Get to know Peterson Elementary

Mary Gage Peterson Elementary School is a neighborhood Pre-K to 8th grade school located in the North Park neighborhood of Chicago. The vision at Peterson is to develop college graduates, community leaders, and cultural ambassadors.

Peterson is a linguistically and ethnically diverse Chicago Public School, serving students in preschool- 8th grade in the Hollywood and North Park neighborhoods.  Our zip code is one of the most diverse in the nation!

Student Body

PreK to 8th Grade Neighborhood Elementary School

  • Current Enrollment: 848 Students

  • Ethnicities Represented:

    • Asian: 22.5%

    • Black: 7.6%

    • Hispanic: 36.3%

    • Multiracial: 3.9%

    • White: 29.8%

  • Approximately 59.9% Low Income

  • Approximately 13.3% Diverse Learners

  • Approximately 38.8% Second Language Learners

39 Different Home Languages

  • English

  • Spanish

  • Tagalog

  • Arabic

  • Hindi

  • Burmese

  • Cantonese

  • Assyrian

  • Romanian

  • Mandarin

  • Turkish

  • Urdu

  • Vietnamese

  • Russian

  • Cebuano

  • Gujarati

  • Albanian

  • Panjabi

  • Bulgarian

  • Malay

  • Bengali

  • Cambodian

  • Ibo

  • Telugu

  • Yoruba

  • Tamil

  • Amharic

  • Oulof

  • Guyanese

  • Krio

  • Pashto

  • Mongolian

  • Bosnian

  • Somali

  • Kinyarwanda

  • Rohingya

  • Dari

  • Dinka

  • Vaiphei

Awards, Accolades & Accomplishments:

  • Moved from “Not Yet Organized” to “Well Organized for Success” as Measured by the 5 Essentials W/In 2 Years

  • Reading Growth at 90th Percentile School Wide

  • Every Single Grade Growing at 70th Percentile or Above

  • Math Growth at about 60th Percentile School Wide

  • Reading and Math Attainment Well Above Average (76th and 68th)

  • Attendance at 95.3% (Continues to Increase)

  • Dramatic Decrease in Suspensions w/in 2 Years (4 to 1 per 100)

  • Two Time Recipient of TCLP Grant for Arabic Teacher

  • Multi-Year Recipient of OST Grant for After-School Programs

  • One (1) of 36 Schools Certified as Exemplary SEL School

  • Music Teacher Anand Sukumaran was selected as the winner of the 2014 Golden Apple Award for superior teaching

  • 2011 Boys Long Jump City Champions

  • 2014 Boys Basketball O’Hare Network Champions & Chicago Elite Eight

  • 2015 Boys Volleyball undefeated Conference Champions

  • All Choirs were invited to the Museum of Science & Industry to perform at their “Christmas Around the World” stage

  • Peterson was the only CPS school to participate in a statewide robotics competition

  • 2015-16 winner of a Roberts Foundation Grant to enhance our STEM Programming

  • More than $200,000 raised by the Friends of Peterson to support Peterson Elementary