Is Higgins Elementary Community Academy a good school?

Higgins Elementary Community Academy ranks in the bottom 15.0% of Illinois elementary schools.

How many students attend Higgins Elementary Community Academy?

In the 2022-23 school year, 264 students attended Higgins Elementary Community Academy.

What is the racial makeup of Higgins Elementary Community Academy?

Students at Higgins Elementary Community Academy are 94% African American, 6% Hispanic.

What schools do graduates of Higgins Elementary Community Academy attend?

Students who attend Higgins Elementary Community Academy usually go on to attend: High : Fenger Academy High School

Higgins Elementary Community Academy

Summary:

Higgins Elementary Community Academy is a public elementary school serving grades PK-8 in Chicago, Illinois, with 264 students. The school has consistently been ranked in the bottom 15-20% of Illinois elementary schools over the past decade, with a 1-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Higgins Elementary has struggled with high chronic absenteeism rates, ranging from 37.5% to 60.4% over the past 5 years, which is significantly higher than the Chicago Public Schools District 299 and state averages. Academically, only 18.2% of Higgins students were proficient or better in English Language Arts, compared to 30.5% for the district and 41.2% for the state. In math, only 6.3% of Higgins students were proficient, compared to 18.3% for the district and 28.4% for the state. The school's performance is particularly low for female, male, and low-socioeconomic status students, ranking in the bottom 15-20% of Illinois schools for these subgroups. However, its performance for African American students is relatively better, ranking in the top 50% of Illinois schools.

Interestingly, Higgins Elementary's performance is generally lower than the nearby Colemon J Elementary Academy and Whistler Elementary School, which have higher academic proficiency rates and lower chronic absenteeism. Despite the relatively high per-student spending and low student-teacher ratio at Higgins, its academic outcomes are still significantly below state and district averages, suggesting that factors beyond just funding and staffing may be contributing to the school's struggles.

Detail:

Public PK, KG-8

11710 S Morgan St
Chicago, IL 60643-5249

(773) 535-5625

District: Chicago Public Schools District 299

SchoolDigger Rank:
1757^th of 2,067 Illinois Elementary Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures: $22,263

Students who attend Higgins Elementary Community Academy usually attend:

High:

Fenger Academy High School

Student/teacher ratio: 15.5

Number of students: 264

Racial breakdown:

African American:

93.6%

Hispanic:

6.4%

Free/discounted lunch recipients: 96.6%

See top rated Illinois elementary schools

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Performance Trends

Compare Details Higgins Elementary Community Academy ranks worse than 85% of elementary schools in Illinois. It also ranks 285^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 17.36. (See more...)

Compare Details Higgins Elementary Community Academy ranks worse than 78.7% of middle schools in Illinois. (See more...)

Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 21.42. (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 Higgins Elementary Community Academy 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 Higgins Elementary Community Academy is $22,263, which is the 176^th highest among 452 elementary schools in the Chicago Public Schools District 299.

Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Higgins Elementary Community Academy:

SchoolDigger ranks Higgins Elementary Community Academy 1757^th of 2067 Illinois public elementary schools. (See Higgins Elementary Community Academy in the ranking list.)

Elementary School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:

Low Socio Economic Status students:

Female students:

Male students:

African American students:

SchoolDigger ranks Higgins Elementary Community Academy 1072^nd of 1363 Illinois public middle schools. (See Higgins Elementary Community Academy in the ranking list.)

Middle School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:

Low Socio Economic Status students:

Male students:

African American students:

Chicago Public Schools District 299:

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

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Rank History for Higgins Elementary Community Academy

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Rank History for all elementary school students at Higgins Elementary Community Academy

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2003	5.21	1880^th	2020	6.9%
2004	17.81	1735^th	2030	14.5%
2005	6.75	1862^nd	2022	7.9%
2006	11.06	1898^th	2086	9.0%
2007	16.68	1841^st	2095	12.1%
2008	21.36	1752^nd	2092	16.3%
2009	27.25	1686^th	2120	20.5%
2010	35.10	1570^th	2139	26.6%
2011	40.87	1470^th	2147	31.5%
2012	59.85	1044^th	2166	51.8%
2013	41.97	1353^rd	2167	37.6%
2014	59.67	883^rd	2093	57.8%
2015	28.50	1461^st	2052	28.8%
2016	29.39	1442^nd	2046	29.5%
2017	21.53	1640^th	2044	19.8%
2018	20.24	1639^th	2037	19.5%
2019	24.84	1586^th	2086	24.0%
2021	12.46	1887^th	1948	3.1%
2022	18.67	1715^th	2082	17.6%
2023	16.75	1800^th	2077	13.3%
2024	17.36	1757^th	2067	15.0%

See the entire list of Illinois Elementary School Rankings!

Rank History for elementary school Low Socio Economic Status students at Higgins Elementary Community Academy

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	32.36	1255^th	1765	28.9%
2019	39.36	1126^th	1816	38.0%
2021	19.25	1408^th	1514	7.0%
2022	29.01	1316^th	1763	25.4%
2023	26.82	1426^th	1808	21.1%
2024	25.72	1434^th	1793	20.0%

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

Rank History for elementary school Female students at Higgins Elementary Community Academy

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	23.32	1532^nd	1964	22.0%
2019	26.79	1495^th	2019	26.0%
2022	18.15	1661^st	1970	15.7%
2023	16.72	1717^th	1957	12.3%
2024	19.40	1613^th	1942	16.9%

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

Rank History for elementary school Male students at Higgins Elementary Community Academy

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	20.45	1623^rd	1972	17.7%
2019	25.07	1525^th	2019	24.5%
2022	19.33	1625^th	1977	17.8%
2023	20.15	1596^th	1984	19.6%
2024	17.90	1651^st	1959	15.7%

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

Rank History for elementary school African American students at Higgins Elementary Community Academy

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	47.92	282^nd	698	59.6%
2019	52.51	257^th	711	63.9%
2021	29.80	331^st	428	22.7%
2022	41.25	347^th	684	49.3%
2023	40.33	371^st	692	46.4%
2024	40.93	356^th	655	45.6%

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

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

Rank History for Higgins Elementary Community Academy

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Rank History for all middle school students at Higgins Elementary Community Academy

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2003	26.92	895^th	1185	24.5%
2004	17.09	986^th	1204	18.1%
2005	8.43	1085^th	1209	10.3%
2006	28.73	988^th	1272	22.3%
2007	43.00	859^th	1287	33.3%
2008	61.61	593^rd	1293	54.1%
2009	15.71	1146^th	1318	13.1%
2010	34.36	984^th	1327	25.8%
2011	53.34	733^rd	1344	45.5%
2012	72.04	378^th	1365	72.3%
2013	62.11	508^th	1367	62.8%
2014	61.35	508^th	1322	61.6%
2015	23.72	1010^th	1302	22.4%
2016	23.12	1038^th	1294	19.8%
2017	23.34	1010^th	1293	21.9%
2018	19.88	1060^th	1293	18.0%
2019	18.92	1132^nd	1356	16.5%
2021	11.43	1211^th	1241	2.4%
2022	19.52	1114^th	1369	18.6%
2023	29.71	920^th	1367	32.7%
2024	21.42	1072^nd	1363	21.3%

See the entire list of Illinois Elementary School Rankings!

Rank History for middle school Low Socio Economic Status students at Higgins Elementary Community Academy

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	26.79	906^th	1161	22.0%
2019	24.10	997^th	1217	18.1%
2021	16.34	976^th	1019	4.2%
2022	25.74	968^th	1221	20.7%
2023	43.16	658^th	1234	46.7%
2024	33.81	805^th	1219	34.0%

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

Rank History for middle school Female students at Higgins Elementary Community Academy

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	26.03	918^th	1226	25.1%
2019	26.91	953^rd	1276	25.3%
2022	22.40	1009^th	1286	21.5%
2023	24.37	957^th	1275	24.9%

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

Rank History for middle school Male students at Higgins Elementary Community Academy

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2019	16.88	1120^th	1296	13.6%
2022	21.18	1013^th	1286	21.2%
2023	37.03	766^th	1292	40.7%
2024	29.74	828^th	1264	34.5%

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

Rank History for middle school African American students at Higgins Elementary Community Academy

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	42.82	260^th	511	49.1%
2019	41.61	304^th	565	46.2%
2021	25.44	338^th	385	12.2%
2022	39.59	295^th	573	48.5%
2023	59.03	154^th	569	72.9%
2024	45.30	244^th	548	55.5%

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

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Enrollment information for Higgins Elementary Community Academy

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Year	White	African American	Asian	Hispanic	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Not Specified	Total
1989	n/a	568	n/a	4	n/a	n/a	n/a	0	572
1990	n/a	567	n/a	5	n/a	n/a	n/a	0	572
1991	0	534	0	4	0	n/a	n/a	0	538
1992	0	525	0	0	0	n/a	n/a	0	525
1993	0	505	0	0	0	n/a	n/a	0	505
1994	0	497	0	0	0	n/a	n/a	0	497
1995	0	495	0	3	0	n/a	n/a	0	498
1996	0	495	0	3	0	n/a	n/a	0	498
1997	0	503	0	0	0	n/a	n/a	0	503
1998	0	522	0	0	0	n/a	n/a	0	522
1999	0	487	0	0	0	n/a	n/a	0	487
2000	0	523	0	0	0	n/a	n/a	0	523
2001	0	536	0	0	0	n/a	n/a	0	536
2002	0	548	0	0	0	n/a	n/a	0	548
2003	0	548	0	0	0	n/a	n/a	0	548
2004	0	476	0	0	0	n/a	n/a	0	476
2005	0	473	0	0	0	n/a	n/a	0	473
2006	0	498	0	0	0	n/a	n/a	0	498
2007	0	445	0	0	0	n/a	n/a	0	445
2008	2	393	0	0	0	n/a	n/a	5	400
2009	2	430	0	0	0	n/a	n/a	0	432
2010	2	397	0	0	0	n/a	n/a	0	399
2011	0	381	0	2	0	1	1	0	385
2012	0	359	0	2	1	1	1	0	364
2013	0	375	0	1	0	0	2	0	378
2014	0	395	0	6	0	0	2	0	403
2015	0	329	0	5	0	0	2	0	336
2016	0	297	0	7	0	0	1	0	305
2017	0	268	0	6	1	0	1	0	276
2018	0	262	0	6	1	0	1	0	270
2019	1	249	0	9	1	0	1	0	261
2020	1	229	0	7	0	0	1	0	238
2021	0	259	0	6	0	0	1	0	266
2022	2	249	0	14	0	0	1	0	266
2023	0	247	0	17	0	0	0	0	264

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 Higgins Elementary Community Academy

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1989	572	28.0	20.4	n/a
1990	572	28.0	20.4	n/a
1991	538	27.0	19.9	n/a
1992	525	30.0	17.5	n/a
1993	505	31.0	16.3	n/a
1994	497	31.0	16.0	n/a
1995	498	31.0	16.1	n/a
1996	498	31.0	16.1	n/a
1997	503	31.0	16.2	n/a
1998	522	31.0	16.8	n/a
1999	487	32.0	15.2	n/a
2000	523	32.0	16.3	n/a
2001	536	26.0	20.6	n/a
2002	548	29.0	18.9	83.2
2003	548	29.0	18.9	83.2
2004	476	27.8	17.1	97.9
2005	473	29.0	16.3	94.9
2006	498	31.0	16.1	94.8
2007	445	24.0	18.5	99.3
2008	400	22.0	18.2	99.2
2009	432	24.0	18.0	91
2010	399	23.0	17.3	98
2011	385	19.5	19.7	92.2
2012	364	23.0	15.8	98.1
2013	378	23.1	16.3	95.2
2014	403	22.5	17.9	97
2015	336	20.0	16.8	94.9
2016	305	19.0	16.0	90.2
2017	276	16.5	16.6	90.2
2018	270	13.5	19.9	93.7
2019	261	16.0	16.3	88.5
2020	238	16.0	14.8	95
2021	266	n/a	n/a	n/a
2022	266	16.0	16.6	93.6
2023	264	17.0	15.5	96.6

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 Higgins Elementary Community Academy

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1989	572	28.0	20.4	n/a
1990	572	28.0	20.4	n/a
1991	538	27.0	19.9	n/a
1992	525	30.0	17.5	n/a
1993	505	31.0	16.3	n/a
1994	497	31.0	16.0	n/a
1995	498	31.0	16.1	n/a
1996	498	31.0	16.1	n/a
1997	503	31.0	16.2	n/a
1998	522	31.0	16.8	n/a
1999	487	32.0	15.2	n/a
2000	523	32.0	16.3	n/a
2001	536	26.0	20.6	n/a
2002	548	29.0	18.9	83.2
2003	548	29.0	18.9	83.2
2004	476	27.8	17.1	97.9
2005	473	29.0	16.3	94.9
2006	498	31.0	16.1	94.8
2007	445	24.0	18.5	99.3
2008	400	22.0	18.2	99.2
2009	432	24.0	18.0	91
2010	399	23.0	17.3	98
2011	385	19.5	19.7	92.2
2012	364	23.0	15.8	98.1
2013	378	23.1	16.3	95.2
2014	403	22.5	17.9	97
2015	336	20.0	16.8	94.9
2016	305	19.0	16.0	90.2
2017	276	16.5	16.6	90.2
2018	270	13.5	19.9	93.7
2019	261	16.0	16.3	88.5
2020	238	16.0	14.8	95
2021	266	n/a	n/a	n/a
2022	266	16.0	16.6	93.6
2023	264	17.0	15.5	96.6

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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