ElementaryChicago, ILHealth profile

James B Farnsworth Elementary School

James B Farnsworth Elementary School is a Chicago neighborhood school focused on student wellness and safety, located in a protected traffic zone to ensure a secure environment for its students.

A place to learn, thrive, and stay well.

James B Farnsworth Elementary School is a neighborhood public school located at 5414 N Linder Ave in the 60630 area of Chicago, Illinois. As a neighborhood elementary school within the Chicago Public Schools system, it serves the local community by providing primary education in a traditional school setting. The school emphasizes the wellness and enhancement of its students' lives as part of its core mission. To support student safety, the surrounding area is designated as a protected zone, featuring automated speed enforcement cameras nearby to ensure a secure environment for children commuting to and from the campus. Farnsworth Elementary is notable for its commitment to child development and its integration into the local Chicago infrastructure. Parents may appreciate the school's focus on maintaining a safe, health-conscious environment through both its internal philosophy and external traffic safety measures.

  • Common Cold
    4/1/2026
    Runny NoseSneezingCongestionCough
    Severity: mild

Health reviews

3.0
2 reviews
  • Honestly, I'm pretty underwhelmed with how things are handled at Farnsworth. While the new 'Space to Grow' schoolyard is a nice touch for outdoor time, the indoor environment feels neglected. The school has been struggling with high chronic absenteeism—I've heard it's over 25%—and you can really tell when a bug starts going around. Communication from the office about illness outbreaks is almost nonexistent, and the school feels 'moderately organized' at best. With the student-teacher ratios being what they are, the staff just seems too stretched thin to really keep an eye on hygiene or if a kid is actually too sick to be in class. It’s frustrating because we want to love our neighborhood school, but the health and wellness culture just isn't a priority right now.

    5/11/2026

  • My kid has been at Farnsworth for a few years now and I'm pretty happy with how they handle things. The school is usually clean, and I notice they're pretty on top of sending emails home when a specific bug is going around the classroom, which helps us stay prepared. Their sick policy is fair—they stick to the '24 hours fever-free' rule pretty strictly, which can be a pain for working parents but honestly keeps the whole class from getting wrecked every month. The nurse there is super sweet and always calls right away if my daughter skins a knee or feels off. It’s a typical neighborhood CPS school, so it’s not fancy, but I feel like they actually care about the kids not being germ magnets.

    3/30/2026

Live map

Where it sits in the neighborhood

StrepFluRSVColdHFMD / RashStomach

No food inspection records on file for this school.

No environmental records on file for this school's area.

Built by parents, for parents

Help families at James B Farnsworth Elementary School stay one step ahead.

Share this page with your school community so every parent can see what's going around, and contribute their own reports.