1
What do you wish you knew before starting at Zapata Elem Academy?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
524
Elementary
DISTRICT 463 · STATE 381
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS DIST 299·NCES 170993001609
Zapata Elementary Academy
2728 S Kostner Ave, Chicago, IL 60623 · (773) 534-1390 · Cook County
GRADES PK–08ELEMENTARY11-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL524 STUDENTS
B-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 47% of Illinois public elementary schools
- CTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- A-Beats 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 elementary schools
Student : Teacher
11.4:1
46 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.6:1 · STATE 13.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
91%
477 students
DISTRICT 78% · STATE 56%
Community
5
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 | 39 | 7% |
| Kindergarten | 50 | 10% |
| Grade 1 | 49 | 9% |
| Grade 2 | 46 | 9% |
| Grade 3 | 64 | 12% |
| Grade 4 | 50 | 10% |
| Grade 5 | 49 | 9% |
| Grade 6 | 61 | 12% |
| Grade 7 | 59 | 11% |
| Grade 8 | 56 | 11% |
| Grade 9 | 1 | 0% |
This year's kindergarten class (50) is 11% smaller than its 8th grade class (56).
Student demographics
6%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
38.9%
IL avg 51.0% . +10.8pp since 2023
Math
19.5%
IL avg 37.9% . +6.2pp since 2023
What this means: On the IAR + ISA, Illinois's statewide test, about 39 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 20 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 11 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 6 points.
IAR + ISA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 38.9% | 19.5% |
| 2023-24 | 28.1% | 13.3% |
% 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
28.7%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
18.9%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+9.8pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 29% 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 Zapata Elementary Academy
Zapata Elementary Academy's state test result (28.7% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zapata Elementary Academy this school | 524 | 91.0% | 28.7% |
| Columbus West Elementary School Cicero | 534 | 90.4% | 28.1% |
| Little Village Elementary School Chicago | 575 | 91.3% | 21.2% |
| Acero Chtr - Officer Marquez Elementary School Chicago | 508 | 93.1% | 19.6% |
| Acero Chtr Network - Jovita Idar Chicago | 528 | 88.4% | 28.6% |
| Lee Elementary School Chicago | 581 | 90.5% | 36.5% |
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 Zapata Elementary Academy ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois | In Cook County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 28.7% | #1,313 of 1,925 | #418 of 760 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 19.5% | #1,616 of 2,077 ▼ 139 | #542 of 829 ▼ 62 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 38.9% | #1,384 of 2,077 ▼ 127 | #481 of 829 ▼ 56 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 524 | #450 of 2,419 | #224 of 901 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 11.4:1 | #368 of 2,035 | #198 of 817 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 6.3% | #1,964 of 2,042 | #768 of 819 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 91.0% | #253 of 2,132 | #183 of 804 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -32.7% | #132 of 1,461 | #87 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
524
-108 (-17%) vs 2020
-33% since 2000-01, when it was 778
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 | 524 | 46 | 11.4:1 | 91% (477) |
| 2023-24 | 520 | 41.3 | 12.6:1 | 90% (469) |
| 2022-23 | 515 | 43 | 12.0:1 | 92% (476) |
| 2020-21 | 632 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 779 | 38.6 | 20.2:1 | 95% (737) |
| 2015-16 | 874 | 48 | 18.2:1 | 97% (847) |
| 2010-11 | 956 | 47 | 20.3:1 | 100% (953) |
| 2000-01 | 778 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Zapata Elementary Academy.
Since 2017-18: students down 33% (779 to 524); teachers up 19% (38.6 to 46).
About Zapata Elementary Academy
Zapata Elementary Academy runs as a mid-sized elementary school in Chicago, Illinois. The school offers pre-K through 8 and enrolls 524 students. That puts enrollment 38% larger than the 381-student average for elementary schools in Illinois.
Across its 622 schools, Chicago Public Schools Dist 299 enrolls 324,396 students. Zapata Elementary Academy is one of those schools.
Zapata Elementary Academy is 97% Hispanic by enrollment. The rest of enrollment is 2% White. Census estimates put the Hispanic share of Cook County's population at about 27%. On the diversity index, which measures the chance that two random students are from different groups, Zapata Elementary Academy scores 6%.
Its ratio of 11.4:1 is based on 46 full-time-equivalent teachers. Elementary schools in Illinois average 13.9:1, 2.5 more students per teacher than here. The share of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch is 91%. The rate at public schools in Cook County averages 66%, lower than here.
Zapata Elementary Academy holds a B- allk12 Grade, placing it above 47% of Illinois public elementary schools.
Zapata Elementary Academy's actual average proficiency rate across its state test results (28.7%) and its predicted rate (18.9%) put it outside the top and bottom 10% of Illinois schools.
Census data for Cook County show median household income comes to about $83,498, about 43% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and roughly 10% of residents are in poverty. There are 1,406 public schools in the county, enrolling about 697,934, Zapata Elementary Academy among them.
A public school about 0.3 miles away, Corkery Elementary School, is the closest to Zapata Elementary Academy. In all, at least 8 other public schools sit within five miles of Zapata Elementary Academy. Among its closest neighbors with test data, Zapata Elementary Academy is 1st of 9 on proficiency.
Locale: City: Large. In NCES terms, the school is inside a principal city with a population of 250,000 or more.
Enrollment figures show a decline of 108 students from 2020-21 to 2024-25.
People can post here about special education services, counseling, and support programs and other school topics. Members of the school community can share what they know.
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
- Corkery Elementary School0.3 mi · 442
- Multicultural Arts High School0.4 mi · 283
- World Language High School0.4 mi · 389
- Infinity Math Science & Tech High School0.4 mi · 427
- School of Social Justice High School0.4 mi · 269
- Whitney Elementary School0.5 mi · 559
Frequently asked questions
About Zapata Elementary AcademyHow large is Zapata Elementary Academy?
Zapata Elementary Academy enrolls approximately 524 students in grades PK-08.
Is Zapata Elementary Academy an elementary, middle, or high school?
Zapata Elementary Academy is an elementary school covering grades PK-08.
How many teachers does Zapata Elementary Academy have?
Zapata Elementary Academy employs 46 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 11.4:1.
What is the student diversity at Zapata Elementary Academy?
Student demographics at Zapata Elementary Academy are roughly 2% White, 97% Hispanic, 1% Black.
What district is Zapata Elementary Academy in?
Zapata Elementary Academy is part of Chicago Public Schools Dist 299.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.