Is Hearst Elementary School a good school?

Hearst Elementary School ranks in the bottom 9.4% of Illinois elementary schools.

How many students attend Hearst Elementary School?

In the 2022-23 school year, 302 students attended Hearst Elementary School.

What is the racial makeup of Hearst Elementary School?

Students at Hearst Elementary School are 65% Hispanic, 32% African American, 1% White.

What schools do graduates of Hearst Elementary School attend?

Students who attend Hearst Elementary School usually go on to attend: High : Kennedy High School

Hearst Elementary School

Summary:

Hearst Elementary School is a public elementary school serving grades PK-8 in Chicago, Illinois, with 302 students. The school is part of the Chicago Public Schools District 299, which is ranked 688 out of 813 districts in Illinois and has a 1-star rating from SchoolDigger. Hearst Elementary School has consistently ranked in the bottom 10-15% of Illinois elementary schools over the past decade, with a 0-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Hearst Elementary School faces significant challenges, including very high chronic absenteeism rates, ranging from 37.3% to 47.3% in recent years, and low academic performance, with only 14.8% of students proficient or better in ELA in 2023-2024, compared to 30.5% for the district and 41.2% for the state. The school's performance is particularly low for certain student subgroups, such as male students, African American students, and English Language Learners, who rank in the bottom 10-20% of their respective statewide subgroups. Despite relatively high spending per student, ranging from $17,761 to $28,180 in recent years, and a low student-teacher ratio, the school's persistent underperformance suggests that simply increasing funding and staffing may not be the sole solution.

When comparing Hearst Elementary School to nearby schools within the same district, such as Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz and Pasteur Elementary School, the performance gap is quite stark. These nearby schools significantly outperform Hearst on academic measures, with Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz ranking in the top 10-15% of Illinois elementary schools and Pasteur Elementary School ranking in the top 30-40%. The challenges facing Hearst Elementary School suggest a need for targeted interventions and support to address the specific issues impacting the school and its students.

Detail:

Public PK, KG-8

4640 S Lamon Ave
Chicago, IL 60638-2044

(773) 535-2376

District: Chicago Public Schools District 299

SchoolDigger Rank:
1872^nd of 2,067 Illinois Elementary Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures: $26,912

Students who attend Hearst Elementary School usually attend:

High:

Kennedy High School

Student/teacher ratio: 10.9

Number of students: 302

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:

64.9%

African American:

32.5%

White:

1.3%

Free/discounted lunch recipients: 85.4%

See top rated Illinois elementary schools

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Performance Trends

Compare Details Hearst Elementary School ranks worse than 90.6% of elementary schools in Illinois. It also ranks 349^th among 452 ranked elementary schools in the Chicago Public Schools District 299. (See more...)

Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 14.41. (See more...)

Compare Details Hearst Elementary School ranks worse than 68.6% of middle schools in Illinois. (See more...)

Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 28.29. (See more...)

Chronic absenteeism in a school refers to a situation where students repeatedly miss school, with the threshold often defined as missing 10% or more of school days for any reason, excused or unexcused.

Student Body

Compare Details Hearst Elementary School has the largest elementary school student body size in the Chicago Public Schools District 299. (See more...)

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Teachers

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Finance

Compare Details The average total spent per student at Hearst Elementary School is $26,912, which is the 56^th highest among 452 elementary schools in the Chicago Public Schools District 299.

Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Hearst Elementary School:

SchoolDigger ranks Hearst Elementary School 1872^nd of 2067 Illinois public elementary schools. (See Hearst Elementary School in the ranking list.)

Elementary School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:

Low Socio Economic Status students:

Female students:

Male students:

Hispanic students:

SchoolDigger ranks Hearst Elementary School 935^th of 1363 Illinois public middle schools. (See Hearst Elementary School in the ranking list.)

Middle School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:

Low Socio Economic Status students:

Female students:

Male students:

African American students:

Hispanic students:

Chicago Public Schools District 299:

SchoolDigger ranks Chicago Public Schools District 299 688^th of 813 Illinois school districts. (See district ranking list.)

Average Rating:

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Rank History for Hearst Elementary School

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Rank History for all elementary school students at Hearst Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2003	2.39	1963^rd	2020	2.8%
2004	2.11	1971^st	2030	2.9%
2005	0.92	1994^th	2022	1.4%
2006	1.27	2065^th	2086	1.0%
2007	3.07	2029^th	2095	3.2%
2008	2.63	2054^th	2092	1.8%
2009	1.41	2106^th	2120	0.7%
2010	5.37	2058^th	2139	3.8%
2011	4.99	2089^th	2147	2.7%
2012	1.59	2145^th	2166	1.0%
2013	4.02	2139^th	2167	1.3%
2014	4.84	2052^nd	2093	2.0%
2015	12.05	1947^th	2052	5.1%
2016	14.29	1848^th	2046	9.7%
2017	13.81	1848^th	2044	9.6%
2018	13.24	1873^rd	2037	8.1%
2019	20.34	1718^th	2086	17.6%
2022	13.63	1926^th	2082	7.5%
2023	12.77	1943^rd	2077	6.5%
2024	14.41	1872^nd	2067	9.4%

See the entire list of Illinois Elementary School Rankings!

Rank History for elementary school English Language Learner students at Hearst Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2018	25.72	641^st	718	10.7%

See the entire list of Best Illinois Elementary Schools for English Language Learner Students!

Rank History for elementary school Special Education students at Hearst Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2023	23.86	943^rd	1156	18.4%

See the entire list of Best Illinois Elementary Schools for Special Education Students!

Rank History for elementary school Low Socio Economic Status students at Hearst Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	17.08	1654^th	1765	6.3%
2019	33.36	1287^th	1816	29.1%
2022	21.26	1541^st	1763	12.6%
2023	19.81	1636^th	1808	9.5%
2024	21.09	1557^th	1793	13.2%

See the entire list of Best Illinois Elementary Schools for Low Socio Economic Status Students!

Rank History for elementary school Female students at Hearst Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	16.05	1733^rd	1964	11.8%
2019	23.35	1595^th	2019	21.0%
2023	18.16	1667^th	1957	14.8%
2024	21.33	1554^th	1942	20.0%

See the entire list of Best Illinois Elementary Schools for Female Students!

Rank History for elementary school Male students at Hearst Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	13.66	1828^th	1972	7.3%
2019	23.72	1570^th	2019	22.2%
2022	17.38	1707^th	1977	13.7%
2023	12.33	1883^rd	1984	5.1%
2024	10.56	1915^th	1959	2.2%

See the entire list of Best Illinois Elementary Schools for Male Students!

Rank History for elementary school African American students at Hearst Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	23.52	621^st	698	11.0%
2019	25.35	607^th	711	14.6%
2022	21.10	674^th	684	1.5%
2023	28.05	550^th	692	20.5%

See the entire list of Best Illinois Elementary Schools for African American Students!

Rank History for elementary school Hispanic students at Hearst Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	26.86	744^th	938	20.7%
2019	41.04	552^nd	955	42.2%
2022	18.16	898^th	954	5.9%
2023	22.02	856^th	970	11.8%
2024	27.38	730^th	959	23.9%

See the entire list of Best Illinois Elementary Schools for Hispanic Students!

Data source: test scores: Illinois State Board of Education, rankings: SchoolDigger.com

Rank History for Hearst Elementary School

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Rank History for all middle school students at Hearst Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2003	14.52	1000^th	1185	15.6%
2004	8.00	1092^nd	1204	9.3%
2005	2.79	1175^th	1209	2.8%
2006	2.65	1238^th	1272	2.7%
2007	7.43	1197^th	1287	7.0%
2008	4.84	1235^th	1293	4.5%
2009	3.82	1279^th	1318	3.0%
2010	19.09	1129^th	1327	14.9%
2011	4.09	1307^th	1344	2.8%
2012	10.05	1273^rd	1365	6.7%
2013	26.80	1059^th	1367	22.5%
2014	14.71	1182^nd	1322	10.6%
2015	9.16	1272^nd	1302	2.3%
2016	15.59	1171^st	1294	9.5%
2017	13.09	1195^th	1293	7.6%
2018	14.29	1161^st	1293	10.2%
2019	16.86	1159^th	1356	14.5%
2022	22.52	1053^rd	1369	23.1%
2023	15.63	1214^th	1367	11.2%
2024	28.29	935^th	1363	31.4%

See the entire list of Illinois Elementary School Rankings!

Rank History for middle school Special Education students at Hearst Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2019	43.59	335^th	792	57.7%

See the entire list of Best Illinois Elementary Schools for Special Education Students!

Rank History for middle school Low Socio Economic Status students at Hearst Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	17.75	1050^th	1161	9.6%
2019	26.63	959^th	1217	21.2%
2022	33.43	810^th	1221	33.7%
2023	21.16	1068^th	1234	13.5%
2024	41.55	674^th	1219	44.7%

See the entire list of Best Illinois Elementary Schools for Low Socio Economic Status Students!

Rank History for middle school Female students at Hearst Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	17.17	1052^nd	1226	14.2%
2019	22.71	1000^th	1276	21.6%
2022	21.56	1022^nd	1286	20.5%
2023	13.78	1175^th	1275	7.8%
2024	23.06	970^th	1251	22.5%

See the entire list of Best Illinois Elementary Schools for Female Students!

Rank History for middle school Male students at Hearst Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	11.81	1163^rd	1223	4.9%
2019	15.58	1158^th	1296	10.6%
2022	28.18	904^th	1286	29.7%
2023	19.22	1083^rd	1292	16.2%
2024	34.86	758^th	1264	40.0%

See the entire list of Best Illinois Elementary Schools for Male Students!

Rank History for middle school African American students at Hearst Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	26.97	409^th	511	20.0%
2019	22.66	507^th	565	10.3%
2022	20.68	561^st	573	2.1%
2023	21.42	523^rd	569	8.1%
2024	46.78	233^rd	548	57.5%

See the entire list of Best Illinois Elementary Schools for African American Students!

Rank History for middle school Hispanic students at Hearst Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	15.54	562^nd	590	4.7%
2019	28.47	494^th	639	22.7%
2022	42.03	352^nd	662	46.8%
2023	24.49	539^th	661	18.5%
2024	48.30	282^nd	643	56.1%

See the entire list of Best Illinois Elementary Schools for Hispanic Students!

Data source: test scores: Illinois State Board of Education, rankings: SchoolDigger.com

As you review the school rankings data, please be aware that some of the information from certain demographics is missing. The reason for this omission is that the data has been redacted from the source data itself due to low population samples in these specific demographic groups.

Redacting data from low population samples is a necessary step to ensure the reliability and accuracy of the results, as small sample sizes may not be representative of the broader population. Additionally, this measure helps protect the privacy of individuals belonging to these demographic groups.

Data source: Illinois State Board of Education

Review counts

All ratings (Avg rating: 1)

100%

Reviews:

by a student
Monday, September 7, 2009

I would never send my child (if I had one) to this school I was once a student here several years ago, and although it was very disorganized and disorderly while I attended, it has gotten worse since then. Close Quote

Enrollment information for Hearst Elementary School

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Year	White	African American	Asian	Hispanic	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Not Specified	Total
1989	5	772	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	0	777
1990	2	801	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	0	803
1991	0	803	0	3	0	n/a	n/a	0	806
1992	0	816	0	6	0	n/a	n/a	0	822
1993	1	772	0	14	0	n/a	n/a	0	787
1994	0	781	0	13	0	n/a	n/a	0	794
1995	0	814	0	17	0	n/a	n/a	0	831
1996	0	814	0	17	0	n/a	n/a	0	831
1997	2	846	1	20	0	n/a	n/a	0	869
1998	4	861	2	23	0	n/a	n/a	0	890
1999	3	854	2	17	0	n/a	n/a	0	876
2000	5	913	0	17	0	n/a	n/a	0	935
2001	7	884	0	32	0	n/a	n/a	0	923
2002	7	920	7	106	1	n/a	n/a	0	1041
2003	7	920	7	106	1	n/a	n/a	0	1041
2004	8	815	4	180	0	n/a	n/a	0	1007
2005	8	716	0	236	0	n/a	n/a	0	960
2006	2	569	0	191	1	n/a	n/a	12	775
2007	3	483	0	211	0	n/a	n/a	6	703
2008	2	420	3	249	1	n/a	n/a	11	686
2009	6	359	2	159	0	n/a	n/a	0	526
2010	9	187	1	145	0	n/a	n/a	1	343
2011	3	196	1	148	2	1	1	0	352
2012	3	172	0	183	1	1	2	0	362
2013	2	159	0	192	0	0	4	0	357
2014	4	160	0	182	0	1	4	0	351
2015	3	138	0	170	0	1	6	0	318
2016	4	127	0	191	0	1	5	0	328
2017	6	121	1	221	3	1	4	0	357
2018	7	136	1	212	1	1	5	0	363
2019	5	129	3	208	1	1	5	0	352
2020	7	119	4	201	0	1	3	0	335
2021	2	106	2	159	0	0	1	0	270
2022	2	101	1	154	1	0	2	0	261
2023	4	98	2	196	1	0	1	0	302

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Enrollment/Ethnicity

For more information about how the Department of Education defines ethnicity, see Defining Race and Ethnicity Data, National Center for Education Statistics

Students eligible for free or discounted lunch at Hearst Elementary School

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1989	777	39.0	19.9	n/a
1990	803	43.0	18.6	n/a
1991	806	46.0	17.5	n/a
1992	822	44.0	18.6	n/a
1993	787	42.0	18.7	n/a
1994	794	44.0	18.0	n/a
1995	831	45.0	18.5	n/a
1996	831	45.0	18.5	n/a
1997	869	48.0	18.1	n/a
1998	890	48.0	18.5	n/a
1999	876	46.0	19.0	n/a
2000	935	42.0	22.3	n/a
2001	923	42.0	22.0	n/a
2002	1041	39.0	26.7	70.5
2003	1041	39.0	26.7	70.5
2004	1007	43.3	23.3	95.2
2005	960	46.3	20.7	82.8
2006	775	52.3	14.8	98.8
2007	703	32.0	22.0	100.4
2008	686	35.0	19.6	92
2009	526	33.0	15.9	93
2010	343	26.0	13.1	91.2
2011	352	17.0	20.7	97.2
2012	362	19.0	19.0	94.2
2013	357	24.9	14.2	98.3
2014	351	21.5	16.3	98
2015	318	20.0	15.9	98.4
2016	328	21.0	15.6	95.4
2017	357	17.3	20.5	93.3
2018	363	21.9	16.5	92.8
2019	352	25.5	13.8	89.5
2020	335	30.5	10.9	87.8
2021	270	n/a	n/a	n/a
2022	261	29.0	9.0	86.2
2023	302	27.5	10.9	85.4

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Students eligible for discounted/free lunch:

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) provides low-cost or free meals to students in U.S. public and nonprofit private schools based on household income. Those with incomes below 130% of the poverty line receive free lunch, while those between 130% and 185% qualify for reduced-price lunch. The percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch serves as a marker for poverty, as it reflects the socioeconomic status of families in a given school or district. A higher FRPL rate typically indicates a higher concentration of low-income families, suggesting that the school or district may face additional challenges in providing adequate resources and support for student success.

Student/Teacher Ratio Hearst Elementary School

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1989	777	39.0	19.9	n/a
1990	803	43.0	18.6	n/a
1991	806	46.0	17.5	n/a
1992	822	44.0	18.6	n/a
1993	787	42.0	18.7	n/a
1994	794	44.0	18.0	n/a
1995	831	45.0	18.5	n/a
1996	831	45.0	18.5	n/a
1997	869	48.0	18.1	n/a
1998	890	48.0	18.5	n/a
1999	876	46.0	19.0	n/a
2000	935	42.0	22.3	n/a
2001	923	42.0	22.0	n/a
2002	1041	39.0	26.7	70.5
2003	1041	39.0	26.7	70.5
2004	1007	43.3	23.3	95.2
2005	960	46.3	20.7	82.8
2006	775	52.3	14.8	98.8
2007	703	32.0	22.0	100.4
2008	686	35.0	19.6	92
2009	526	33.0	15.9	93
2010	343	26.0	13.1	91.2
2011	352	17.0	20.7	97.2
2012	362	19.0	19.0	94.2
2013	357	24.9	14.2	98.3
2014	351	21.5	16.3	98
2015	318	20.0	15.9	98.4
2016	328	21.0	15.6	95.4
2017	357	17.3	20.5	93.3
2018	363	21.9	16.5	92.8
2019	352	25.5	13.8	89.5
2020	335	30.5	10.9	87.8
2021	270	n/a	n/a	n/a
2022	261	29.0	9.0	86.2
2023	302	27.5	10.9	85.4

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Student-Teacher Ratio

Student/teacher ratio is calculated by dividing the total number of students by the total number of full-time equivalent teachers. Please note that a smaller student/teacher ratio does not necessarily translate to smaller class size. In some instances, schools hire teachers part time, and some teachers are hired for specialized instruction with very small class sizes. These and other factors contribute to the student/teacher ratio. Note: For private schools, Student/teacher ratio may not include Pre-Kindergarten.

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