Whitney Elem School

Whitney Elem School is one of the mid-tier elementary schools in Chicago, Illinois, part of Chicago Public Schools Dist 299, with 559 students on its rolls from grades pre-K through 8. That puts it 47% above the typical public school in Illinois, which averages around 381 students.

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

On the student-mix side, Whitney Elem School records that 98% of students identify as Hispanic, making the school strongly Hispanic-majority. By comparison, Cook County as a whole is about 27% Hispanic, so the school skews meaningfully more Hispanic than its surroundings.

In terms of school funding signals, Staff filings list 44 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 12.8:1 students per teacher. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 13.9:1, putting Whitney Elem School tighter than the state norm the norm. Around 95% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, often used as a Title I proxy. Set against Cook County (around 66%), the school's rate is meaningfully above typical.

On a demographically-adjusted basis, Whitney Elem School tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 16.9% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 22.2%.

Zooming out to the county, ACS estimates for Cook County put the typical household earns roughly $83,498 per year, about 43% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 10%. Whitney Elem School is one of 1406 public schools in Cook County (combined enrollment of about 697,934 students).

The closest other public school is Gary Elem School, roughly 0.4 miles away. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Whitney Elem School at 4th of 8; the average score across the group is 19.1%.

Geographically, the school is in a metropolitan area.

Five-year trend. Whitney Elem School's enrollment has declined 43% since 2018, when it stood at 986 (now 559). The student-to-teacher ratio narrowed from 20.4:1 in 2018 to 12.8:1 today.

On the community side, posts here usually surface around pickup logistics, teacher feedback, and after-school programs. The community welcomes input from current and former families.