% Hispanic, 10% Black, 3% multiracial.

On the income-and-resources front, Staff filings list 30 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 13.8:1 students per teacher. The state averages about 13.9:1, putting this campus right in line with peers. About 44% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. By comparison, Cook County runs at roughly 66%, so the school's eligibility rate is somewhat below the surrounding baseline.

On a demographically-adjusted basis, Kerkstra Elem School performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 46.3%, the actual is 48.8%, a residual of +2.5 points.

In the surrounding community, census data for Cook County shows median household income runs about $83,498, 43% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 10%. Across Cook County's 1406 public schools (combined enrollment of about 697,934 students), Kerkstra Elem School is one campus in the mix.

Nearest neighbor: Ridge Early Childhood Center, around 0.1 miles off. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. Among the 6 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Kerkstra Elem School ranks 2nd on composite proficiency, above the local average of 39.1%.

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

Trend over the last 7 years. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Kerkstra Elem School has fell 8%, going from 442 students in 2018 to 407 in 2025. Hispanic enrollment moved from 18% to 37% across the same window. The student-to-teacher ratio tightened from 16.4:1 in 2018 to 13.8:1 today.

On allk12, the feed for Kerkstra Elem School typically covers fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.