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What tradition at Tarkington Elem School should never be changed?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
791
Elementary
DISTRICT 463 · STATE 381
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS DIST 299·NCES 170993005803
Tarkington Elementary School
3330 W 71st St, Chicago, IL 60629 · (773) 535-4700 · Cook County
GRADES PK–08ELEMENTARY11-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL791 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
13.6:1
58 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.6:1 · STATE 13.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
93%
736 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 | 19 | 2% |
| Kindergarten | 71 | 9% |
| Grade 1 | 75 | 9% |
| Grade 2 | 68 | 9% |
| Grade 3 | 86 | 11% |
| Grade 4 | 90 | 11% |
| Grade 5 | 98 | 12% |
| Grade 6 | 83 | 10% |
| Grade 7 | 107 | 14% |
| Grade 8 | 94 | 12% |
This year's kindergarten class (71) is 24% smaller than its 8th grade class (94).
Student demographics
29%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
Tarkington Elementary School→Bogan 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
39.5%
IL avg 51.0% . +12.9pp since 2023
Math
18.6%
IL avg 37.9% . +7.9pp since 2023
What this means: On the IAR + ISA, Illinois's statewide test, about 40 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 19 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 13 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 8 points.
IAR + ISA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 39.5% | 18.6% |
| 2023-24 | 26.6% | 10.7% |
% 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
26.6%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
17.8%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+8.8pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 27% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 18% 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 Tarkington Elementary School
Tarkington Elementary School's state test result (26.6% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tarkington Elementary School this school | 791 | 93.0% | 26.6% |
| Dawes Elementary School Chicago | 926 | 94.9% | 30.6% |
| Cameron Elementary School Chicago | 671 | 97.5% | 18.1% |
| Maria Saucedo Magnet Academy Chicago | 922 | 91.2% | 18.8% |
| Sandoval Elementary School Chicago | 736 | 91.7% | 29.5% |
| Cardenas Elementary School Chicago | 764 | 95.8% | 37.2% |
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 Tarkington Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois | In Cook County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 26.6% | #1,392 of 1,925 | #454 of 760 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 18.6% | #1,641 of 2,077 ▼ 57 | #557 of 829 ▼ 17 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 39.5% | #1,358 of 2,077 ▼ 52 | #468 of 829 ▼ 14 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 791 | #63 of 2,419 | #46 of 901 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 13.6:1 | #1,108 of 2,035 | #496 of 817 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 29.2% | #1,416 of 2,042 | #525 of 819 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 93.0% | #207 of 2,132 | #150 of 804 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -20.8% | #415 of 1,461 | #247 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
791
-151 (-16%) vs 2020
-26% since 2010-11, when it was 1,062
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 | 791 | 58 | 13.6:1 | 93% (736) |
| 2023-24 | 861 | 61 | 14.1:1 | 93% (804) |
| 2022-23 | 871 | 59.5 | 14.6:1 | 92% (805) |
| 2020-21 | 942 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 999 | 49.2 | 20.3:1 | 93% (930) |
| 2015-16 | 1,008 | 48 | 21.0:1 | 96% (965) |
| 2010-11 | 1,062 | 55 | 19.3:1 | 95% (1,007) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Tarkington Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 21% (999 to 791); teachers up 18% (49.2 to 58).
About Tarkington Elementary School
In Chicago, Illinois, Tarkington Elementary School is a large elementary school. A total of 791 students attend the school, which covers pre-K through 8. The average for elementary schools in Illinois is about 381 students, so this school is 108% larger than average.
Chicago Public Schools Dist 299 is the district for Tarkington Elementary School. It has 622 schools and 324,396 students.
Tarkington Elementary School's enrollment is 83% Hispanic. Next come 16% Black. The county population is about 27% Hispanic. Tarkington Elementary School's diversity index is 29%, against a US figure of 70%.
The school employs the equivalent of 58 full-time teachers, for a ratio of 13.6:1. That is close to the 13.9:1 average for elementary schools in Illinois. The free or reduced-price lunch share, often used to gauge student poverty, is 93%. By comparison, the figure for public schools in Cook County is 66%.
Tarkington Elementary School is 8.8 points above its predicted average proficiency rate on state tests (26.6% versus 17.8%), which places it in neither the top nor the bottom 10% in Illinois.
In Cook County (population about 5,182,090), the median household income is $83,498, roughly 43% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 10%. There are 1,406 public schools in Cook County, enrolling about 697,934 students in all.
Nearest public school: Hurley Elementary School, about 0.7 miles away. Within five miles are at least 8 other public schools. Ranked by average proficiency, Tarkington Elementary School places 3rd out of 9 schools in its immediate area.
By NCES locale, the school is City: Large, or inside a principal city with a population of 250,000 or more.
Federal data show a 16% enrollment decrease, from 942 in 2020-21 to 791 in 2024-25.
Discussions about Tarkington Elementary School may include science fairs, picture day, and bus routes. Alumni can share how the school prepared them.
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 Tarkington Elementary schools
One other US public school is named Tarkington Elementary. Tarkington Elementary School is the largest of the 2.
- Tarkington Elementary SchoolCLEVELAND, TX · 738 students
Nearby schools
- Hurley Elementary School0.7 mi · 748
- Eberhart Elementary School0.7 mi · 1,011
- Goode STEM Academy High School0.7 mi · 991
- Hampton Elementary Fine & Perf Arts School0.8 mi · 463
- McKay Elementary School0.8 mi · 616
- Marquette Elementary School0.8 mi · 1,030
Frequently asked questions
About Tarkington Elementary SchoolHow large is Tarkington Elementary School?
Tarkington Elementary School enrolls approximately 791 students in grades PK-08.
Is Tarkington Elementary School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Tarkington Elementary School is an elementary school covering grades PK-08.
How many teachers does Tarkington Elementary School have?
Tarkington Elementary School employs 58 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 13.6:1.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Tarkington Elementary School?
At Tarkington Elementary School, the student body is approximately 1% White, 83% Hispanic, 16% Black, 0% Asian, 0% Two or more.
Who oversees Tarkington Elementary School?
Tarkington Elementary School is overseen by Chicago Public Schools Dist 299 in Cook County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.