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What advice would you give to incoming students at Payton College Preparatory HS?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
1,260
High
DISTRICT 706 · STATE 834
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS DIST 299·NCES 170993003989
Payton College Preparatory High School
1034 N Wells St, Chicago, IL 60610 · (773) 534-0034 · Cook County
GRADES 09–12HIGH11-CITYREGULAR SCHOOL1,260 STUDENTS
A+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 99% of Illinois public high schools
- A+Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- A+Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Illinois public high schools
Student : Teacher
14.5:1
87 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 16.4:1 · STATE 13.8:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
33%
420 students
DISTRICT 78% · STATE 56%
Community
5
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other high schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 9 | 288 | 23% |
| Grade 10 | 295 | 23% |
| Grade 11 | 351 | 28% |
| Grade 12 | 326 | 26% |
Student demographics
74%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
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
OUTPERFORMING
Top 10% of IL schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
89.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
52.3%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+37.2pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 89% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 52% typical for Illinois schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations ranks schools against others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school can post high scores and still fall short of its prediction, or post lower scores and still beat it. This school clears its prediction by about 37 points, placing it in Illinois's top 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 Payton College Preparatory High School
Payton College Preparatory High School's state test result (89.5% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Payton College Preparatory High School this school | 1,260 | 33.3% | 89.5% |
| Young Magnet High School Chicago | 2,223 | 33.3% | 94.6% |
| Northside College Preparatory High School Chicago | 1,061 | 36.2% | 92.2% |
| J B Conant High School Hoffman Estates | 2,633 | 35.4% | 61.8% |
| Waubonsie Valley High School Aurora | 2,849 | 20.4% | 62.7% |
| Wm Fremd High School Palatine | 2,689 | 23.4% | 70.8% |
Matched among Illinois high 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 Payton College Preparatory High School ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois | In Cook County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 89.5% | #4 of 573 | #4 of 170 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 1,260 | #178 of 708 | #71 of 206 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.5:1 | #277 of 528 | #77 of 173 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 74.4% | #5 of 537 | #4 of 180 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 33.3% | #482 of 578 | #168 of 171 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +17.4% | #35 of 191 | #19 of 86 |
Ranked against other public high 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
1,260
+69 (+6%) vs 2020
+240% since 2000-01, when it was 371
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 | 1,260 | 86.8 | 14.5:1 | 33% (420) |
| 2023-24 | 1,265 | 85.8 | 14.8:1 | 34% (427) |
| 2022-23 | 1,233 | 79 | 15.6:1 | 30% (374) |
| 2020-21 | 1,191 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 1,073 | 61.6 | 17.4:1 | 32% (339) |
| 2015-16 | 887 | 55 | 16.1:1 | 31% (273) |
| 2010-11 | 895 | 57 | 15.7:1 | 32% (287) |
| 2000-01 | 371 | 31 | 12.0:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Payton College Preparatory High School.
Since 2017-18: students up 17% (1,073 to 1,260); teachers up 41% (61.6 to 86.8).
About Payton College Preparatory High School
Payton College Preparatory High School is a large high school with an address in Chicago, Illinois. Its grade span covers grades 9 through 12, with 1,260 students on the rolls. Across high schools in Illinois, the average enrollment is about 834.
Payton College Preparatory High School is run by Chicago Public Schools Dist 299, whose 622 schools enroll 324,396 students.
About 32% of students at Payton College Preparatory High School are White, the largest single group. Beyond that, enrollment is 27% Asian, 26% Hispanic, 10% Black, and 5% multiracial. The White share of the county population is higher, at 44%. On a 0 to 100 scale, the school's diversity index is 74, compared with 70 nationally.
There are about 14.5 students for every full-time-equivalent teacher at Payton College Preparatory High School, which has 86.8. By comparison, the average for high schools in Illinois is 13.8:1. On the income side, 33% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. That is lower than the 66% average for public schools in Cook County.
Among Illinois public high schools, Payton College Preparatory High School outscored 99%, which works out to an A+ on the allk12 Grade.
Payton College Preparatory High School is a top-10% school in Illinois on BeatsExpectations, beating its predicted average proficiency rate across its state test results of 52.3% with an actual 89.5%.
In the surrounding county, Cook County, median household income comes to about $83,498, about 43% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and roughly 10% of residents are in poverty. The county has 1,406 public schools and about 697,934 students.
Straight-line distance to the nearest public school, Salazar Elementary Bilingual Center, is less than a tenth of a mile. Other public schools within five miles: at least 8. Compared with its nearest neighbors, Payton College Preparatory High School ranks 2nd of 9 on average proficiency.
Locale data from NCES put Payton College Preparatory High School inside a principal city with a population of 250,000 or more (City: Large).
Over 4 years, enrollment increased by 69 students, from 1,191 to 1,260.
This page collects posts and questions about Payton College Preparatory High School, such as open houses, carpools, and field trips. Current and former families are welcome to add their experience.
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
- Salazar Elementary Bilingual Center0.1 mi · 351
- Franklin Elementary Fine Arts Center0.3 mi · 348
- Ogden Elementary School0.3 mi · 819
- Manierre Elementary School0.5 mi · 269
- Skinner North Elementary School0.5 mi · 515
- Skinner Elementary School0.6 mi · 1,139
Frequently asked questions
About Payton College Preparatory High SchoolHow large is Payton College Preparatory High School?
Payton College Preparatory High School enrolls approximately 1,260 students in grades 09-12.
What age range does Payton College Preparatory High School serve?
Payton College Preparatory High School serves students from grade 09 through grade 12.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Payton College Preparatory High School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Payton College Preparatory High School is approximately 14.5:1 (87 FTE teachers).
What is the student diversity at Payton College Preparatory High School?
Student demographics at Payton College Preparatory High School are roughly 32% White, 26% Hispanic, 10% Black, 27% Asian, 5% Two or more.
What district is Payton College Preparatory High School in?
Payton College Preparatory High 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.