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Alumni: what's one memory from Ray Elem School that still sticks with you?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
613
Elementary
DISTRICT 463 · STATE 381
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS DIST 299·NCES 170993001047
Ray Elementary School
5631 S Kimbark Ave, Chicago, IL 60637 · (773) 535-0970 · Cook County
GRADES PK–08ELEMENTARY11-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL613 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
14.8:1
42 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.6:1 · STATE 13.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
45%
275 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 | 57 | 9% |
| Kindergarten | 56 | 9% |
| Grade 1 | 67 | 11% |
| Grade 2 | 56 | 9% |
| Grade 3 | 53 | 9% |
| Grade 4 | 54 | 9% |
| Grade 5 | 53 | 9% |
| Grade 6 | 66 | 11% |
| Grade 7 | 80 | 13% |
| Grade 8 | 69 | 11% |
| Grade 9 | 2 | 0% |
This year's kindergarten class (56) is 19% smaller than its 8th grade class (69).
Student demographics
60%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
Ray Elementary School→Kenwood Academy 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
36.5%
IL avg 51.0% . +16.6pp since 2023
Math
24.7%
IL avg 37.9% . +10.7pp since 2023
What this means: On the IAR + ISA, Illinois's statewide test, about 37 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 25 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 17 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 11 points.
IAR + ISA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 36.5% | 24.7% |
| 2023-24 | 19.9% | 14.0% |
% 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
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of IL schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
30.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
45.6%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-15.5pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 30% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 46% typical for Illinois schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
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 Ray Elementary School
Ray Elementary School's state test result (30.1% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 4 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ray Elementary School this school | 613 | 44.9% | 30.1% |
| Willow School Homewood | 603 | 46.1% | N/A |
| Winston Churchill School Homewood | 572 | 49.3% | 44.1% |
| National Teachers Elementary Academy Chicago | 795 | 46.2% | 34.6% |
| Suder Montessori Elementary Magnet Schl Chicago | 423 | 43.5% | 30.1% |
| Western Avenue Elementary School Flossmoor | 499 | 39.3% | 55.0% |
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 Ray Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois | In Cook County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 30.1% | #1,272 of 1,925 | #400 of 760 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 24.7% | #1,468 of 2,077 ▼ 29 | #467 of 829 ▼ 2 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 36.5% | #1,466 of 2,077 ▲ 106 | #522 of 829 ▲ 56 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 613 | #254 of 2,419 | #142 of 901 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.8:1 | #1,482 of 2,035 | #647 of 817 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 59.5% | #595 of 2,042 | #219 of 819 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 44.9% | #1,435 of 2,132 | #636 of 804 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -16.1% | #611 of 1,461 | #335 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
613
+22 (+4%) vs 2020
-20% since 1990-91, when it was 770
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 | 613 | 41.5 | 14.8:1 | 45% (275) |
| 2023-24 | 596 | 39.3 | 15.2:1 | 59% (350) |
| 2022-23 | 495 | 33.5 | 14.8:1 | 57% (281) |
| 2020-21 | 591 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 731 | 40.5 | 18.1:1 | 49% (358) |
| 2015-16 | 719 | 41 | 17.5:1 | 58% (415) |
| 2010-11 | 639 | 33 | 19.4:1 | 41% (265) |
| 2000-01 | 830 | 44 | 18.9:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 770 | 39 | 19.7:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Ray Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 16% (731 to 613); teachers up 3% (40.5 to 41.5).
About Ray Elementary School
Ray Elementary School is a large elementary school in Chicago, Illinois, (ZIP code 60637). The school serves 613 students in pre-K through 8 in 2024-25. For comparison, elementary schools in Illinois average about 381 students.
District-wide, Chicago Public Schools Dist 299 has 622 schools and 324,396 students.
A majority of students at Ray Elementary School, 59%, are Black. The rest of enrollment is 18% Hispanic, 13% White, 5% Asian, and 4% multiracial. Among all residents of Cook County, the Black share is about 22%. By the diversity index, Ray Elementary School comes in at 60%.
Its teaching staff equals 41.5 full-time positions, a ratio of 14.8:1. For comparison, elementary schools in Illinois average 13.9:1. Free and reduced-price lunch eligibility, a common measure of family income, is 45%. That is 21 points below the 66% average for public schools in Cook County.
The allk12 BeatsExpectations score for Ray Elementary School is -15.5 points, in the bottom 10% of Illinois. Its average proficiency rate on state tests is 30.1%, and the predicted rate is 45.6%.
Cook County has about 5,182,090 residents, and median household income is about $83,498, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 43%, and roughly 10% of residents are in poverty. The public schools of Cook County number 1,406 and enroll about 697,934.
Bret Harte Elementary School is the public school closest to Ray Elementary School, about 0.4 miles away. Ray Elementary School has at least 8 other public schools within five miles. Local comparison: Ray Elementary School ranks 4th of 9 nearby schools, at 30.1% versus a 27.0% average.
The school is inside a principal city with a population of 250,000 or more, according to its NCES locale (City: Large).
From 2020-21 to 2024-25, Ray Elementary School went from 591 students to 613.
Families, students, and staff can use this page to discuss sports schedules, lunch menus, and spirit week at Ray Elementary School. 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 Ray Elementary schools
4 other US public schools in 4 states are named Ray Elementary. Ray Elementary School is the 2nd largest of the 5.
- Ray Elementary SchoolHUTTO, TX · 793 students
- Ray Elementary SchoolWAXAHACHIE, TX · 386 students
- RAY ELEMENTARY SCHOOLRay, ND · 324 students
- Ray Elementary SchoolKearny, AZ · 161 students
Nearby schools
- Bret Harte Elementary School0.4 mi · 339
- Murray Elementary Language Academy0.4 mi · 477
- Kozminski Elementary Community Academy0.6 mi · 275
- Carnegie Elementary School0.6 mi · 389
- Hyde Park Academy High School0.8 mi · 838
- Kenwood Academy High School0.8 mi · 2,268
Frequently asked questions
About Ray Elementary SchoolHow many students attend Ray Elementary School?
Ray Elementary School enrolls approximately 613 students in grades PK-08.
What grades does Ray Elementary School serve?
Ray Elementary School serves grades PK-08.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Ray Elementary School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Ray Elementary School is approximately 14.8:1 (42 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Ray Elementary School?
At Ray Elementary School, the student body is approximately 13% White, 18% Hispanic, 59% Black, 5% Asian, 4% Two or more.
Is Ray Elementary School public or private?
Ray Elementary School is a public K-12 school, overseen by Chicago Public Schools Dist 299.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.