Thurgood Marshall Elem School

Thurgood Marshall Elem School operates as a close-knit elementary campus in Bellwood, Illinois, run under Bellwood SD 88. Current enrollment sits at 229 students spanning grades K through 5. Compared to the state average of about 381 students per school, that is 40% leaner than typical.

Bellwood SD 88 runs 6 schools in total, collectively educating 1,998 students. Thurgood Marshall Elem School is one of those campuses.

On the student-mix side, Thurgood Marshall Elem School shows that 59% of the student body identifies as Black. Beyond that, the school shows 37% Hispanic, 4% multiracial. The wider county runs roughly 22% Black, putting the school's mix considerably more Black than the area baseline.

On the resource side, The school currently runs with 18 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 12.7:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 13.9:1 average. About 100% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. Set against Cook County (around 66%), the school's rate is meaningfully above typical.

On a demographically-adjusted basis, Thurgood Marshall Elem School tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 13.8% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 20.2%.

Zooming out to the county, the surrounding county (Cook County) logs that median household earnings sit near $83,498, roughly 43% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 10% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Thurgood Marshall Elem School is one of 1406 public schools in Cook County (combined enrollment of about 697,934 students).

Roosevelt Middle School is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.1 miles from this campus. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. On composite proficiency, Thurgood Marshall Elem School comes 6th of 8 in the immediate cluster, below the nearby-schools average of 26.2%.

The school occupies an outer-ring site.

Looking at the recent track record. Over the past 7-year window, the student count fell 25%: 306 students in 2018 compared to 229 in 2025. The Black share of enrollment decreased from 67% to 59% over that span. The student-to-teacher ratio grew from 11.4:1 in 2018 to 12.7:1 today.

On the community side, recent activity here tends to focus on enrollment questions, classroom assignments, and PTA news. The community welcomes input from current and former families.