Best Elementary Schools in Illinois for Homeless Students

Check out our new feature available only on SchoolDigger: rankings for different groups of students in Illinois!

Every year, the Illinois State Board of Education shares test results for various student groups in each school. We use these results to find out which schools do best for each group and list them from the best to the worst.

Additionally, we also compare the performance of the subgroup to the performance of the school as a whole. This makes it easy to see if, for example, Homeless students are overperforming or underperforming their peers in each school.

Year after year, SchoolDigger is always the first to publish Illinois test scores and rankings. Other sites use stale test score data that are several years old! Be in the know with the very latest performance metrics.

The list is updated annually upon the release of the ISA and IAR test scores by the Illinois State Board of Education. The most recent update was on Thursday, October 30, 2025.

Be the first to know when we post new test scores and rankings!

School														Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2025)							Ranking (Homeless vs All Students - 2025)					ID
Rank (of 44)	School	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Disc Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Per Pupil Expenditures: Total	Personnel from Federal Funds	Non-Personnel from Federal Funds	Total from Federal Funds	Personnel from State and Local Funds	Non-Personnel from State and Local Funds	Total from State and Local Funds	Statewide Rank Percentile (Homeless)	Statewide Rank Percentile (All Students)	Rank Percentile Difference from All Students	SchoolDigger Rating (Homeless)	SchoolDigger Rating (All Students)	ID
44	McNair Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	4820 W Walton St	Chicago	60651	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 534-8980	328	32	10.2	89.3%	5 (1.5%)	236 (72.0%)	83 (25.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.2%)	$29,395			$3,130			$26,265	0.0%	17.3%	17.27%			170993001191
43	A J Katzenmaier Academy	Public	4-5	1829 Kennedy Dr	North Chicago	60064	Lake County	North Chicago School District 187	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(847) 689-6330	387	26	14.8	99.5%	17 (4.4%)	124 (32.0%)	231 (59.7%)	4 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (2.8%)	$17,938			$1,619			$16,319	2.3%	2.6%	0.35%			170011004814
42	Penniman Elementary School	Public	3-5	1820 Jerome Ln	Cahokia	62206	St. Clair County	Cahokia CUSD 187	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(618) 332-1915	250	14	17.9	88.0%	6 (2.4%)	234 (93.6%)	6 (2.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.6%)	$20,872			$2,597			$18,275	4.5%	0.1%	4.45%			170804000412
41	Wentworth Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	1340 W 71st St	Chicago	60636	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 535-3394	433	37	11.7	97.5%	3 (0.7%)	325 (75.1%)	105 (24.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$23,894			$3,479			$20,415	6.8%	0.9%	5.89%			170993001150
39	Sparta Lincoln School	Public	PK, KG-8	203A Dean Ave	Sparta	62286	Randolph County	Sparta CUSD 140	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(618) 443-5331	735	53	13.8	65.6%	516 (70.2%)	115 (15.6%)	19 (2.6%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	83 (11.3%)	$12,348			$548			$11,800	11.4%	38.9%	27.50%			173690003806
39	Strassburg Elementary	Public	3-5	2002 223rd St	Sauk Village	60411	Cook County	Ccsd 168	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(708) 758-4754	406	26	15.6	55.9%	16 (3.9%)	300 (73.9%)	69 (17.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	19 (4.7%)	$22,533			$3,012			$19,521	11.4%	8.2%	3.14%			173546003699
38	Medgar Evers Primary Acadmc Center	Public	PK, KG-4	1101 E 10th St	Ford Heights	60411	Cook County	Ford Heights School District 169	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(708) 758-2520	306	12	25.5	95.8%	0 (0.0%)	297 (97.1%)	9 (2.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$26,902			$1,725			$25,176	13.6%	1.9%	11.69%			171095001328
37	Smith W Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	744 E 103rd St	Chicago	60628	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 535-5689	340	31	10.8	95.3%	0 (0.0%)	323 (95.0%)	13 (3.8%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.9%)	$24,217			$3,315			$20,902	15.9%	5.0%	10.95%			170993000928
36	Nicholson Technical Academy Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	6006 S Peoria St	Chicago	60621	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 535-3285	487	32	15.1	92.4%	21 (4.3%)	367 (75.4%)	94 (19.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.0%)	$19,351			$3,524			$15,826	18.2%	5.2%	13.03%			170993000597
35	Carver Primary School	Public	PK, KG-8	901 E 133rd Pl	Chicago	60827	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 535-5674	467	31	15	99.8%	0 (0.0%)	460 (98.5%)	6 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	$19,603			$3,825			$15,778	20.5%	4.3%	16.13%			170993000993

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for Illinois

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts Cities

New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for IL student subgroups:

Female Students Male Students Asian Students African American Students Hispanic Students White Students Multi-racial Students English Language Learner Students Special Education Students Low Socio Economic Status Students Disabled Students

About our rankings:

Schooldigger calculates school rankings based on IAR English Language Arts, IAR Mathematics, ISA Science test scores released by the Illinois State Board of Education.
These rankings were last updated on October 30, 2025, and are based on the most recent test scores available. We update rankings as we receive new test scores from the Illinois State Board of Education, usually on a yearly basis.
Our sources of data include the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education and the Illinois State Board of Education.
For more information about our ranking process, please see our Ranking FAQ. Details about our methodology are here.

Educational resources:

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on Education

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau, the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Illinois State Board of Education.