Waters Elem School

Waters Elem School operates as a heavily attended primary school in Chicago, Illinois, operated by Chicago Public Schools Dist 299. Current enrollment sits at 702 students spanning grades pre-K through 8. By comparison, Illinois's public schools average about 381 students each, so Waters Elem School sits 84% above that benchmark.

Chicago Public Schools Dist 299 comprises 622 schools with combined enrollment of 324,396 students; Waters Elem School is among them.

In terms of who attends, Waters Elem School reports that the largest single group is White, at 60% of enrollment. Beyond that, the school lists 24% Hispanic, 10% multiracial, 5% Asian. The wider county runs roughly 44% White, putting the school's mix visibly more White than the area baseline.

On the income-and-resources front, On paper, Waters Elem School has 46 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 15.3:1. That figure is higher than the state norm's 13.9:1 average. Roughly 23% of students at Waters Elem School qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy. That share is lower than Cook County's rate of about 66%.

After controlling for student poverty, Waters Elem School sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 58.3%; this one delivers 64.8%.

In the broader community, census data for Cook County shows the typical household earns roughly $83,498 per year, roughly 43% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 10% of residents live below the federal poverty line. In all, Cook County runs 1406 public schools (combined enrollment of about 697,934 students), of which Waters Elem School is one.

The closest other public school is Bateman Elem School, roughly 0.7 miles away. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Waters Elem School at 2nd of 9; the average score across the group is 47.6%.

Geographically, the school is in a downtown area.

Over the past 7-year window. Over the past 7-year window, the student count increased 12%: 626 students in 2018 compared to 702 in 2025. Hispanic enrollment moved from 35% to 24% across the same window. Class-load math has narrowed: from 19.0:1 in 2018 to 15.3:1 in 2025.

On this page, recent activity here tends to focus on fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.