Enrollment
296
Elementary
DISTRICT 463 · STATE 381
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS DIST 299·NCES 170993001122
Thorp J N Elementary School
8914 S Buffalo Ave, Chicago, IL 60617 · (773) 535-6250 · Cook County
GRADES PK–08ELEMENTARY11-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL296 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
11.4:1
26 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.6:1 · STATE 13.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
97%
286 students
DISTRICT 78% · STATE 56%
Community
0
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 | 36 | 12% |
| Kindergarten | 20 | 7% |
| Grade 1 | 33 | 11% |
| Grade 2 | 31 | 10% |
| Grade 3 | 36 | 12% |
| Grade 4 | 33 | 11% |
| Grade 5 | 27 | 9% |
| Grade 6 | 23 | 8% |
| Grade 7 | 31 | 10% |
| Grade 8 | 25 | 8% |
| Grade 10 | 1 | 0% |
This year's kindergarten class (20) is 20% smaller than its 8th grade class (25).
Student demographics
34%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
Test scores
IAR + ISA 2024-25 . % Proficient (Levels 4-5)English Language Arts
25.9%
IL avg 51.0% . +8.9pp since 2023
Math
7.0%
IL avg 37.9% . +3.5pp since 2023
What this means: On the IAR + ISA, Illinois's statewide test, about 26 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 7 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 9 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 4 points.
IAR + ISA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 25.9% | 7.0% |
| 2023-24 | 17.0% | 3.5% |
% 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
15.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
15.7%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-0.7pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 15% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 16% 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 Thorp J N Elementary School
Thorp J N Elementary School's state test result (15.0% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thorp J N Elementary School this school | 296 | 96.6% | 15.0% |
| Burke Elementary School Chicago | 323 | 96.0% | 10.0% |
| Joplin Elementary School Chicago | 283 | 96.1% | 28.0% |
| Tanner Elementary School Chicago | 272 | 96.7% | 11.1% |
| Dewey Elementary Academy of Fine Arts Chicago | 272 | 96.0% | 31.7% |
| Melody Elementary School Chicago | 341 | 99.4% | 12.5% |
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 Thorp J N Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois | In Cook County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 15.0% | #1,754 of 1,925 | #658 of 760 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 7.0% | #1,988 of 2,077 ▼ 42 | #768 of 829 ▼ 20 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 25.9% | #1,779 of 2,077 ▼ 104 | #679 of 829 ▼ 48 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 296 | #1,558 of 2,419 | #643 of 901 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 11.4:1 | #364 of 2,035 | #195 of 817 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 33.6% | #1,315 of 2,042 | #489 of 819 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 96.6% | #102 of 2,132 | #76 of 804 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -7.5% | #1,053 of 1,461 | #512 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
296
+53 (+22%) vs 2020
-61% since 1990-91, when it was 767
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 | 296 | 26 | 11.4:1 | 97% (286) |
| 2023-24 | 319 | 23 | 13.9:1 | 95% (303) |
| 2022-23 | 275 | 21.5 | 12.8:1 | 97% (267) |
| 2020-21 | 243 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 320 | 19.7 | 16.2:1 | 98% (315) |
| 2015-16 | 344 | 18 | 19.1:1 | 97% (335) |
| 2010-11 | 505 | 25 | 20.2:1 | 97% (489) |
| 2000-01 | 704 | 34 | 20.7:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 767 | 48 | 16.0:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Thorp J N Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 7% (320 to 296); teachers up 32% (19.7 to 26).
About Thorp J N Elementary School
Federal records list Thorp J N Elementary School as an elementary school in Chicago, Illinois. The school covers pre-K through 8 and reported 296 students in 2024-25. That puts enrollment 22% below the 381-student average for elementary schools in Illinois.
Thorp J N Elementary School sits within Chicago Public Schools Dist 299, which has 622 schools and 324,396 students.
More than half of the students at Thorp J N Elementary School are Black (79%). Beyond that, enrollment is 19% Hispanic. In Cook County overall, about 22% of residents are Black. Its diversity index, the chance that two randomly chosen students belong to different racial or ethnic groups, is 34%.
For every teacher at Thorp J N Elementary School, there are about 11.4 students; the school has 26 full-time-equivalent teachers. Statewide, elementary schools in Illinois average 13.9:1. The eligibility rate for free or reduced-price meals is 97%. Across public schools in Cook County, the average is 66%.
The school's average proficiency rate across its state test results is 15.0%. For its free or reduced-price lunch share, the predicted value is 15.7%.
In the wider Cook County area, median household income comes to about $83,498, roughly 43% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 10%. Cook County counts 1,406 public schools with about 697,934 students.
Measured in a straight line, LEARN Chtr - South Chicago Campus is less than a tenth of a mile from Thorp J N Elementary School. The five-mile area around Thorp J N Elementary School holds at least 8 other public schools. Among 9 nearby schools that report test results, Thorp J N Elementary School ranks 5th on proficiency.
The school is inside a principal city with a population of 250,000 or more, according to its NCES locale (City: Large).
Enrollment increased by 22% across 4 years, from 243 in 2020-21 to 296 in 2024-25.
The Thorp J N Elementary School discussion page is a place for special education services, counseling, and support programs. Teachers and staff are welcome to share updates too.
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
- LEARN Chtr - South Chicago Campus0.0 mi · 390
- Mireles Elementary Academy0.4 mi · 546
- Bowen High School0.7 mi · 278
- Noble St Chtr-Baker Campus0.7 mi · 285
- Sullivan Elementary School0.8 mi · 439
- EPIC Academy High School0.8 mi · 255
Frequently asked questions
About Thorp J N Elementary SchoolHow many students attend Thorp J N Elementary School?
Thorp J N Elementary School enrolls approximately 296 students in grades PK-08.
Is Thorp J N Elementary School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Thorp J N Elementary School is an elementary school covering grades PK-08.
How many students per teacher at Thorp J N Elementary School?
Approximately 11.4:1 students per teacher at Thorp J N Elementary School.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Thorp J N Elementary School?
At Thorp J N Elementary School, the student body is approximately 1% White, 19% Hispanic, 79% Black.
Who oversees Thorp J N Elementary School?
Thorp J N 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.