Kershaw Elem School

Located at 6450 S Lowe Ave, in Chicago, Illinois, Kershaw Elem School is a close-knit K-5 school that caters to 226 students (grades pre-K through 8), run under Chicago Public Schools Dist 299. By comparison, Illinois's public schools average about 381 students each, so Kershaw Elem School sits 41% leaner than that benchmark.

Kershaw Elem School is one of 622 schools operated by Chicago Public Schools Dist 299, a district that serves 324,396 students overall.

On the student-mix side, Kershaw Elem School records that nearly all students (96%) are Black. Other groups include 4% Hispanic. The wider county runs roughly 22% Black, putting the school's mix meaningfully more Black than the area baseline.

On the resource side, The school currently runs with 25 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 9.0:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 13.9:1 average. Around 89% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. By comparison, Cook County runs at roughly 66%, so the school's eligibility rate is meaningfully above the surrounding baseline.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), Kershaw Elem School tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 20.2% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 25.9%.

In the area at large, Cook County reports that median household earnings sit near $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), Kershaw Elem School is one campus in the mix.

The closest other public school is Noble St Chtr-Johnson Colg Prep, roughly 0.3 miles away. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Kershaw Elem School at 2nd of 9; the average score across the group is 12.0%.

The school occupies a downtown site.

Over the past 7-year window. Over the past 7-year window, the student count edged down 15%: 265 students in 2018 compared to 226 in 2025. The student-to-teacher ratio pulled in from 17.3:1 in 2018 to 9.0:1 today.

On the community side, 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.