Nash Elem School

Nash Elem School is a low-enrollment K-5 school in Chicago, Illinois, part of Chicago Public Schools Dist 299. The school hosts 255 students in grades pre-K through 8. That puts it 33% smaller than the typical public school in Illinois, which averages around 381 students.

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

Looking at the student body, Nash Elem School logs that the largest single group is Black, at 62% of enrollment. The remainder is composed of 36% Hispanic. That is considerably more Black than the county at large, where the share is closer to 22%.

In terms of school funding signals, Staff filings list 28 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 9.1:1 students per teacher. The state averages around 13.9:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. Roughly 91% of students at Nash Elem School qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. Set against Cook County (around 66%), the school's rate is somewhat above typical.

After controlling for student poverty, Nash Elem School tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 19.0% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 12.0%.

Zooming out to the county, Cook County reports that median household income runs about $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. Nash Elem School is one of 1406 public schools in Cook County (combined enrollment of about 697,934 students).

Nearest neighbor: KIPP Academy Chicago Campus, around 0.0 miles off. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Nash Elem School. On composite proficiency, Nash Elem School comes 7th of 9 in the immediate cluster, below the nearby-schools average of 12.9%.

The campus sits in a metropolitan setting.

Over the past 7-year window. Over the past 7-year window, the student count edged down 7%: 274 students in 2018 compared to 255 in 2025. The Black share of enrollment shrank from 96% to 62% over that span. The student-to-teacher ratio pulled in from 17.3:1 in 2018 to 9.1:1 today.

On this page, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.