A neighborhood with too few options and too much at stake—the case for Archer, as the numbers tell it.
The Illinois Assessment of Readiness measures whether students in grades 3–8 are working at grade level. In Chicago Public Schools, most are not—whichever standard Illinois applies.
Source: Chicago Public Schools, 2024 Illinois Assessment of Readiness results (2024 Illinois Report Card)—the last year scored under the proficiency standard Illinois used from 2015 through 2024.
Source: Chicago Public Schools, 2025 Illinois Assessment of Readiness results (2025 Illinois Report Card)—the first year scored under the cut scores Illinois adopted in August 2025.
In August 2025, the Illinois State Board of Education lowered the cut scores that decide which students count as proficient in reading and math. The state describes the new levels as better aligned with national norms. The practical effect is that most of the jump in reported proficiency between 2024 and 2025 came from the new cut scores, not from new learning. Redrawing the line does not teach a child to read or to reason. We show the former standard first because it is the one that measured Chicago’s classrooms for a decade, and the current standard beside it so the comparison is plain.
When a family in Englewood looks for a classical Christian school, there is nothing to find. Most of the few that exist in Chicago sit far to the north.
Count by Archer Christian Academy, 2026, of schools within the city of Chicago that identify as both classical and Christian.
Archer will open at 672 West Marquette Road, near 67th and Union, in the neighborhood where Urban Youth Outreach has served families for more than forty years. The economics of the neighborhood shape the model: tuition set by what each family is able to give, with partners covering the rest.
Source: Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, Englewood Community Data Snapshot (June 2026 release), from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020–2024 American Community Survey five-year estimates.
Across the city, most children are not yet reading or doing math at grade level. Englewood needs a school built for rigor from the first day of kindergarten, so that no child has to be rescued later from a trajectory set early.
There is no classical Christian school in Englewood, and only a handful across the South Side. Archer would not be competing with anyone. It would be filling a void.
A school at 67th and Union spares children the long bus rides and transfers that keep many from reaching a good school across the city—and it can anchor the block for decades.
Behind every percentage is a child we know by name. Read why we are building Archer—or help us build it.
