South Elem School

South Elem School is an intimate primary school in Des Plaines, Illinois, operated by CCSD 62. The school educates 253 students in grades K through 5. That puts it 34% below the typical public school in Illinois, which averages around 381 students.

CCSD 62 comprises 11 schools with combined enrollment of 4,520 students; South Elem School is among them.

In terms of who attends, South Elem School shows that the largest single group is Hispanic, at 59% of enrollment; the rest breaks down as 27% White, 9% Asian, 3% multiracial. By comparison, Cook County as a whole is about 27% Hispanic, so the school skews noticeably more Hispanic than its surroundings.

In terms of school funding signals, On paper, South Elem School has 27 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 9.4:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 13.9:1 average. Around 55% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. That share is south of Cook County's rate of about 66%.

On a demographically-adjusted basis, South Elem School performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 39.6%, the actual is 50.5%, a residual of +11.0 points.

Zooming out to the county, Cook County reports that the typical household earns roughly $83,498 per year, about 43% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and roughly 10% of residents live below the federal poverty line. In all, Cook County runs 1406 public schools (combined enrollment of about 697,934 students), of which South Elem School is one.

The closest other public school is Iroquois Community School, roughly 0.8 miles away. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts South Elem School at 4th of 8; the average score across the group is 49.9%.

The campus sits in a city-core setting.

Over the past 7-year window. Over the past 7-year window, the student count rose 14%: 221 students in 2018 compared to 253 in 2025. Over the same period, the White share fell from 36% to 27%. Class-load math has pulled in: from 10.8:1 in 2018 to 9.4:1 in 2025.

Inside the community feed, posts here usually surface around open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.