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Honest take: what's the hardest part about being a student at Taft High School?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
4,487
High
DISTRICT 706 · STATE 834
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS DIST 299·NCES 170993001153
Taft High School
6530 W Bryn Mawr Ave, Chicago, IL 60631 · (773) 534-1000 · Cook County
GRADES 07–12HIGH11-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL4,487 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
16.3:1
275 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 16.4:1 · STATE 13.8:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
51%
2,272 students
DISTRICT 78% · STATE 56%
Community
5
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other high schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 7 | 85 | 2% |
| Grade 8 | 88 | 2% |
| Grade 9 | 1,071 | 24% |
| Grade 10 | 1,071 | 24% |
| Grade 11 | 1,082 | 24% |
| Grade 12 | 1,090 | 24% |
Student demographics
63%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
Feeds from
Ebinger Elementary SchoolKG–08Edison Park Elementary SchoolKG–08Garvy J Elementary SchoolKG–08Prussing Elementary SchoolKG–08Beaubien Elementary SchoolPK–08Dirksen Elementary SchoolPK–08Edgebrook Elementary SchoolPK–08Farnsworth Elementary SchoolPK–08Hitch Elementary SchoolPK–08Norwood Park Elementary SchoolPK–08Onahan Elementary SchoolPK–08Oriole Park Elementary SchoolPK–08Palmer Elementary SchoolPK–08Sauganash Elementary SchoolPK–08Smyser Elementary SchoolPK–08Wildwood Elementary SchoolPK–08
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
93.0%
IL avg 51.0% . +11.5pp since 2023
Math
81.2%
IL avg 37.9% . +9.9pp since 2023
What this means: On the IAR + ISA, Illinois's statewide test, about 93 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 81 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 12 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 10 points.
IAR + ISA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 93.0% | 81.2% |
| 2023-24 | 81.5% | 71.3% |
% 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
OUTPERFORMING
Top 10% of IL schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
65.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
42.3%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+23.2pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 65% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 42% typical for Illinois schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations ranks schools against others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school can post high scores and still fall short of its prediction, or post lower scores and still beat it. This school clears its prediction by about 23 points, placing it in Illinois's top 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 Taft High School
Taft High School's state test result (65.5% proficient) is higher than 5 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taft High School this school | 4,487 | 50.6% | 65.5% |
| Willowbrook High School Villa Park | 1,983 | 48.0% | 42.9% |
| Glenbard East High School Lombard | 2,311 | 47.9% | 41.9% |
| Bolingbrook High School Bolingbrook | 3,298 | 53.3% | 38.1% |
| Palatine High School Palatine | 2,535 | 62.0% | 42.3% |
| Streamwood High School Streamwood | 1,890 | 53.7% | 30.1% |
Matched among Illinois high 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 Taft High School ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois | In Cook County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 65.5% | #16 of 573 | #10 of 170 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 81.2% | #3 of 75 no change | #3 of 19 no change |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 93.0% | #3 of 75 no change | #3 of 19 no change |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 4,487 | #3 of 708 | #2 of 206 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 16.3:1 | #424 of 528 | #128 of 173 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 63.4% | #75 of 537 | #28 of 180 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 50.6% | #289 of 578 | #154 of 171 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +33.1% | #12 of 191 | #8 of 86 |
Ranked against other public high 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
4,487
+325 (+8%) vs 2020
+183% since 1990-91, when it was 1,583
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 | 4,487 | 275 | 16.3:1 | 51% (2,272) |
| 2023-24 | 4,416 | 274.5 | 16.1:1 | 54% (2,405) |
| 2022-23 | 4,464 | 269 | 16.6:1 | 51% (2,286) |
| 2020-21 | 4,162 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 3,371 | 164 | 20.6:1 | 54% (1,836) |
| 2015-16 | 3,243 | 177 | 18.3:1 | 58% (1,879) |
| 2010-11 | 2,830 | 162 | 17.5:1 | 58% (1,655) |
| 2000-01 | 1,556 | 103 | 15.1:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 1,583 | 87 | 18.2:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Taft High School.
Since 2017-18: students up 33% (3,371 to 4,487); teachers up 68% (164 to 275).
About Taft High School
Taft High School is a high-enrollment high school located in Chicago, Illinois. Enrollment stands at 4,487 students, covering grades 7 through 12. That is 438% larger than the average of about 834 students for high schools in Illinois.
Chicago Public Schools Dist 299 has 324,396 students in 622 schools, and Taft High School is one of those schools.
Hispanic students make up 45% of enrollment at Taft High School, the largest share of any group. The next largest groups are 39% White, 7% Asian, 4% multiracial, and 3% Black. In Cook County overall, about 27% of residents are Hispanic. On a 0 to 100 scale, the school's diversity index is 63, compared with 70 nationally.
There are about 16.3 students for every full-time-equivalent teacher at Taft High School, which has 275. High schools in Illinois have an average ratio of 13.8:1. Eligibility for free or reduced-price lunch stands at 51%. For comparison, public schools in Cook County average 66%.
Taft High School is in the top 10% of Illinois schools on the allk12 BeatsExpectations measure. Based on its free or reduced-price lunch share, the model predicts an average proficiency rate across its state test results of 42.3%. The school's actual rate is 65.5%, 23.2 points higher.
American Community Survey estimates for Cook County show that the median household earns about $83,498 a year, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 43%, and roughly 10% of residents are in poverty. Across Cook County, 1,406 public schools serve about 697,934 students.
Garvy J Elementary School sits about 0.6 miles from Taft High School. Inside a five-mile radius, there are at least 8 other public schools. The school's 65.5% average proficiency ranks 1st among 8 nearby schools.
NCES lists the school's locale as City: Large. That means it sits inside a principal city with a population of 250,000 or more.
In 2024-25, the school enrolled 4,487, up from 4,162 in 2020-21.
The Taft High School discussion page is a place for open houses, carpools, and field trips. You can also rate the school on this page.
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
- 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
- Jones College Prep High SchoolHigh · 1,954 students
Other schools in Chicago
- Lane Technical High SchoolHigh · 4,604 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
- Jones College Prep High SchoolHigh · 1,954 students
Other Taft High schools
3 other US public schools in 3 states are named Taft High. Taft High School is the largest of the 4.
- Taft High SchoolSAN ANTONIO, TX · 2,670 students
- Taft High SchoolLincoln City, OR · 535 students
- Taft High SchoolTAFT, TX · 249 students
Nearby schools
- Garvy J Elementary School0.6 mi · 736
- Hitch Elementary School0.6 mi · 495
- Onahan Elementary School0.7 mi · 657
- Norwood Park Elementary School0.7 mi · 314
- Beard Elementary School1.0 mi · 327
- Oriole Park Elementary School1.2 mi · 617
Frequently asked questions
About Taft High SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Taft High School?
Taft High School enrolls approximately 4,487 students in grades 07-12.
What age range does Taft High School serve?
Taft High School serves students from grade 07 through grade 12.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Taft High School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Taft High School is approximately 16.3:1 (275 FTE teachers).
What is the student diversity at Taft High School?
Student demographics at Taft High School are roughly 39% White, 45% Hispanic, 3% Black, 7% Asian, 4% Two or more.
Is Taft High School public or private?
Taft High 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.