Enrollment
341
Elementary
DISTRICT 463 · STATE 381
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS DIST 299·NCES 170993000963
Melody Elementary School
3937 W Wilcox St, Chicago, IL 60624 · (773) 534-6850 · Cook County
GRADES PK–08ELEMENTARY11-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL341 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
15.2:1
23 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.6:1 · STATE 13.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
99%
339 students
DISTRICT 78% · 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 38 | 11% |
| Kindergarten | 29 | 9% |
| Grade 1 | 41 | 12% |
| Grade 2 | 42 | 12% |
| Grade 3 | 32 | 9% |
| Grade 4 | 26 | 8% |
| Grade 5 | 36 | 11% |
| Grade 6 | 34 | 10% |
| Grade 7 | 25 | 7% |
| Grade 8 | 37 | 11% |
| Grade 9 | 1 | 0% |
This year's kindergarten class (29) is 22% smaller than its 8th grade class (37).
Student demographics
33%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
Melody Elementary School→Marshall Metropolitan 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
21.0%
IL avg 51.0% . +11.6pp since 2023
Math
4.5%
IL avg 37.9% . -1.1pp since 2023
What this means: On the IAR + ISA, Illinois's statewide test, about 21 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 5 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 12 points since 2023, while math scores are down about 1 points.
IAR + ISA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 21.0% | 4.5% |
| 2023-24 | 9.4% | 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
12.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
14.1%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-1.6pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 12% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 14% 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 Melody Elementary School
Melody Elementary School's state test result (12.5% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Melody Elementary School this school | 341 | 99.4% | 12.5% |
| James Avant Elementary School Washington Pk | 342 | 99.4% | 32.1% |
| Curtis Elementary School Chicago | 356 | 97.5% | 9.4% |
| Lincoln Elementary School Dolton | 342 | 100.0% | 14.3% |
| Montessori of Englewood Chtr Elementary School Chicago | 349 | 99.1% | 9.6% |
| Burke Elementary School Chicago | 323 | 96.0% | 10.0% |
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 Melody Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois | In Cook County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 12.5% | #1,825 of 1,925 | #708 of 760 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 4.5% | #2,042 of 2,077 ▼ 207 | #806 of 829 ▼ 133 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 21.0% | #1,902 of 2,077 ▲ 43 | #749 of 829 ▲ 32 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 341 | #1,315 of 2,419 | #544 of 901 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 15.2:1 | #1,576 of 2,035 | #676 of 817 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 33.4% | #1,324 of 2,042 | #495 of 819 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 99.4% | #31 of 2,132 | #20 of 804 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -28.5% | #204 of 1,461 | #128 of 661 |
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
341
-2 (-1%) vs 2020
-44% since 1990-91, when it was 612
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 | 341 | 22.5 | 15.2:1 | 99% (339) |
| 2023-24 | 318 | 21 | 15.1:1 | 98% (312) |
| 2022-23 | 272 | 21 | 12.9:1 | 96% (260) |
| 2020-21 | 343 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 477 | 25.7 | 18.5:1 | 99% (472) |
| 2015-16 | 573 | 30 | 19.1:1 | 98% (560) |
| 2010-11 | 335 | 19 | 17.6:1 | 93% (311) |
| 2000-01 | 686 | 38 | 18.1:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 612 | 33 | 18.6:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Melody Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 29% (477 to 341); teachers down 13% (25.7 to 22.5).
About Melody Elementary School
A mid-sized elementary school in Chicago, Illinois, Melody Elementary School is part of Chicago Public Schools Dist 299. Federal data show 341 students enrolled in pre-K through 8 in 2024-25.
Melody Elementary School falls under Chicago Public Schools Dist 299, which has 622 schools enrolling 324,396 students.
By race and ethnicity, Melody Elementary School is 80% Black. The next largest groups are 15% Hispanic and 5% White. The school's Black share is 58 points above the 22% share among Cook County residents. Its diversity index, the chance that two randomly chosen students belong to different racial or ethnic groups, is 33%.
Melody Elementary School has a student-to-teacher ratio of 15.2:1, with 22.5 full-time-equivalent teachers. The average for elementary schools in Illinois is 13.9:1, so this school has more students per teacher. A common income measure, free or reduced-price lunch eligibility, is 99% at Melody Elementary School. On average, public schools in Cook County report 66%.
Based on its free or reduced-price lunch share, the BeatsExpectations model predicts an average proficiency rate across its state test results of 14.1% for Melody Elementary School. The school posts 12.5%, 1.6 points below the prediction.
Census data for Cook County show the median household earns about $83,498 a year, 43% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 10% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Public schools in Cook County number 1,406, with about 697,934 students.
Ericson Elementary Scholastic Academy sits about 0.5 miles from Melody Elementary School. Melody Elementary School has at least 8 other public schools within five miles. The nearest schools with test data average 17.3%, higher than Melody Elementary School's 12.5%.
For locale, NCES codes Melody Elementary School as City: Large.
The student count changed little between 2020-21 (343) and 2024-25 (341).
This page is set up for the Melody Elementary School community to discuss homework, tutoring, and testing dates. Members of the school community can share what they know.
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
- Ericson Elementary Scholastic Academy0.5 mi · 318
- Tilton Elementary School0.5 mi · 244
- Legal Prep Academy Charter High School0.5 mi · 210
- Hefferan Elementary School0.6 mi · 214
- Webster Elementary School0.6 mi · 183
- Sumner Elementary Math & Sci Comm Academy0.6 mi · 203
Frequently asked questions
About Melody Elementary SchoolHow large is Melody Elementary School?
Melody Elementary School enrolls approximately 341 students in grades PK-08.
What age range does Melody Elementary School serve?
Melody Elementary School serves students from grade PK through grade 08.
How many students per teacher at Melody Elementary School?
Approximately 15.2:1 students per teacher at Melody Elementary School.
How diverse is Melody Elementary School?
Melody Elementary School reports a student body of 5% White, 15% Hispanic, 80% Black.
What district is Melody Elementary School in?
Melody Elementary School is part of Chicago Public Schools Dist 299.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.