Enrollment
398
High
DISTRICT 706 · STATE 834
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS DIST 299·NCES 170993001192
Wells Community Academy High School
936 N Ashland Ave, Chicago, IL 60622 · (773) 534-7010 · Cook County
GRADES 09–12HIGH11-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL398 STUDENTS
F
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 2% 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.
- FBeats 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
11.9:1
34 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 16.4:1 · STATE 13.8:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
77%
306 students
DISTRICT 78% · STATE 56%
Community
0
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 | 114 | 29% |
| Grade 10 | 123 | 31% |
| Grade 11 | 75 | 19% |
| Grade 12 | 86 | 22% |
Student demographics
60%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.
QUIET COMMUNITY
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START A DISCUSSIONBeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of IL schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
7.4%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
27.1%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-19.7pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 7% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 27% typical for Illinois schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
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 Wells Community Academy High School
Wells Community Academy High School's state test result (7.4% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wells Community Academy High School this school | 398 | 76.9% | 7.4% |
| Carver Military Academy High School Chicago | 420 | 81.4% | 14.4% |
| Noble St Chtr-The Noble Academy Chicago | 415 | 81.9% | 22.0% |
| Tilden Career Communty Academy High School Chicago | 288 | 86.8% | 8.1% |
| Orr Academy High School Chicago | 361 | 87.8% | 2.8% |
| Alcott College Prep Chicago | 373 | 74.3% | 18.2% |
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 Wells Community Academy High School ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois | In Cook County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 7.4% | #531 of 573 | #133 of 170 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 398 | #377 of 708 | #146 of 206 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 11.9:1 | #99 of 528 | #26 of 173 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 60.4% | #104 of 537 | #38 of 180 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 76.9% | #129 of 578 | #112 of 171 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +4.7% | #124 of 191 | #57 of 86 |
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
398
+25 (+7%) vs 2020
-78% since 1990-91, when it was 1,785
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 | 398 | 33.5 | 11.9:1 | 77% (306) |
| 2023-24 | 380 | 32 | 11.9:1 | 83% (317) |
| 2022-23 | 353 | 29.5 | 12.0:1 | 81% (285) |
| 2020-21 | 373 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 380 | 23.6 | 16.1:1 | 91% (347) |
| 2015-16 | 454 | 35 | 13.0:1 | 95% (431) |
| 2010-11 | 659 | 44 | 15.0:1 | 92% (604) |
| 2000-01 | 1,186 | 98 | 12.1:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 1,785 | 98 | 18.2:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Wells Community Academy High School.
Since 2017-18: students up 5% (380 to 398); teachers up 42% (23.6 to 33.5).
About Wells Community Academy High School
Wells Community Academy High School is a high school in Chicago, Illinois, according to federal school records. It educates 398 students in grades 9 through 12. The school's enrollment is 52% smaller than the 834 average for high schools in Illinois.
In Chicago Public Schools Dist 299, 622 schools enroll a combined 324,396 students.
Wells Community Academy High School has no majority group; Hispanic students are the largest, at 49%. The rest of enrollment is 38% Black and 10% White. Census estimates put the Hispanic share of Cook County's population at about 27%. Wells Community Academy High School's diversity index is 60%, against a US figure of 70%.
The teaching staff at Wells Community Academy High School is 33.5 full-time-equivalent teachers, and the ratio is 11.9:1. The school has fewer students per teacher than the 13.8:1 average for high schools in Illinois. About 77% of students, or 306, qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. On average, public schools in Cook County report 66%.
allk12 grades Wells Community Academy High School an F. The grade compares the school only with Illinois public high schools, because each state gives its own test.
Wells Community Academy High School is 19.7 points below expectations on state tests, given its student poverty level, placing it in the bottom 10% in Illinois.
Cook County has about 5,182,090 residents, and the median household income is $83,498, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 43%, and about 10% of people live in poverty. Besides Wells Community Academy High School, Cook County has 1,405 other public schools.
Nearby, Noble St Chtr-Noble Campus is about 0.3 miles away. Within five miles of Wells Community Academy High School, there are at least 8 other public schools. On average proficiency, Wells Community Academy High School is 9th of 9 nearby schools with test data.
NCES assigns Wells Community Academy High School the locale City: Large, meaning inside a principal city with a population of 250,000 or more.
Enrollment at Wells Community Academy High School climbed 7% between 2020-21 and 2024-25, from 373 to 398 students.
Topics for discussion here include science fairs, picture day, and bus routes. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.
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-Noble Campus0.3 mi · 696
- Noble St Chtr-Golder College Prep0.3 mi · 633
- LaSalle II Lang Academy Elementary School0.4 mi · 589
- Talcott Elementary School0.5 mi · 487
- Otis Elementary School0.5 mi · 356
- Noble St Chtr Rauner College Prep0.6 mi · 558
Frequently asked questions
About Wells Community Academy High SchoolHow large is Wells Community Academy High School?
Wells Community Academy High School enrolls approximately 398 students in grades 09-12.
Is Wells Community Academy High School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Wells Community Academy High School is a high school covering grades 09-12.
How many students per teacher at Wells Community Academy High School?
Approximately 11.9:1 students per teacher at Wells Community Academy High School.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Wells Community Academy High School?
At Wells Community Academy High School, the student body is approximately 10% White, 49% Hispanic, 38% Black, 1% Asian, 2% Two or more.
What district is Wells Community Academy High School in?
Wells Community Academy High School is part of Chicago Public Schools Dist 299.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.