1
What's the one class at Palmer Elem School every student should take?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
746
Elementary
DISTRICT 463 · STATE 381
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS DIST 299·NCES 170993001017
Palmer Elementary School
5051 N Kenneth Ave, Chicago, IL 60630 · (773) 534-3704 · Cook County
GRADES PK–08ELEMENTARY11-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL746 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
14.1:1
53 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.6:1 · STATE 13.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
65%
484 students
DISTRICT 78% · STATE 56%
Community
5
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 | 56 | 8% |
| Kindergarten | 84 | 11% |
| Grade 1 | 80 | 11% |
| Grade 2 | 78 | 10% |
| Grade 3 | 75 | 10% |
| Grade 4 | 74 | 10% |
| Grade 5 | 82 | 11% |
| Grade 6 | 85 | 11% |
| Grade 7 | 68 | 9% |
| Grade 8 | 62 | 8% |
| Grade 9 | 1 | 0% |
| Grade 11 | 1 | 0% |
This year's kindergarten class (84) is 35% larger than its 8th grade class (62).
Student demographics
67%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
Palmer Elementary School→Taft 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
45.6%
IL avg 51.0% . +8.7pp since 2023
Math
25.7%
IL avg 37.9% . +7.3pp since 2023
What this means: On the IAR + ISA, Illinois's statewide test, about 46 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 26 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 | 45.6% | 25.7% |
| 2023-24 | 36.9% | 18.4% |
% 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
36.6%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
34.0%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+2.5pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 37% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 34% 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 Palmer Elementary School
Palmer Elementary School's state test result (36.6% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Palmer Elementary School this school | 746 | 64.9% | 36.6% |
| Budlong Elementary School Chicago | 776 | 54.8% | 48.2% |
| V H Nelson Elementary School Niles | 479 | 63.5% | 34.1% |
| Rogers Elementary School Chicago | 790 | 60.4% | 51.1% |
| Joyce Kilmer Elementary School Buffalo Grove | 590 | 71.2% | 34.1% |
| Robert Frost Elementary School Mount Prospect | 532 | 57.9% | 26.2% |
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 Palmer Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois | In Cook County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 36.6% | #1,036 of 1,925 | #292 of 760 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 25.7% | #1,429 of 2,077 ▼ 174 | #449 of 829 ▼ 61 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 45.6% | #1,167 of 2,077 ▼ 275 | #380 of 829 ▼ 89 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 746 | #91 of 2,419 | #62 of 901 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.1:1 | #1,270 of 2,035 | #566 of 817 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 67.3% | #250 of 2,042 | #103 of 819 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 64.9% | #876 of 2,132 | #508 of 804 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -7.2% | #1,068 of 1,461 | #520 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
746
-10 (-1%) vs 2020
+55% since 1990-91, when it was 482
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 | 746 | 53 | 14.1:1 | 65% (484) |
| 2023-24 | 756 | 52 | 14.5:1 | 70% (526) |
| 2022-23 | 735 | 50 | 14.7:1 | 67% (495) |
| 2020-21 | 756 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 804 | 42.8 | 18.8:1 | 81% (651) |
| 2015-16 | 878 | 46 | 19.1:1 | 84% (739) |
| 2010-11 | 923 | 46 | 20.1:1 | 79% (727) |
| 2000-01 | 877 | 38 | 23.1:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 482 | 21 | 22.9:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Palmer Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 7% (804 to 746); teachers up 24% (42.8 to 53).
About Palmer Elementary School
Palmer Elementary School is a high-enrollment elementary school based in Chicago, Illinois. It had 746 students in 2024-25, spanning pre-K through 8. Elementary schools in Illinois have about 381 students on average; enrollment here is 96% higher.
District-wide, Chicago Public Schools Dist 299 has 622 schools and 324,396 students.
The biggest share of students at Palmer Elementary School, 40%, is Hispanic. The rest of enrollment is 37% White, 16% Asian, 4% multiracial, and 2% Black. Census estimates put the Hispanic share of Cook County's population at about 27%. The diversity index for Palmer Elementary School is 67%. For US public schools as a whole it is 70%.
The school has 53 full-time-equivalent teachers and a ratio of 14.1 students per teacher. The average for elementary schools in Illinois is about 13.9:1. The school reported 65% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch in 2024-25. That is in line with the 66% average for public schools in Cook County.
The model predicts 34.0% for a school in Illinois with Palmer Elementary School's free or reduced-price lunch share. Palmer Elementary School posts 36.6%.
The county, Cook County, is where the school is located. The median household earns about $83,498 a year, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 43%, and roughly 10% of residents are in poverty. Cook County has 1,406 public schools with about 697,934 students, including Palmer Elementary School.
Measured in a straight line, Volta Elementary School is about 0.7 miles from Palmer Elementary School. Around the school, at least 8 other public schools are within five miles. In a group of 9 nearby schools with scores, Palmer Elementary School ranks 5th on average proficiency.
The school's locale code, City: Large, means it is inside a principal city with a population of 250,000 or more.
Over 4 years, enrollment stayed close to where it was, going from 756 to 746.
The discussion board for Palmer Elementary School is open to topics like special education services, counseling, and support programs. Teachers and staff are welcome to share updates too.
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
Other Palmer Elementary schools
5 other US public schools in 5 states are named Palmer Elementary. Palmer Elementary School is the 2nd largest of the 6.
- Palmer Elementary SchoolMISSOURI CITY, TX · 802 students
- Palmer Elementary SchoolEaston, PA · 531 students
- Palmer Elementary SchoolPALMER, TX · 525 students
- Palmer Elementary SchoolDENVER, CO · 197 students
- PALMER ELEMENTARY SCHOOLPALMER, NE · 184 students
Nearby schools
- Volta Elementary School0.7 mi · 739
- Beaubien Elementary School0.9 mi · 1,004
- North River Elementary School1.0 mi · 315
- ASPIRA Charter - Haugan Campus1.0 mi · 83
- Haugan Elementary School1.0 mi · 1,065
- Belding Elementary School1.0 mi · 609
Frequently asked questions
About Palmer Elementary SchoolHow large is Palmer Elementary School?
Palmer Elementary School enrolls approximately 746 students in grades PK-08.
What age range does Palmer Elementary School serve?
Palmer Elementary School serves students from grade PK through grade 08.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Palmer Elementary School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Palmer Elementary School is approximately 14.1:1 (53 FTE teachers).
What is the student diversity at Palmer Elementary School?
Student demographics at Palmer Elementary School are roughly 37% White, 40% Hispanic, 2% Black, 16% Asian, 4% Two or more.
What district is Palmer Elementary School in?
Palmer 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.