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What's the most underrated thing about Sawyer Elem School that outsiders don't know?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
885
Elementary
DISTRICT 463 · STATE 381
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS DIST 299·NCES 170993001068
Sawyer Elementary School
5248 S Sawyer Ave, Chicago, IL 60632 · (773) 535-0440 · Cook County
GRADES PK–08ELEMENTARY11-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL885 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
15.4:1
58 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.6:1 · STATE 13.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
96%
849 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 | 34 | 4% |
| Kindergarten | 70 | 8% |
| Grade 1 | 84 | 9% |
| Grade 2 | 92 | 10% |
| Grade 3 | 87 | 10% |
| Grade 4 | 110 | 12% |
| Grade 5 | 98 | 11% |
| Grade 6 | 94 | 11% |
| Grade 7 | 99 | 11% |
| Grade 8 | 117 | 13% |
This year's kindergarten class (70) is 40% smaller than its 8th grade class (117).
Student demographics
6%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
Sawyer Elementary School→Curie Metropolitan 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
27.0%
IL avg 51.0% . +8.0pp since 2023
Math
19.6%
IL avg 37.9% . +8.7pp since 2023
What this means: On the IAR + ISA, Illinois's statewide test, about 27 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 20 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 8 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 9 points.
IAR + ISA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 27.0% | 19.6% |
| 2023-24 | 19.0% | 10.9% |
% 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
22.2%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
16.1%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+6.1pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 22% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 16% 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 Sawyer Elementary School
Sawyer Elementary School's state test result (22.2% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sawyer Elementary School this school | 885 | 95.9% | 22.2% |
| Chavez Elementary Multicultural Academy Ct Chicago | 784 | 96.0% | 49.4% |
| Eberhart Elementary School Chicago | 1,011 | 94.3% | 19.4% |
| Cardenas Elementary School Chicago | 764 | 95.8% | 37.2% |
| Lloyd Elementary School Chicago | 844 | 91.7% | 21.7% |
| Monarcas Academy Chicago | 797 | 91.5% | 40.3% |
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 Sawyer Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois | In Cook County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 22.2% | #1,533 of 1,925 | #522 of 760 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 19.6% | #1,615 of 2,077 ▼ 43 | #541 of 829 ▼ 10 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 27.0% | #1,744 of 2,077 ▼ 134 | #652 of 829 ▼ 55 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 885 | #38 of 2,419 | #31 of 901 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 15.4:1 | #1,622 of 2,035 | #687 of 817 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 6.2% | #1,971 of 2,042 | #772 of 819 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 95.9% | #122 of 2,132 | #94 of 804 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -43.0% | #37 of 1,461 | #24 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
885
-358 (-29%) vs 2020
+28% since 1990-91, when it was 693
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 | 885 | 57.5 | 15.4:1 | 96% (849) |
| 2023-24 | 933 | 60.5 | 15.4:1 | 97% (901) |
| 2022-23 | 1,030 | 63.5 | 16.2:1 | 96% (987) |
| 2020-21 | 1,243 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 1,552 | 68.3 | 22.7:1 | 96% (1,496) |
| 2015-16 | 1,741 | 79 | 22.0:1 | 96% (1,680) |
| 2010-11 | 2,016 | 87 | 23.2:1 | 99% (1,998) |
| 2000-01 | 1,646 | 68 | 24.2:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 693 | 34 | 20.4:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Sawyer Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 43% (1,552 to 885); teachers down 16% (68.3 to 57.5).
About Sawyer Elementary School
Sawyer Elementary School is a large elementary school in Chicago, Illinois, under Chicago Public Schools Dist 299. Total enrollment is 885 students, and the grades served are pre-K through 8. Elementary schools in Illinois have about 381 students on average; enrollment here is 132% higher.
A total of 622 schools make up Chicago Public Schools Dist 299, with 324,396 students enrolled.
Hispanic students account for 97% of the school's enrollment. The Hispanic share of the county population is lower, at 27%. Its diversity index, the chance that two randomly chosen students belong to different racial or ethnic groups, is 6%.
Sawyer Elementary School has 57.5 full-time-equivalent teachers on staff and a student-to-teacher ratio of 15.4:1. The gap from the 13.9:1 average for elementary schools in Illinois is 1.5 students per teacher. At Sawyer Elementary School, 96% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch in 2024-25. The average for public schools in Cook County is 66%.
Sawyer Elementary School's average proficiency rate across its state test results of 22.2% is 6.1 points above the 16.1% the model predicts from its lunch-eligibility share.
Cook County is the school's county. There, median household income comes to about $83,498, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 43%, and about 10% of people live in poverty. Cook County's 1,406 public schools enroll about 697,934 students and include Sawyer Elementary School.
Sawyer Elementary School's nearest public school is Acero Chtr Network - Jovita Idar (about 0.3 miles). Inside a five-mile radius, there are at least 8 other public schools. The average proficiency across nearby scored schools is 30.2%; Sawyer Elementary School's is 22.2%, ranking 8th of 9.
Under the NCES locale system, Sawyer Elementary School is City: Large.
Between 2020-21 and 2024-25, Sawyer Elementary School had a net loss of 358 students, or 29%.
People can post here about open houses, carpools, and field trips and other school topics. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to post.
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 Sawyer Elementary schools
3 other US public schools in 4 states are named Sawyer Elementary. Sawyer Elementary School is the largest of the 4.
- Sawyer Elementary SchoolAmes, IA · 371 students
- Sawyer ElementarySturgeon Bay, WI · 223 students
- SAWYER ELEMENTARY SCHOOLSawyer, ND · 74 students
Nearby schools
- Acero Chtr Network - Jovita Idar0.3 mi · 528
- Solorio Academy High School0.4 mi · 1,287
- Hernandez Middle School0.4 mi · 720
- Acero Chtr School Netwrk- Victoria0.4 mi · 561
- Sandoval Elementary School0.5 mi · 736
- Acero Chtr - Rufino Tamayo Elementary School0.6 mi · 266
Frequently asked questions
About Sawyer Elementary SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Sawyer Elementary School?
Sawyer Elementary School enrolls approximately 885 students in grades PK-08.
Is Sawyer Elementary School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Sawyer Elementary School is an elementary school covering grades PK-08.
How many teachers does Sawyer Elementary School have?
Sawyer Elementary School employs 58 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 15.4:1.
What is the student diversity at Sawyer Elementary School?
Student demographics at Sawyer Elementary School are roughly 2% White, 97% Hispanic, 0% Black, 0% Asian, 0% Two or more.
What district is Sawyer Elementary School in?
Sawyer 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.