Enrollment
279
Elementary
DISTRICT 463 · STATE 381
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS DIST 299·NCES 170993001212
Ward L Elementary School
646 N Lawndale Ave, Chicago, IL 60624 · (773) 534-6440 · Cook County
GRADES PK–08ELEMENTARY11-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL279 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
11.2:1
25 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.6:1 · STATE 13.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
92%
256 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 | 44 | 16% |
| Kindergarten | 26 | 9% |
| Grade 1 | 19 | 7% |
| Grade 2 | 26 | 9% |
| Grade 3 | 32 | 11% |
| Grade 4 | 25 | 9% |
| Grade 5 | 27 | 10% |
| Grade 6 | 26 | 9% |
| Grade 7 | 28 | 10% |
| Grade 8 | 25 | 9% |
| Grade 9 | 1 | 0% |
This year's kindergarten class (26) is about the same size as its 8th grade class (25).
Student demographics
46%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
16.5%
IL avg 51.0% . +9.8pp since 2023
Math
3.6%
IL avg 37.9% . +3.0pp since 2023
What this means: On the IAR + ISA, Illinois's statewide test, about 17 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 4 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 10 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 3 points.
IAR + ISA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 16.5% | 3.6% |
| 2023-24 | 6.7% | 0.6% |
% 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
9.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
18.5%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-9.6pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 9% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 19% 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 Ward L Elementary School
Ward L Elementary School's state test result (9.0% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ward L Elementary School this school | 279 | 91.8% | 9.0% |
| Markham Park Elementary School Markham | 292 | 93.5% | 13.7% |
| Nash Elementary School Chicago | 255 | 91.0% | 12.0% |
| Ninos Heroes Elementary Academic Center Chicago | 315 | 88.9% | 18.7% |
| McNair Elementary School Chicago | 328 | 89.3% | 13.9% |
| OToole Elementary School Chicago | 309 | 93.9% | 15.7% |
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 Ward L Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois | In Cook County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 9.0% | #1,896 of 1,925 | #747 of 760 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 3.6% | #2,057 of 2,077 ▲ 8 | #815 of 829 ▲ 8 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 16.5% | #1,988 of 2,077 ▲ 31 | #791 of 829 ▲ 21 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 279 | #1,656 of 2,419 | #683 of 901 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 11.2:1 | #317 of 2,035 | #175 of 817 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 45.6% | #1,012 of 2,042 | #372 of 819 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 91.8% | #234 of 2,132 | #169 of 804 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -40.3% | #55 of 1,461 | #37 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
279
-59 (-17%) vs 2020
-62% since 1990-91, when it was 734
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 | 279 | 25 | 11.2:1 | 92% (256) |
| 2023-24 | 259 | 23 | 11.3:1 | 98% (254) |
| 2022-23 | 247 | 28 | 8.8:1 | 98% (241) |
| 2020-21 | 338 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 467 | 26.7 | 17.5:1 | 99% (462) |
| 2015-16 | 567 | 32 | 17.7:1 | 98% (557) |
| 2010-11 | 447 | 20 | 22.4:1 | 96% (428) |
| 2000-01 | 732 | 41 | 17.9:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 734 | 38 | 19.3:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Ward L Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 40% (467 to 279); teachers down 7% (26.7 to 25).
About Ward L Elementary School
Ward L Elementary School is a small elementary school located in Chicago, Illinois. A total of 279 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 27% smaller than average.
Ward L Elementary School is part of a district of 622 schools: Chicago Public Schools Dist 299, with 324,396 students.
A majority of students at Ward L Elementary School, 66%, are Black. The remaining shares are 33% Hispanic. Cook County as a whole is about 22% Black, so the school's share is higher. By the diversity index, Ward L Elementary School comes in at 46%.
With 25 full-time-equivalent teachers in 2024-25, the ratio at Ward L Elementary School was 11.2:1. The 13.9:1 average for elementary schools in Illinois is higher than this school's figure. The school counts 256 students as eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, or 92%. By comparison, the figure for public schools in Cook County is 66%.
Ward L Elementary School posts an average proficiency rate on state tests of 9.0%, compared with a predicted 18.5%. It is not in the top or bottom 10% of Illinois schools on BeatsExpectations.
Cook County has these Census figures: median household income is about $83,498, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 43% of adults, and the poverty rate is about 10%. The public schools of Cook County number 1,406 and enroll about 697,934.
The shortest distance from Ward L Elementary School to another public school is about 0.1 miles, to Noble St Chtr-Rowe-Clark MS Academy. The five-mile area around Ward L Elementary School holds at least 8 other public schools. Ward L Elementary School comes in 7th of 9 nearby schools on average proficiency.
On the NCES locale scale, the school is City: Large.
From 2020-21 to 2024-25, Ward L Elementary School went from 338 students to 279.
To ask about school safety, transportation, and start times, start a discussion on this page. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.
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
- Noble St Chtr-Rowe-Clark MS Academy0.1 mi · 320
- KIPP One Academy0.4 mi · 996
- Orr Academy High School0.4 mi · 361
- Raby High School0.6 mi · 128
- Polaris Elementary Charter Academy0.6 mi · 343
- Westinghouse High School0.7 mi · 1,230
Frequently asked questions
About Ward L Elementary SchoolHow large is Ward L Elementary School?
Ward L Elementary School enrolls approximately 279 students in grades PK-08.
What grades does Ward L Elementary School serve?
Ward L Elementary School serves grades PK-08.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Ward L Elementary School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Ward L Elementary School is approximately 11.2:1 (25 FTE teachers).
What is the student diversity at Ward L Elementary School?
Student demographics at Ward L Elementary School are roughly 1% White, 33% Hispanic, 66% Black.
Is Ward L Elementary School public or private?
Ward L Elementary 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.