Is Whistler Elementary School a good school?

Whistler Elementary School ranks 1501 st of 2067 Illinois elementary schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 1 star out of 5.

How many students attend Whistler Elementary School?

In the 2022-23 school year, 269 students attended Whistler Elementary School.

What is the racial makeup of Whistler Elementary School?

Students at Whistler Elementary School are 96% African American, 3% Two or more races, 1% Hispanic.

Whistler Elementary School

Summary:

Whistler Elementary School is a public elementary school serving grades PK-8 in Chicago, Illinois, with 269 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. Whistler Elementary School has consistently been ranked in the bottom quarter of Illinois elementary schools over the past decade, with a 1-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Whistler Elementary School faces significant challenges, including very high chronic absenteeism rates, ranging from 26.8% to 54.5% over the past few years, which is significantly higher than the district and state averages. The school also consistently underperforms compared to the district and state averages on standardized tests, with only 27.9% of students proficient or better in English Language Arts and 10% proficient or better in Mathematics in the 2023-2024 school year. Additionally, Whistler Elementary School has a very high percentage of students from low-socioeconomic backgrounds, with 92.94% of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch in the 2022-2023 school year.

While Whistler Elementary School has relatively high spending per student at $20,619 in the 2022-2023 school year, it performs poorly compared to nearby schools in the same district, such as Esmond Elementary School and Higgins Elementary Community Academy, which have slightly higher academic performance and lower chronic absenteeism rates. Despite the school's efforts, Whistler Elementary School has not shown significant improvement in its academic performance or other key metrics over the past decade, suggesting that the school may face deeper systemic challenges that need to be addressed.

Detail:

Public PK, KG-8

11533 S Ada St
Chicago, IL 60643-5198

(773) 535-5560

District: Chicago Public Schools District 299

SchoolDigger Rank:
1501^st of 2,067 Illinois Elementary Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures: $23,165

Student/teacher ratio: 14.5

Number of students: 269

Racial breakdown:

African American:

95.5%

Two or more races:

3.0%

Hispanic:

1.1%

Free/discounted lunch recipients: 92.9%

See top rated Illinois elementary schools

Compare Whistler Elementary School to nearby elementary schools!

Performance Trends

Compare Details Whistler Elementary School ranks worse than 72.6% of elementary schools in Illinois. It also ranks 195^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 26.53. (See more...)

Compare Details Whistler Elementary School ranks worse than 61.7% of middle schools in Illinois. (See more...)

Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 33.8. (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 Whistler 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 Whistler Elementary School is $23,165, which is the 152^nd highest among 452 elementary schools in the Chicago Public Schools District 299.

Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Whistler Elementary School:

SchoolDigger ranks Whistler Elementary School 1501^st of 2067 Illinois public elementary schools. (See Whistler Elementary School 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 Whistler Elementary School 841^st of 1363 Illinois public middle schools. (See Whistler 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:

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 Whistler Elementary School

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Rank History for all elementary school students at Whistler Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2003	12.72	1748^th	2020	13.5%
2004	3.14	1945^th	2030	4.2%
2005	3.93	1904^th	2022	5.8%
2006	15.63	1844^th	2086	11.6%
2007	10.84	1911^th	2095	8.8%
2008	14.19	1861^st	2092	11.0%
2009	22.65	1758^th	2120	17.1%
2010	20.97	1805^th	2139	15.6%
2011	25.10	1750^th	2147	18.5%
2012	20.05	1856^th	2166	14.3%
2013	19.47	1812^th	2167	16.4%
2014	29.70	1546^th	2093	26.1%
2015	38.40	1169^th	2052	43.0%
2016	28.80	1457^th	2046	28.8%
2017	24.96	1550^th	2044	24.2%
2018	19.72	1657^th	2037	18.7%
2019	22.18	1653^rd	2086	20.8%
2022	19.10	1695^th	2082	18.6%
2023	23.84	1551^st	2077	25.3%
2024	26.53	1501^st	2067	27.4%

See the entire list of Illinois Elementary School Rankings!

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

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	29.39	1323^rd	1765	25.0%
2019	34.98	1243^rd	1816	31.6%
2022	29.32	1308^th	1763	25.8%
2023	39.54	1064^th	1808	41.2%
2024	34.70	1192^nd	1793	33.5%

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

Rank History for elementary school Female students at Whistler Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	31.34	1343^rd	1964	31.6%
2019	30.32	1399^th	2019	30.7%
2022	22.79	1519^th	1970	22.9%
2023	37.00	1158^th	1957	40.8%
2024	27.90	1382^nd	1942	28.8%

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

Rank History for elementary school Male students at Whistler Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	12.07	1874^th	1972	5.0%
2019	18.59	1715^th	2019	15.1%
2022	16.62	1740^th	1977	12.0%
2023	17.05	1713^th	1984	13.7%
2024	29.67	1325^th	1959	32.4%

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

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

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	42.72	341^st	698	51.1%
2019	48.61	293^rd	711	58.8%
2022	48.13	272^nd	684	60.2%
2023	52.70	238^th	692	65.6%
2024	52.24	233^rd	655	64.4%

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 Whistler Elementary School

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Rank History for all middle school students at Whistler Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2003	15.36	993^rd	1185	16.2%
2004	12.69	1029^th	1204	14.5%
2005	17.79	995^th	1209	17.7%
2006	14.01	1101^st	1272	13.4%
2007	9.48	1171^st	1287	9.0%
2008	11.63	1155^th	1293	10.7%
2009	12.48	1183^rd	1318	10.2%
2010	14.26	1173^rd	1327	11.6%
2011	23.00	1128^th	1344	16.1%
2012	12.24	1252^nd	1365	8.3%
2013	17.08	1188^th	1367	13.1%
2014	21.99	1093^rd	1322	17.3%
2015	18.92	1096^th	1302	15.8%
2016	29.46	907^th	1294	29.9%
2017	35.41	812^th	1293	37.2%
2018	24.23	983^rd	1293	24.0%
2019	21.55	1085^th	1356	20.0%
2021	20.92	1007^th	1241	18.9%
2022	18.88	1131^st	1369	17.4%
2023	26.09	991^st	1367	27.5%
2024	33.80	841^st	1363	38.3%

See the entire list of Illinois Elementary School Rankings!

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

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	36.84	740^th	1161	36.3%
2019	31.47	879^th	1217	27.8%
2021	27.58	775^th	1019	23.9%
2022	28.82	909^th	1221	25.6%
2023	42.57	663^rd	1234	46.3%
2024	44.42	621^st	1219	49.1%

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

Rank History for middle school Female students at Whistler Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	29.46	883^rd	1226	28.0%
2019	40.54	731^st	1276	42.7%
2022	27.15	912^th	1286	29.1%
2023	35.16	784^th	1275	38.5%
2024	34.40	781^st	1251	37.6%

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

Rank History for middle school Male students at Whistler Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	22.22	975^th	1223	20.3%
2019	11.02	1254^th	1296	3.2%
2022	14.94	1181^st	1286	8.2%
2023	15.38	1167^th	1292	9.7%
2024	32.35	788^th	1264	37.7%

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

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

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	54.85	163^rd	511	68.1%
2019	52.42	200^th	565	64.6%
2021	47.31	153^rd	385	60.3%
2022	41.70	275^th	573	52.0%
2023	51.92	202^nd	569	64.5%
2024	56.23	174^th	548	68.2%

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 Whistler Elementary School

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Year	White	African American	Asian	Hispanic	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Not Specified	Total
1989	4	577	2	1	n/a	n/a	n/a	0	584
1990	2	600	1	1	n/a	n/a	n/a	0	604
1991	1	615	0	0	0	n/a	n/a	0	616
1992	3	613	0	2	0	n/a	n/a	0	618
1993	6	555	0	3	0	n/a	n/a	0	564
1994	2	538	0	2	0	n/a	n/a	0	542
1995	2	507	0	2	0	n/a	n/a	0	511
1996	2	507	0	2	0	n/a	n/a	0	511
1997	2	580	0	2	0	n/a	n/a	0	584
1998	2	572	0	1	0	n/a	n/a	0	575
1999	1	634	0	2	2	n/a	n/a	0	639
2000	2	652	0	2	0	n/a	n/a	0	656
2001	1	679	0	3	0	n/a	n/a	0	683
2002	0	647	0	3	0	n/a	n/a	0	650
2003	0	647	0	3	0	n/a	n/a	0	650
2004	1	605	0	2	0	n/a	n/a	0	608
2005	1	551	0	5	0	n/a	n/a	0	557
2006	0	520	0	0	0	n/a	n/a	4	524
2007	0	474	0	2	0	n/a	n/a	3	479
2008	0	524	0	2	0	n/a	n/a	4	530
2009	0	409	0	2	0	n/a	n/a	0	411
2010	1	416	0	0	0	n/a	n/a	0	417
2011	0	409	0	0	1	0	0	0	410
2012	0	376	0	0	1	0	0	0	377
2013	1	315	0	1	1	0	0	0	318
2014	1	330	0	2	1	0	0	0	334
2015	1	283	0	3	1	0	0	0	288
2016	1	259	0	1	1	0	0	0	262
2017	1	299	0	1	0	0	0	0	301
2018	2	338	0	3	0	0	0	0	343
2019	1	353	0	5	0	0	0	0	359
2020	1	301	0	3	0	0	1	0	306
2021	1	289	0	2	0	0	2	0	294
2022	1	257	0	3	0	0	4	0	265
2023	1	257	0	3	0	0	8	0	269

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 Whistler Elementary School

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1989	584	31.0	18.8	n/a
1990	604	34.0	17.7	n/a
1991	616	38.0	16.2	n/a
1992	618	38.0	16.2	n/a
1993	564	36.0	15.7	n/a
1994	542	32.0	16.9	n/a
1995	511	32.0	16.0	n/a
1996	511	32.0	16.0	n/a
1997	584	30.0	19.5	n/a
1998	575	33.0	17.4	n/a
1999	639	32.0	20.0	n/a
2000	656	30.0	21.9	n/a
2001	683	30.0	22.8	n/a
2002	650	29.0	22.4	86.2
2003	650	29.0	22.4	86.2
2004	608	31.0	19.6	91.1
2005	557	32.7	17.0	87.6
2006	524	34.7	15.1	93.3
2007	479	19.0	25.2	97.3
2008	530	22.0	24.1	94.3
2009	411	30.0	13.7	99.3
2010	417	26.0	16.0	99.3
2011	410	25.0	16.4	98.3
2012	377	22.0	17.1	95.2
2013	318	21.9	14.4	92.8
2014	334	19.0	17.5	96.1
2015	288	18.0	16.0	95.5
2016	262	16.0	16.3	95.4
2017	301	16.0	18.8	93.4
2018	343	14.9	23.0	93
2019	359	19.0	18.8	90.3
2020	306	18.0	17.0	88.2
2021	294	n/a	n/a	n/a
2022	265	22.0	12.0	86.4
2023	269	18.5	14.5	92.9

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 Whistler Elementary School

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1989	584	31.0	18.8	n/a
1990	604	34.0	17.7	n/a
1991	616	38.0	16.2	n/a
1992	618	38.0	16.2	n/a
1993	564	36.0	15.7	n/a
1994	542	32.0	16.9	n/a
1995	511	32.0	16.0	n/a
1996	511	32.0	16.0	n/a
1997	584	30.0	19.5	n/a
1998	575	33.0	17.4	n/a
1999	639	32.0	20.0	n/a
2000	656	30.0	21.9	n/a
2001	683	30.0	22.8	n/a
2002	650	29.0	22.4	86.2
2003	650	29.0	22.4	86.2
2004	608	31.0	19.6	91.1
2005	557	32.7	17.0	87.6
2006	524	34.7	15.1	93.3
2007	479	19.0	25.2	97.3
2008	530	22.0	24.1	94.3
2009	411	30.0	13.7	99.3
2010	417	26.0	16.0	99.3
2011	410	25.0	16.4	98.3
2012	377	22.0	17.1	95.2
2013	318	21.9	14.4	92.8
2014	334	19.0	17.5	96.1
2015	288	18.0	16.0	95.5
2016	262	16.0	16.3	95.4
2017	301	16.0	18.8	93.4
2018	343	14.9	23.0	93
2019	359	19.0	18.8	90.3
2020	306	18.0	17.0	88.2
2021	294	n/a	n/a	n/a
2022	265	22.0	12.0	86.4
2023	269	18.5	14.5	92.9

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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