Enrollment
218
Elementary
DISTRICT 463 · STATE 381
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS DIST 299·NCES 170993001028
Penn Elementary School
1616 S Avers Ave, Chicago, IL 60623 · (773) 534-1665 · Cook County
GRADES PK–08ELEMENTARY11-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL218 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
9.2:1
24 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.6:1 · STATE 13.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
85%
186 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 | 45 | 21% |
| Kindergarten | 17 | 8% |
| Grade 1 | 26 | 12% |
| Grade 2 | 23 | 11% |
| Grade 3 | 14 | 6% |
| Grade 4 | 20 | 9% |
| Grade 5 | 11 | 5% |
| Grade 6 | 22 | 10% |
| Grade 7 | 21 | 10% |
| Grade 8 | 19 | 9% |
This year's kindergarten class (17) is 11% smaller than its 8th grade class (19).
Student demographics
21%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
Test scores
IAR + ISA 2024-25 . % Proficient (Levels 4-5)English Language Arts
11.5%
IL avg 51.0% . +1.6pp since 2023
Math
3.9%
IL avg 37.9% . -3.0pp since 2023
What this means: On the IAR + ISA, Illinois's statewide test, about 12 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 4 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 2 points since 2023, while math scores are down about 3 points.
IAR + ISA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 11.5% | 3.9% |
| 2023-24 | 9.9% | 6.9% |
% 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
9.3%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
22.2%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-12.9pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 9% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 22% 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 Penn Elementary School
Penn Elementary School's state test result (9.3% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Penn Elementary School this school | 218 | 85.3% | 9.3% |
| Beidler Elementary School Chicago | 232 | 84.1% | 14.7% |
| Avalon Park Elementary School Chicago | 225 | 85.8% | 18.8% |
| King Academy of Social Justice Chicago | 213 | 87.8% | 9.7% |
| Mollison Elementary School Chicago | 237 | 85.7% | 9.0% |
| Sherwood Elementary School Chicago | 204 | 89.7% | 16.5% |
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 Penn Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois | In Cook County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 9.3% | #1,892 of 1,925 | #743 of 760 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 3.9% | #2,051 of 2,077 ▼ 284 | #810 of 829 ▼ 178 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 11.5% | #2,050 of 2,077 ▼ 120 | #824 of 829 ▼ 51 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 218 | #1,983 of 2,419 | #799 of 901 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 9.2:1 | #57 of 2,035 | #38 of 817 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 21.1% | #1,585 of 2,042 | #594 of 819 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 85.3% | #394 of 2,132 | #284 of 804 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -30.4% | #170 of 1,461 | #105 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
218
-12 (-5%) vs 2020
-74% since 1990-91, when it was 836
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 | 218 | 23.8 | 9.2:1 | 85% (186) |
| 2023-24 | 213 | 22 | 9.7:1 | 95% (203) |
| 2022-23 | 220 | 20 | 11.0:1 | 98% (215) |
| 2020-21 | 230 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 313 | 19.3 | 16.2:1 | 99% (311) |
| 2015-16 | 369 | 22 | 16.8:1 | 98% (361) |
| 2010-11 | 414 | 22 | 18.8:1 | 99% (411) |
| 2000-01 | 668 | 40 | 16.7:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 836 | 49 | 17.1:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Penn Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 30% (313 to 218); teachers up 23% (19.3 to 23.8).
About Penn Elementary School
The public elementary school Penn Elementary School is located in Chicago, Illinois. The school serves 218 students in pre-K through 8 in 2024-25. The average among elementary schools in Illinois is roughly 381 students; this school is 43% smaller than that.
Chicago Public Schools Dist 299 oversees Penn Elementary School and 621 other schools, with 324,396 students in total.
The large majority of students at Penn Elementary School, 88%, are Black. Next come 11% Hispanic. The county population is about 22% Black. The chance that two students picked at random at Penn Elementary School belong to different racial or ethnic groups, known as the diversity index, is 21%.
The school's student-to-teacher ratio is about 9.2:1, with 23.8 full-time-equivalent teachers. Among elementary schools in Illinois, the typical ratio is 13.9:1. Lunch subsidy eligibility at Penn Elementary School is 85%. That is higher than the 66% average for public schools in Cook County.
Given its share of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, Penn Elementary School would be expected to post about 22.2%. Its actual average proficiency rate on state tests is 9.3%.
According to the American Community Survey, in Cook County, median household income is about $83,498, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 43% of adults, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 10%. Penn Elementary School is one of 1,406 public schools in Cook County, which together enroll about 697,934 students.
Of nearby public schools, KIPP Chicago Chrtrs - Ascend Academy is the closest, at less than a tenth of a mile. Inside a five-mile radius, there are at least 8 other public schools. Nearby schools with test data average 11.7% proficiency; Penn Elementary School posts 9.3%.
On the NCES locale scale, the school is City: Large.
Federal counts put enrollment at 230 in 2020-21 and 218 in 2024-25, a 5% decrease.
If you have questions about science fairs, picture day, and bus routes at Penn Elementary School, you can post them here. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.
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 Penn Elementary schools
2 other US public schools in 3 states are named Penn Elementary. Penn Elementary School is the 3rd largest of the 3.
- Penn Elementary SchoolNorth Liberty, IA · 512 students
- Penn ElementarySan Diego, CA · 366 students
Nearby schools
- KIPP Chicago Chrtrs - Ascend Academy0.0 mi · 897
- Herzl Elementary School0.3 mi · 429
- Dvorak Technology Academy Elementary School0.3 mi · 276
- Mason Elementary School0.5 mi · 241
- YCCS-CCA Academy High School0.5 mi · 124
- Hughes C Elementary School0.5 mi · 169
Frequently asked questions
About Penn Elementary SchoolHow many students attend Penn Elementary School?
Penn Elementary School enrolls approximately 218 students in grades PK-08.
What age range does Penn Elementary School serve?
Penn Elementary School serves students from grade PK through grade 08.
How many students per teacher at Penn Elementary School?
Approximately 9.2:1 students per teacher at Penn Elementary School.
What is the student diversity at Penn Elementary School?
Student demographics at Penn Elementary School are roughly 11% Hispanic, 88% Black.
Who oversees Penn Elementary School?
Penn Elementary School is overseen by Chicago Public Schools Dist 299 in Cook County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.