Is Gillespie Elementary School a good school?

Gillespie Elementary School ranks in the bottom 12.3% of Illinois elementary schools.

How many students attend Gillespie Elementary School?

In the 2023-24 school year, 342 students attended Gillespie Elementary School.

What is the racial makeup of Gillespie Elementary School?

Students at Gillespie Elementary School are 95% African American, 4% Hispanic.

What schools do graduates of Gillespie Elementary School attend?

Students who attend Gillespie Elementary School usually go on to attend: High : Harlan Community Academy High School

Gillespie Elementary School

Summary:

Gillespie Elementary School is a public elementary school serving grades PK-8 in Chicago, Illinois, with 376 students. The school faces significant challenges, consistently performing well below the Chicago Public Schools District 299 and Illinois state averages on standardized tests.

Gillespie Elementary School's academic performance is particularly concerning, with only 14.4% of students proficient or better in English Language Arts, compared to 30.5% for the district and 41.2% for the state. The school's math proficiency rates are also very low, ranging from 0% to 6.3% across grade levels, far behind the district and state averages. Additionally, Gillespie has extremely high chronic absenteeism rates, ranging from 42.7% to 50.9% in recent years, which is significantly higher than the district and state averages. The school serves a high-poverty student population, with 84.32% to 87.23% of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch.

In contrast, the nearby McDade Elementary Classical School is a high-performing school ranked in the top 1% of Illinois elementary schools, with students significantly outperforming Gillespie students and the district/state averages in both English Language Arts and Mathematics. The data suggests that while Gillespie Elementary School faces significant challenges, there may be opportunities for improvement, particularly in the 8th grade English Language Arts assessment, where the school's performance is relatively stronger than the lower grades. However, the consistently low performance of Gillespie and other nearby schools in the Chicago Public Schools District 299 indicates that there may be broader systemic issues within the district that need to be addressed.

Detail:

Public PK, KG-8

9301 S State St
Chicago, IL 60619-7296

(773) 535-5065

District: Chicago Public Schools District 299

SchoolDigger Rank:
1812^th of 2,067 Illinois Elementary Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures: $20,759

Students who attend Gillespie Elementary School usually attend:

High:

Harlan Community Academy High School

Student/teacher ratio: 12.4

Number of students: 342

Racial breakdown:

African American:

95.3%

Hispanic:

3.8%

American Indian:

0.3%

Free/discounted lunch recipients: 85.1%

See top rated Illinois elementary schools

Compare Gillespie Elementary School to nearby elementary schools!

Performance Trends

Compare Details Gillespie Elementary School ranks worse than 87.7% of elementary schools in Illinois. It also ranks 317^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 15.95. (See more...)

Compare Details Gillespie Elementary School ranks worse than 95.3% of middle schools in Illinois. (See more...)

Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 11.75. (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 Racial makeup is: African American (95.3%), Hispanic (3.8%), American Indian (0.3%). (See more...)

Compare Details 85.1% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)

Teachers

Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Gillespie Elementary School is 12.4, which is the 168^th best among 452 elementary schools in the Chicago Public Schools District 299. (See more...)

Compare Gillespie Elementary School employs 27.5 full-time teachers.

Finance

Compare Details The average total spent per student at Gillespie Elementary School is $20,759. 233 elementary schools in the Chicago Public Schools District 299 spend more per student.

Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Gillespie Elementary School:

SchoolDigger ranks Gillespie Elementary School 1812^th of 2067 Illinois public elementary schools. (See Gillespie 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 Gillespie Elementary School 1299^th of 1363 Illinois public middle schools. (See Gillespie 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 Gillespie Elementary School

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Rank History for all elementary school students at Gillespie Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2003	4.34	1902^nd	2020	5.8%
2004	1.65	1984^th	2030	2.3%
2005	3.50	1910^th	2022	5.5%
2006	4.43	1988^th	2086	4.7%
2007	2.65	2037^th	2095	2.8%
2008	2.20	2066^th	2092	1.2%
2009	0.44	2118^th	2120	0.1%
2010	4.14	2074^th	2139	3.0%
2011	5.25	2083^rd	2147	3.0%
2012	7.95	2060^th	2166	4.9%
2013	17.75	1859^th	2167	14.2%
2014	24.52	1667^th	2093	20.4%
2015	22.51	1641^st	2052	20.0%
2016	17.42	1774^th	2046	13.3%
2017	13.75	1851^st	2044	9.4%
2018	18.03	1718^th	2037	15.7%
2019	17.14	1810^th	2086	13.2%
2021	14.84	1764^th	1948	9.4%
2022	12.05	1995^th	2082	4.2%
2023	12.03	1968^th	2077	5.2%
2024	15.95	1812^th	2067	12.3%

See the entire list of Illinois Elementary School Rankings!

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

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	27.34	1381^st	1765	21.8%
2019	23.26	1559^th	1816	14.2%
2021	24.76	1247^th	1514	17.6%
2022	18.52	1633^rd	1763	7.4%
2023	16.43	1708^th	1808	5.5%
2024	25.11	1448^th	1793	19.2%

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

Rank History for elementary school Female students at Gillespie Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	16.61	1712^th	1964	12.8%
2019	15.33	1810^th	2019	10.4%
2022	12.21	1889^th	1970	4.1%
2023	15.58	1769^th	1957	9.6%
2024	16.52	1699^th	1942	12.5%

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

Rank History for elementary school Male students at Gillespie Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	21.31	1588^th	1972	19.5%
2019	19.62	1697^th	2019	15.9%
2022	13.56	1862^nd	1977	5.8%
2023	10.65	1936^th	1984	2.4%
2024	18.66	1626^th	1959	17.0%

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

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

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	40.57	364^th	698	47.9%
2019	34.18	473^rd	711	33.5%
2021	34.88	265^th	428	38.1%
2022	29.14	532^nd	684	22.2%
2023	29.34	534^th	692	22.8%
2024	36.98	404^th	655	38.3%

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 Gillespie Elementary School

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Rank History for all middle school students at Gillespie Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2003	6.52	1110^th	1185	6.3%
2004	15.18	1003^rd	1204	16.7%
2005	4.57	1138^th	1209	5.9%
2006	7.55	1175^th	1272	7.6%
2007	4.56	1237^th	1287	3.9%
2008	4.50	1240^th	1293	4.1%
2009	4.12	1274^th	1318	3.3%
2010	10.66	1211^th	1327	8.7%
2011	14.48	1206^th	1344	10.3%
2012	16.16	1210^th	1365	11.4%
2013	19.23	1153^rd	1367	15.7%
2014	29.45	981^st	1322	25.8%
2015	20.84	1057^th	1302	18.8%
2016	27.19	948^th	1294	26.7%
2017	14.86	1152^nd	1293	10.9%
2018	14.75	1151^st	1293	11.0%
2019	16.42	1168^th	1356	13.9%
2022	13.75	1273^rd	1369	7.0%
2023	17.35	1173^rd	1367	14.2%
2024	11.75	1299^th	1363	4.7%

See the entire list of Illinois Elementary School Rankings!

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

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	20.88	995^th	1161	14.3%
2019	17.49	1106^th	1217	9.1%
2022	17.92	1133^rd	1221	7.2%
2023	24.45	1001^st	1234	18.9%
2024	16.40	1120^th	1219	8.1%

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

Rank History for middle school Female students at Gillespie Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	14.88	1095^th	1226	10.7%
2019	16.53	1096^th	1276	14.1%
2022	11.59	1241^st	1286	3.5%
2023	20.40	1026^th	1275	19.5%
2024	13.83	1145^th	1251	8.5%

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

Rank History for middle school Male students at Gillespie Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	14.49	1111^th	1223	9.2%
2019	9.67	1278^th	1296	1.4%
2022	17.05	1127^th	1286	12.4%
2023	15.54	1160^th	1292	10.2%
2024	11.45	1222^nd	1264	3.3%

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

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

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	36.44	319^th	511	37.6%
2019	35.09	365^th	565	35.4%
2022	30.24	434^th	573	24.3%
2023	34.45	363^rd	569	36.2%
2024	25.37	444^th	548	19.0%

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 Gillespie Elementary School

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Year	White	African American	Asian	Hispanic	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Not Specified	Total
1989	1	747	n/a	1	n/a	n/a	n/a	0	749
1990	2	794	n/a	1	n/a	n/a	n/a	0	797
1991	1	874	0	1	0	n/a	n/a	0	876
1992	0	956	0	0	0	n/a	n/a	0	956
1993	1	942	0	0	0	n/a	n/a	0	943
1994	2	928	0	0	0	n/a	n/a	0	930
1995	0	820	0	0	0	n/a	n/a	0	820
1996	0	820	0	0	0	n/a	n/a	0	820
1997	5	826	0	0	0	n/a	n/a	0	831
1998	0	869	0	0	0	n/a	n/a	0	869
1999	0	942	0	0	0	n/a	n/a	0	942
2000	0	830	0	0	0	n/a	n/a	0	830
2001	0	838	0	0	0	n/a	n/a	0	838
2002	1	825	0	0	1	n/a	n/a	0	827
2003	1	825	0	0	1	n/a	n/a	0	827
2004	0	723	0	2	0	n/a	n/a	0	725
2005	7	705	0	2	0	n/a	n/a	0	714
2006	0	692	0	3	0	n/a	n/a	0	695
2007	1	709	0	4	0	n/a	n/a	0	714
2008	0	633	0	6	0	n/a	n/a	1	640
2009	0	544	0	3	0	n/a	n/a	0	547
2010	1	526	0	7	0	n/a	n/a	0	534
2011	1	465	0	16	1	0	3	0	486
2012	0	569	0	18	0	0	2	0	589
2013	0	578	0	14	0	0	1	0	593
2014	0	561	0	5	0	0	2	0	568
2015	2	494	0	3	0	0	2	0	501
2016	2	511	0	12	0	0	2	0	527
2017	2	497	0	6	1	0	1	0	507
2018	2	464	0	11	0	0	1	0	478
2019	2	458	0	6	0	0	1	0	467
2020	2	413	0	6	0	0	1	0	422
2021	1	419	0	8	0	0	1	0	429
2022	1	372	0	16	0	0	0	0	389
2023	1	362	0	13	0	0	0	0	376
2024	0	326	0	13	1	1	1	0	342

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 Gillespie Elementary School

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1989	749	33.0	22.6	n/a
1990	797	32.0	24.9	n/a
1991	876	38.0	23.0	n/a
1992	956	40.0	23.9	n/a
1993	943	46.0	20.5	n/a
1994	930	44.0	21.1	n/a
1995	820	42.0	19.5	n/a
1996	820	42.0	19.5	n/a
1997	831	41.0	20.3	n/a
1998	869	40.0	21.7	n/a
1999	942	43.0	21.9	n/a
2000	830	36.0	23.1	n/a
2001	838	40.0	21.0	n/a
2002	827	40.0	20.7	85
2003	827	40.0	20.7	85
2004	725	35.4	20.5	99.6
2005	714	38.6	18.5	78.7
2006	695	40.6	17.1	95.7
2007	714	32.0	22.3	85.2
2008	640	32.0	20.0	99.7
2009	547	33.0	16.6	96.3
2010	534	28.0	19.0	97.2
2011	486	29.0	16.7	97.7
2012	589	28.0	21.0	97.3
2013	593	34.7	17.0	92.1
2014	568	36.0	15.7	95.8
2015	501	33.0	15.1	97.4
2016	527	32.0	16.4	97.2
2017	507	27.1	18.6	95.3
2018	478	26.6	17.9	95.4
2019	467	30.5	15.3	81.2
2020	422	29.0	14.5	88.4
2021	429	n/a	n/a	n/a
2022	389	26.0	14.9	84.3
2023	376	26.0	14.4	87.2
2024	342	27.5	12.4	85.1

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 Gillespie Elementary School

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1989	749	33.0	22.6	n/a
1990	797	32.0	24.9	n/a
1991	876	38.0	23.0	n/a
1992	956	40.0	23.9	n/a
1993	943	46.0	20.5	n/a
1994	930	44.0	21.1	n/a
1995	820	42.0	19.5	n/a
1996	820	42.0	19.5	n/a
1997	831	41.0	20.3	n/a
1998	869	40.0	21.7	n/a
1999	942	43.0	21.9	n/a
2000	830	36.0	23.1	n/a
2001	838	40.0	21.0	n/a
2002	827	40.0	20.7	85
2003	827	40.0	20.7	85
2004	725	35.4	20.5	99.6
2005	714	38.6	18.5	78.7
2006	695	40.6	17.1	95.7
2007	714	32.0	22.3	85.2
2008	640	32.0	20.0	99.7
2009	547	33.0	16.6	96.3
2010	534	28.0	19.0	97.2
2011	486	29.0	16.7	97.7
2012	589	28.0	21.0	97.3
2013	593	34.7	17.0	92.1
2014	568	36.0	15.7	95.8
2015	501	33.0	15.1	97.4
2016	527	32.0	16.4	97.2
2017	507	27.1	18.6	95.3
2018	478	26.6	17.9	95.4
2019	467	30.5	15.3	81.2
2020	422	29.0	14.5	88.4
2021	429	n/a	n/a	n/a
2022	389	26.0	14.9	84.3
2023	376	26.0	14.4	87.2
2024	342	27.5	12.4	85.1

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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