Beta You're viewing our redesigned school page. Prefer the classic layout?

McKay Elementary School

Public Grades PK, KG-8
1894th
SchoolDigger Rank ?
of 2,056 Illinois Elementary Schools
Better than 8% of Illinois elementary schools
Summary

McKay Elementary School is a public elementary school in Chicago, Illinois, serving 625 students in grades PK-8. The school is part of the Chicago Public Schools District 299, which is ranked 698 out of 811 districts in Illinois and has a 1-star rating from SchoolDigger.

McKay Elementary consistently ranks in the bottom 10-15% of Illinois elementary schools, with low proficiency rates on standardized tests, particularly in math. In 2024-2025, only 21.9% of McKay students were proficient or better in ELA, compared to 42.8% for the district and 53.1% for the state. In math, the proficiency rate was just 8.3%, compared to 27.3% for the district and 38.5% for the state. The school also struggles with high chronic absenteeism rates, ranging from 25.4% in 2024-2025 to 50.6% in 2022-2023, significantly higher than the district and state averages.

While the nearby Marquette Elementary, Tarkington Elementary, and Claremont Academy Elementary schools generally perform better than McKay on academic measures, they also serve high-poverty student populations. McKay's per-student spending is below the district average, which may be a contributing factor to the school's academic challenges. Addressing chronic absenteeism and providing more support for English Language Learners and students with special needs should be priorities for McKay Elementary School.

616
Students ?
13.7
Student/teacher ratio ?
$19,193
Per pupil spending ?
96.8%
Free/discounted lunch ?
 6901 S Fairfield Ave
       Chicago, IL  60629-1912

(773) 535-9340

District: Chicago Public Schools District 299


Students who attend McKay Elementary School usually attend:

High:    Gage Park High School
Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:
51.9%
African American:
45.0%
White:
1.9%
more
 See top rated Illinois elementary schools

 Compare McKay Elementary School to nearby elementary schools!
At a glance
Ranking trend: Declining — 18th percentile in 2015 → 8th in 2025
Worth a look
!Test scores below the Illinois average (14% vs 44% meeting standards)
!In the lower quartile statewide (8th percentile)
!High chronic absenteeism (51% vs 25% Illinois)
Students meeting standards (2024-2025) ?
This school14%
District avg33%
Illinois avg44%
Elementary school
1,894th of 2,056
Illinois public elementary schools ?
Bottom 8%▼ down 10 pts since 2015
From bottom 18% (2015) to bottom 8% (2025)
See the entire ranking list of Illinois Elementary Schools →
SchoolDigger rating ?
Middle school
1,205th of 1,368
Illinois public middle schools ?
Bottom 12%▲ up 2 pts since 2015
See the entire ranking list of Illinois Middle Schools →
SchoolDigger rating ?
367th of 451Elementary Schools in the Chicago Public Schools District 299
698th of 811Chicago Public Schools District 299 among Illinois districts
Statewide rank percentile over time (100 = the top-ranked school in the state; click a legend item to add a student group)
Elementary school ranking
Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankIllinois percentileRating
202511.41894 of 20567.9%☆☆☆☆☆
202414.01893 of 20678.4%☆☆☆☆☆
202316.21825 of 207712.1%★☆☆☆☆
202214.31898 of 20828.8%☆☆☆☆☆
202118.51628 of 194816.4%★☆☆☆☆
201915.51867 of 208610.5%★☆☆☆☆
201811.41935 of 20375.0%☆☆☆☆☆
201713.31861 of 20449.0%☆☆☆☆☆
201617.11783 of 204612.9%★☆☆☆☆
201520.71692 of 205217.5%★☆☆☆☆
201411.11928 of 20937.9%☆☆☆☆☆
201312.31975 of 21678.9%☆☆☆☆☆
20126.12087 of 21663.6%☆☆☆☆☆
20111.92131 of 21470.7%☆☆☆☆☆
20102.42109 of 21391.4%☆☆☆☆☆
20095.02040 of 21203.8%☆☆☆☆☆
20081.52079 of 20920.6%☆☆☆☆☆
20071.12078 of 20950.8%☆☆☆☆☆
20062.52020 of 20863.2%☆☆☆☆☆
20051.81960 of 20223.1%☆☆☆☆☆
20043.51937 of 20304.6%☆☆☆☆☆
20033.31931 of 20204.4%☆☆☆☆☆

African American

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankIllinois percentileRating
202532.5481 of 68830.1%★★☆☆☆
202429.6504 of 65523.1%★☆☆☆☆
202334.6455 of 69234.2%★★☆☆☆
202231.2487 of 68428.8%★☆☆☆☆
202140.9210 of 42850.9%★★★☆☆
201936.1440 of 71138.1%★★☆☆☆
201828.5540 of 69822.6%★☆☆☆☆

English Language Learner

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankIllinois percentileRating
202518.4752 of 7884.6%☆☆☆☆☆
202432.1609 of 82626.3%★☆☆☆☆
201918.0733 of 7431.3%☆☆☆☆☆
201825.5646 of 71810.0%★☆☆☆☆

Female

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankIllinois percentileRating
20258.91870 of 19423.7%☆☆☆☆☆
202415.71726 of 194211.1%★☆☆☆☆
202315.91754 of 195710.4%★☆☆☆☆
202214.01807 of 19708.3%☆☆☆☆☆
201917.11773 of 201912.2%★☆☆☆☆
201813.61804 of 19648.1%☆☆☆☆☆

Hispanic

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankIllinois percentileRating
202514.5927 of 9825.6%☆☆☆☆☆
202423.7790 of 95917.6%★☆☆☆☆
202329.5717 of 97026.1%★☆☆☆☆
202224.6792 of 95417.0%★☆☆☆☆
201930.0711 of 95525.5%★☆☆☆☆
201822.3815 of 93813.1%★☆☆☆☆

Homeless

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankIllinois percentileRating
202440.029 of 5244.2%★★☆☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankIllinois percentileRating
202517.81623 of 18009.8%☆☆☆☆☆
202422.01533 of 179314.5%★☆☆☆☆
202323.01535 of 180815.1%★☆☆☆☆
202222.21508 of 176314.5%★☆☆☆☆
202130.71096 of 151427.6%★☆☆☆☆
201925.11517 of 181616.5%★☆☆☆☆
201817.21650 of 17656.5%☆☆☆☆☆

Male

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankIllinois percentileRating
202514.61713 of 194712.0%★☆☆☆☆
202413.21835 of 19596.3%☆☆☆☆☆
202317.81686 of 198415.0%★☆☆☆☆
202216.01762 of 197710.9%★☆☆☆☆
201915.41823 of 20199.7%☆☆☆☆☆
201810.31915 of 19722.9%☆☆☆☆☆

Special Education

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankIllinois percentileRating
201920.21127 of 11945.6%☆☆☆☆☆
201824.0636 of 76316.6%★☆☆☆☆
Middle school ranking
Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankIllinois percentileRating
202515.61205 of 136811.9%★☆☆☆☆
202420.61086 of 136320.3%★☆☆☆☆
202318.21154 of 136715.6%★☆☆☆☆
202216.61191 of 136913.0%★☆☆☆☆
202110.21231 of 12410.8%☆☆☆☆☆
201916.91157 of 135614.7%★☆☆☆☆
201823.11003 of 129322.4%★☆☆☆☆
201718.21088 of 129315.9%★☆☆☆☆
201625.9981 of 129424.2%★☆☆☆☆
201514.91168 of 130210.3%★☆☆☆☆
201424.11055 of 132220.2%★☆☆☆☆
201322.41118 of 136718.2%★☆☆☆☆
20124.41333 of 13652.3%☆☆☆☆☆
20115.11301 of 13443.2%☆☆☆☆☆
20102.51305 of 13271.7%☆☆☆☆☆
20094.51269 of 13183.7%☆☆☆☆☆
20082.51270 of 12931.8%☆☆☆☆☆
20071.41278 of 12870.7%☆☆☆☆☆
20063.11235 of 12722.9%☆☆☆☆☆

African American

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankIllinois percentileRating
202536.8356 of 57438.0%★★☆☆☆
202443.7263 of 54852.0%★★★☆☆
202335.9348 of 56938.8%★★☆☆☆
202230.2433 of 57324.4%★☆☆☆☆
201938.1332 of 56541.2%★★☆☆☆
201854.2169 of 51166.9%★★★☆☆

English Language Learner

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankIllinois percentileRating
202332.6364 of 48024.2%★☆☆☆☆
202244.5200 of 45455.9%★★★☆☆

Female

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankIllinois percentileRating
202511.31166 of 12486.6%☆☆☆☆☆
202418.21051 of 125116.0%★☆☆☆☆
202318.31069 of 127516.2%★☆☆☆☆
202217.51104 of 128614.2%★☆☆☆☆
201918.61062 of 127616.8%★☆☆☆☆
201821.8979 of 122620.1%★☆☆☆☆

Hispanic

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankIllinois percentileRating
202521.5563 of 66915.8%★☆☆☆☆
202425.2518 of 64319.4%★☆☆☆☆
202334.4435 of 66134.2%★★☆☆☆
202229.5487 of 66226.4%★☆☆☆☆
201929.5485 of 63924.1%★☆☆☆☆
201829.0451 of 59023.6%★☆☆☆☆

Homeless

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankIllinois percentileRating
202447.936 of 7048.6%★★☆☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankIllinois percentileRating
202522.31018 of 122917.2%★☆☆☆☆
202429.7867 of 121928.9%★☆☆☆☆
202326.4959 of 123422.3%★☆☆☆☆
202225.4979 of 122119.8%★☆☆☆☆
202113.51008 of 10191.1%☆☆☆☆☆
201925.5976 of 121719.8%★☆☆☆☆
201834.1789 of 116132.0%★★☆☆☆

Male

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankIllinois percentileRating
202520.9997 of 127121.6%★☆☆☆☆
202423.3957 of 126424.3%★☆☆☆☆
202319.91071 of 129217.1%★☆☆☆☆
202216.81135 of 128611.7%★☆☆☆☆
201916.21135 of 129612.4%★☆☆☆☆
201828.1867 of 122329.1%★☆☆☆☆

Special Education

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankIllinois percentileRating
201924.9680 of 79214.1%★☆☆☆☆
201825.0478 of 60220.6%★☆☆☆☆
How student groups rank statewide ? (each group's percentile vs the same group at other schools — higher is better; the +/- beside each compares the group with this school's overall percentile)
Elementary school
Homeless (2024)44th percentile+36 vs school
African American (2025)30th percentile+22 vs school
Male (2025)12th percentile+4 vs school
Low Socio Economic Status (2025)10th percentile~ school
Special Education (2019)6th percentile-5 vs school
Hispanic (2025)6th percentile~ school
English Language Learner (2025)5th percentile-3 vs school
Female (2025)4th percentile-4 vs school
Middle school
Homeless (2024)49th percentile+28 vs school
African American (2025)38th percentile+26 vs school
English Language Learner (2023)24th percentile+9 vs school
Male (2025)22nd percentile+10 vs school
Low Socio Economic Status (2025)17th percentile+5 vs school
Hispanic (2025)16th percentile+4 vs school
Special Education (2019)14th percentile~ school
Female (2025)7th percentile-5 vs school
By subject vs Illinois (2024-2025) ?
English Language Arts22%-31 vs state
Science12%-31 vs state
Mathematics8%-30 vs state

No ratings yet
Be the first to rate McKay Elementary School and help other families decide.
Rate McKay Elementary School
Have first-hand experience? A quick rating - and a sentence or two about what stands out (teachers, academics, safety, communication) - helps other families know what to expect.
Takes about a minute. We email you a link to verify your review - your address is never shown publicly.
Tap a star to rate
Reviews
No written reviews yet. If you know this school, be the first to share what stands out.



Schools Near McKay Elementary School









Frequently Asked Questions about McKay Elementary School

Students at McKay Elementary School are 52% Hispanic, 45% African American, 2% White.

McKay Elementary School ranks in the bottom 7.9% of Illinois elementary schools.

Students who attend McKay Elementary School usually go on to attend:

High : Gage Park High School

In the 2024-25 school year, 616 students attended McKay Elementary School.


Rate McKay Elementary School!



Sign up for updates!

Be the first to know when there is an update for McKay Elementary School!




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.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.





Diagnostics

None retrieved from Database in 89 milliseconds.