Is Thomas Kelly College Preparatory a good school?

Thomas Kelly College Preparatory ranks in the bottom 18.8% of Illinois high schools.

How many students attend Thomas Kelly College Preparatory?

In the 2022-23 school year, 1,903 students attended Thomas Kelly College Preparatory.

What is the racial makeup of Thomas Kelly College Preparatory?

Students at Thomas Kelly College Preparatory are 84% Hispanic, 11% Asian, 4% African American, 2% White.

What schools feed into Thomas Kelly College Preparatory?

Thomas Kelly College Preparatory is fed by the following schools: Elementary : Brighton Park Elementary School Elementary : Burroughs Elementary School Elementary : Calmeca Academy Elementary School Elementary : Columbia Explorers Elementary Academy Elementary : Davis N Elementary School Elementary : Everett Elementary School Elementary : Greene N Elementary School Elementary : Nightingale Elementary School Elementary : Shields Elementary School Middle : Evergreen Academy Elementary School Middle : Shields Middle School

Thomas Kelly College Preparatory

Summary:

Thomas Kelly College Preparatory is a public high school in Chicago, Illinois, serving 1,903 students in grades 9-12. 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.

Thomas Kelly College Preparatory consistently ranks in the bottom half of Illinois high schools, with academic performance significantly below state and district averages on standardized tests. The school has had fluctuating graduation rates, ranging from 59.8% to 75.5% over the past 5 years, which are lower than the state and district. Chronic absenteeism has also been a significant issue, rising from 26% in 2019-2020 to 66.7% in 2023-2024, much higher than the state and district. Student performance varies across subgroups, with Asian and African American students performing better than Hispanic and White students.

Nearby schools, such as Solorio Academy High School, Curie Metropolitan High School, and Gage Park High School, also struggle with academic performance, graduation rates, and chronic absenteeism, suggesting broader challenges in the local education landscape. However, some charter schools like Noble St Charter - Mansueto and Back of The Yards IB High School perform better, indicating that alternative educational models may be more effective in this area.

Detail:

Public 9-12

4136 S California Ave
Chicago, IL 60632-1817

(773) 535-4900

District: Chicago Public Schools District 299

SchoolDigger Rank:
566^th of 697 Illinois High Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures: $18,819

Feeder schools for Thomas Kelly College Preparatory:

Elementary:	Brighton Park Elementary School
	Burroughs Elementary School
	Calmeca Academy Elementary School
	Columbia Explorers Elementary Academy
	More...
	Davis N Elementary School
	Everett Elementary School
	Greene N Elementary School
	Nightingale Elementary School
	Shields Elementary School
Middle:	Evergreen Academy Elementary School
	Shields Middle School

Student/teacher ratio: 15.2

Number of students: 1,903

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:

83.6%

Asian:

10.6%

African American:

3.6%

Free/discounted lunch recipients: 93.7%

See top rated Illinois high schools

Compare Thomas Kelly College Preparatory to nearby high schools!

Performance Trends

Compare Details Thomas Kelly College Preparatory ranks worse than 81.2% of high schools in Illinois. It also ranks 53^rd among 145 ranked high schools in the Chicago Public Schools District 299. (See more...)

Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 18.24. (See more...)

The four-year cohort graduation rate measures the percentage of students at Thomas Kelly College Preparatory who earn a standard high school diploma within four years of starting ninth grade.

The high school dropout rate measures the percentage of students who do not complete their high school education.

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 Thomas Kelly College Preparatory has the largest high 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 Thomas Kelly College Preparatory is $18,819. 101 high schools in the Chicago Public Schools District 299 spend more per student.

Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Thomas Kelly College Preparatory:

SchoolDigger ranks Thomas Kelly College Preparatory 566^th of 697 Illinois public high schools. (See Thomas Kelly College Preparatory in the ranking list.)

High School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:

English Language Learner students:

Special Education students:

Low Socio Economic Status students:

Homeless students:

Female students:

Disabled students:

Male students:

Asian 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.)

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Rank History for Thomas Kelly College Preparatory

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Rank History for all students at Thomas Kelly College Preparatory

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	IL State Percentile
2003	3.73	549^th	586	6.3%
2004	2.45	557^th	592	5.9%
2005	4.02	541^st	590	8.3%
2006	6.86	540^th	596	9.4%
2007	7.64	549^th	612	10.3%
2008	9.16	549^th	624	12.0%
2009	9.71	557^th	632	11.9%
2010	16.62	540^th	643	16.0%
2011	15.65	552^nd	655	15.7%
2012	10.02	584^th	665	12.2%
2013	14.00	565^th	670	15.7%
2014	12.17	587^th	670	12.4%
2016	14.97	574^th	643	10.7%
2017	16.05	550^th	642	14.3%
2018	16.95	550^th	647	15.0%
2019	17.45	581^st	701	17.1%
2021	21.45	544^th	688	20.9%
2022	21.83	553^rd	699	20.9%
2023	20.26	566^th	699	19.0%
2024	18.24	566^th	697	18.8%

See the entire list of Illinois High School Rankings!

Rank History for English Language Learner students at Thomas Kelly College Preparatory

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	48.38	47^th	151	68.9%
2019	39.05	93^rd	183	49.2%
2021	67.48	19^th	189	89.9%
2022	69.42	27^th	205	86.8%
2023	42.29	104^th	217	52.1%
2024	37.99	122^nd	248	50.8%

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

Rank History for Special Education students at Thomas Kelly College Preparatory

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	27.23	248^th	374	33.7%
2019	31.34	305^th	473	35.5%
2021	29.28	270^th	453	40.4%
2022	36.40	258^th	493	47.7%
2023	23.31	368^th	476	22.7%
2024	26.62	340^th	482	29.5%

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

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Thomas Kelly College Preparatory

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	29.11	452^nd	585	22.7%
2019	29.42	469^th	639	26.6%
2021	36.03	394^th	611	35.5%
2022	36.60	410^th	626	34.5%
2023	30.44	472^nd	644	26.7%
2024	26.43	476^th	639	25.5%

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

Rank History for Homeless students at Thomas Kelly College Preparatory

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	IL State Percentile
2019	24.69	57^th	91	37.4%
2023	56.26	27^th	104	74.0%
2024	48.71	49^th	125	60.8%

See the entire list of Best Illinois High Schools for Homeless Students!

Rank History for Female students at Thomas Kelly College Preparatory

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	17.31	525^th	620	15.3%
2019	15.03	557^th	665	16.2%
2021	16.75	532^nd	639	16.7%
2022	19.67	523^rd	658	20.5%
2023	18.83	539^th	656	17.8%
2024	15.82	559^th	664	15.8%

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

Rank History for Disabled students at Thomas Kelly College Preparatory

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	IL State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2023	26.12	353^rd	428	17.5%
2024	29.97	253^rd	429	41.0%

See the entire list of Best Illinois High Schools for Disabled Students!

Rank History for Male students at Thomas Kelly College Preparatory

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	17.04	522^nd	619	15.7%
2019	20.03	548^th	675	18.8%
2021	25.45	483^rd	653	26.0%
2022	24.11	507^th	664	23.6%
2023	21.83	537^th	668	19.6%
2024	21.35	524^th	668	21.6%

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

Rank History for Asian students at Thomas Kelly College Preparatory

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	6.03	124^th	132	6.1%
2019	5.67	122^nd	130	6.2%
2021	7.48	123^rd	135	8.9%
2022	11.84	126^th	141	10.6%
2023	3.84	129^th	134	3.7%
2024	11.85	123^rd	137	10.2%

See the entire list of Best Illinois High Schools for Asian Students!

Rank History for African American students at Thomas Kelly College Preparatory

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	19.95	241^st	253	4.7%
2019	26.75	221^st	299	26.1%
2021	23.07	241^st	281	14.2%
2022	27.04	218^th	294	25.9%
2023	25.60	232^nd	301	22.9%
2024	45.88	113^th	299	62.2%

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

Rank History for Hispanic students at Thomas Kelly College Preparatory

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	21.48	241^st	291	17.2%
2019	20.05	266^th	317	16.1%
2021	20.89	270^th	317	14.8%
2022	20.95	275^th	335	17.9%
2023	19.77	284^th	333	14.7%
2024	18.74	289^th	336	14.0%

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

Rank History for White students at Thomas Kelly College Preparatory

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	IL State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2018	10.67	521^st	548	4.9%
2021	20.42	458^th	553	17.2%

See the entire list of Best Illinois High Schools for White 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 Thomas Kelly College Preparatory

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Year	White	African American	Asian	Hispanic	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Not Specified	Total
1988	579	77	8	1079	n/a	n/a	n/a	0	1743
1989	446	203	6	1076	1	n/a	n/a	0	1732
1990	335	185	10	1121	3	n/a	n/a	0	1654
1991	298	157	10	1114	1	n/a	n/a	0	1580
1992	272	129	16	1293	20	n/a	n/a	0	1730
1993	232	131	11	1494	0	n/a	n/a	0	1868
1994	222	101	7	1608	1	n/a	n/a	0	1939
1995	209	84	40	1905	3	n/a	n/a	0	2241
1996	209	84	40	1905	3	n/a	n/a	0	2241
1997	218	79	53	1819	4	n/a	n/a	0	2173
1998	161	72	102	1832	2	n/a	n/a	0	2169
1999	145	57	50	1907	5	n/a	n/a	0	2164
2000	129	54	75	1975	4	n/a	n/a	0	2237
2001	115	55	105	2013	4	n/a	n/a	0	2292
2002	99	73	175	2345	3	n/a	n/a	0	2695
2003	99	73	175	2345	3	n/a	n/a	0	2695
2004	106	88	116	2621	2	n/a	n/a	0	2933
2005	107	92	234	2684	7	n/a	n/a	0	3124
2006	111	82	248	2694	13	n/a	n/a	7	3155
2007	104	77	263	2649	1	n/a	n/a	68	3162
2008	108	89	274	2633	5	n/a	n/a	86	3195
2009	128	89	291	2789	4	n/a	n/a	0	3301
2010	104	74	252	2750	4	n/a	n/a	0	3184
2011	82	56	263	2660	12	1	18	0	3092
2012	59	56	294	2425	12	1	6	0	2853
2013	57	51	333	2073	13	1	2	0	2530
2014	50	40	347	1928	10	1	2	0	2378
2015	44	48	316	1737	4	1	2	0	2152
2016	44	68	299	1724	4	2	3	0	2144
2017	30	71	268	1637	3	2	5	0	2016
2018	30	73	249	1519	3	2	5	0	1881
2019	34	78	259	1509	4	2	9	0	1895
2020	36	68	240	1414	5	3	9	0	1775
2021	41	81	270	1569	4	3	14	0	1982
2022	38	73	218	1564	6	3	7	0	1909
2023	32	69	202	1590	2	2	6	0	1903

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 Thomas Kelly College Preparatory

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	1743	84.2	20.7	n/a
1989	1732	87.2	19.8	n/a
1990	1654	87.2	18.9	n/a
1991	1580	89.0	17.7	n/a
1992	1730	95.4	18.1	n/a
1993	1868	99.0	18.9	n/a
1994	1939	89.8	21.6	n/a
1995	2241	119.2	18.8	n/a
1996	2241	119.2	18.8	n/a
1997	2173	121.0	18.0	n/a
1998	2169	118.6	18.3	n/a
1999	2164	118.6	18.2	n/a
2000	2237	126.0	17.8	n/a
2001	2292	130.8	17.5	n/a
2002	2695	140.0	19.3	88.9
2003	2695	140.0	19.3	88.9
2004	2933	158.3	18.5	85.2
2005	3124	181.4	17.2	82.9
2006	3155	189.1	16.7	78.7
2007	3162	160.0	19.8	88.7
2008	3195	170.0	18.8	91
2009	3301	194.0	17.0	84
2010	3184	185.0	17.2	93.7
2011	3092	184.0	16.8	92.7
2012	2853	180.0	15.8	96.3
2013	2530	201.1	12.5	93.6
2014	2378	160.0	14.8	94.6
2015	2152	143.0	15.0	97
2016	2144	130.0	16.4	95.7
2017	2016	114.2	17.6	95.7
2018	1881	98.1	19.1	96.1
2019	1895	124.0	15.2	94.1
2020	1775	123.0	14.4	93.6
2021	1982	n/a	n/a	n/a
2022	1909	127.5	14.9	92.7
2023	1903	125.0	15.2	93.7

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 Thomas Kelly College Preparatory

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	1743	84.2	20.7	n/a
1989	1732	87.2	19.8	n/a
1990	1654	87.2	18.9	n/a
1991	1580	89.0	17.7	n/a
1992	1730	95.4	18.1	n/a
1993	1868	99.0	18.9	n/a
1994	1939	89.8	21.6	n/a
1995	2241	119.2	18.8	n/a
1996	2241	119.2	18.8	n/a
1997	2173	121.0	18.0	n/a
1998	2169	118.6	18.3	n/a
1999	2164	118.6	18.2	n/a
2000	2237	126.0	17.8	n/a
2001	2292	130.8	17.5	n/a
2002	2695	140.0	19.3	88.9
2003	2695	140.0	19.3	88.9
2004	2933	158.3	18.5	85.2
2005	3124	181.4	17.2	82.9
2006	3155	189.1	16.7	78.7
2007	3162	160.0	19.8	88.7
2008	3195	170.0	18.8	91
2009	3301	194.0	17.0	84
2010	3184	185.0	17.2	93.7
2011	3092	184.0	16.8	92.7
2012	2853	180.0	15.8	96.3
2013	2530	201.1	12.5	93.6
2014	2378	160.0	14.8	94.6
2015	2152	143.0	15.0	97
2016	2144	130.0	16.4	95.7
2017	2016	114.2	17.6	95.7
2018	1881	98.1	19.1	96.1
2019	1895	124.0	15.2	94.1
2020	1775	123.0	14.4	93.6
2021	1982	n/a	n/a	n/a
2022	1909	127.5	14.9	92.7
2023	1903	125.0	15.2	93.7

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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