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Honest take: what's the hardest part about being a student at Thomas Kelly College Preparatory?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
1,762
High
DISTRICT 706 · STATE 834
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS DIST 299·NCES 170993000920
Thomas Kelly College Preparatory
4136 S California Ave, Chicago, IL 60632 · (773) 535-4900 · Cook County
GRADES 09–12HIGH11-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL1,762 STUDENTS
C
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 32% of Illinois public high schools
- DTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- B+Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Illinois public high schools
Student : Teacher
14.3:1
124 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 16.4:1 · STATE 13.8:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
94%
1,655 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 9 | 349 | 20% |
| Grade 10 | 424 | 24% |
| Grade 11 | 570 | 32% |
| Grade 12 | 419 | 24% |
Student demographics
25%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
Based on published attendance-zone data from Chicago Public Schools Dist 299. Zones change; confirm enrollment with the district.
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
13.6%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
17.3%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-3.6pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 14% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 17% 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 Thomas Kelly College Preparatory
Thomas Kelly College Preparatory's state test result (13.6% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thomas Kelly College Preparatory this school | 1,762 | 93.9% | 13.6% |
| Roosevelt High School Chicago | 1,144 | 87.9% | 13.9% |
| Schurz High School Chicago | 1,244 | 88.7% | 15.1% |
| Curie Metropolitan High School Chicago | 3,099 | 85.8% | 18.4% |
| Noble St Chtr-Pritzker Col Prep Chicago | 993 | 94.1% | 33.0% |
| Back of The Yards IB High School Chicago | 1,039 | 93.0% | 31.6% |
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 Thomas Kelly College Preparatory ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois | In Cook County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 13.6% | #493 of 573 | #103 of 170 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 1,762 | #123 of 708 | #49 of 206 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.3:1 | #259 of 528 | #71 of 173 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 24.8% | #333 of 537 | #117 of 180 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 93.9% | #29 of 578 | #22 of 171 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -6.3% | #236 of 358 | #64 of 101 |
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
1,762
-220 (-11%) vs 2020
+12% since 1990-91, when it was 1,580
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 | 1,762 | 123.5 | 14.3:1 | 94% (1,655) |
| 2023-24 | 1,862 | 126.5 | 14.7:1 | 95% (1,765) |
| 2022-23 | 1,903 | 125 | 15.2:1 | 94% (1,784) |
| 2020-21 | 1,982 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 1,881 | 98.2 | 19.2:1 | 96% (1,807) |
| 2015-16 | 2,144 | 130 | 16.5:1 | 96% (2,052) |
| 2010-11 | 3,092 | 184 | 16.8:1 | 93% (2,865) |
| 2000-01 | 2,292 | 130 | 17.6:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 1,580 | 89 | 17.8:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Thomas Kelly College Preparatory.
Since 2017-18: students down 6% (1,881 to 1,762); teachers up 26% (98.2 to 123.5).
About Thomas Kelly College Preparatory
Thomas Kelly College Preparatory is a public high school run by Chicago Public Schools Dist 299 in Chicago, Illinois. It has an enrollment of 1,762 students in grades 9 through 12. High schools in Illinois average about 834 students, which makes this school 111% bigger than average.
Enrollment across the 622 schools in Chicago Public Schools Dist 299 totals 324,396 students.
Roughly 86% of students at Thomas Kelly College Preparatory are Hispanic. The remaining students are 10% Asian and 2% Black. Among people living in Cook County, the Hispanic share is about 27%. On the diversity index, which measures the chance that two random students are from different groups, Thomas Kelly College Preparatory scores 25%.
For every teacher at Thomas Kelly College Preparatory, there are about 14.3 students; the school has 123.5 full-time-equivalent teachers. The average for high schools in Illinois is about 13.8:1. There are 1,655 students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, 94% of enrollment. It compares with 66% for public schools in Cook County.
On the allk12 Grade, Thomas Kelly College Preparatory lands at C, ahead of 32% of Illinois public high schools.
On a poverty-adjusted basis, Thomas Kelly College Preparatory falls in the middle 80% of Illinois schools: 13.6% actual against 17.3% predicted.
Looking at the county, Cook County, the median household earns about $83,498 a year, 43% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 10% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Counting Thomas Kelly College Preparatory, Cook County has 1,406 public schools.
Shields Elementary School is about 0.3 miles away, making it the nearest public school. Other public schools within five miles number at least 8. The average proficiency across nearby scored schools is 24.4%; Thomas Kelly College Preparatory's is 13.6%, ranking 8th of 9.
Its location is classified as City: Large by the National Center for Education Statistics.
In 2020-21, Thomas Kelly College Preparatory enrolled 1,982 students. By 2024-25, that number had fallen to 1,762.
Thomas Kelly College Preparatory has a community page on allk12 for topics such as pickup and drop-off, after-school programs, and teacher feedback. 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
- 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
Nearby schools
- Shields Elementary School0.3 mi · 439
- Acero Chtr-Brighton Park Elementary School0.3 mi · 465
- Acero Chtr - Sandra Cisneros Elementary School0.3 mi · 326
- Davis N Elementary School0.4 mi · 540
- Brighton Park Elementary School0.4 mi · 298
- Gunsaulus Elementary Scholastic Academy0.5 mi · 658
Frequently asked questions
About Thomas Kelly College PreparatoryHow many students attend Thomas Kelly College Preparatory?
Thomas Kelly College Preparatory enrolls approximately 1,762 students in grades 09-12.
What age range does Thomas Kelly College Preparatory serve?
Thomas Kelly College Preparatory serves students from grade 09 through grade 12.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Thomas Kelly College Preparatory?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Thomas Kelly College Preparatory is approximately 14.3:1 (124 FTE teachers).
What is the student diversity at Thomas Kelly College Preparatory?
Student demographics at Thomas Kelly College Preparatory are roughly 2% White, 86% Hispanic, 2% Black, 10% Asian, 0% Two or more.
Who oversees Thomas Kelly College Preparatory?
Thomas Kelly College Preparatory 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.