Swift Elem Specialty School

Swift Elem Specialty School, an average-sized K-5 school in Chicago, Illinois, part of Chicago Public Schools Dist 299, caters to 533 students, covering grades pre-K through 8. By comparison, Illinois's public schools average about 381 students each, so Swift Elem Specialty School sits 40% bigger than that benchmark.

Chicago Public Schools Dist 299 runs 622 schools in total, collectively educating 324,396 students. Swift Elem Specialty School is one of those campuses.

On demographics, Swift Elem Specialty School records that the most-represented group is Hispanic (33%), with the rest of the student body spread across multiple groups. Beyond that, the school records 25% Black, 23% Asian, 15% White, 3% multiracial.

On the resource side, Swift Elem Specialty School lists 47 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 11.3:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 13.9:1 average. About 87% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. That share is above Cook County's rate of about 66%.

On a demographically-adjusted basis, Swift Elem Specialty School performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 21.5%, the actual is 28.3%, a residual of +6.8 points.

Zooming out to the county, census data for Cook County shows the typical household earns roughly $83,498 per year, about 43% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and the poverty rate sits near 10%. In all, Cook County runs 1406 public schools (combined enrollment of about 697,934 students), of which Swift Elem Specialty School is one.

Nearest neighbor: Senn High School, around 0.4 miles off. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Swift Elem Specialty School. Among the 9 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Swift Elem Specialty School ranks 5th on composite proficiency, ahead of the local average of 28.1%.

Swift Elem Specialty School operates from a city-core location.

Over the past 7-year window. Over the past 7-year window, the student count fell 25%: 706 students in 2018 compared to 533 in 2025. Over the same period, the Hispanic share ticked up from 29% to 33%. Class-load math has pulled in: from 18.7:1 in 2018 to 11.3:1 in 2025.

In the discussion threads here, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around pickup logistics, teacher feedback, and after-school programs. The community welcomes input from current and former families.