Families in Evanston (North Shore, Evanston, Wilmette, Winnetka, Glencoe)

[chet everett]

...I am not generally critical of folks that make a decision to send their kids to private schools, but I think that it would be hard for anyone to say that when you are looking at the success of someone that is pretty clearly in the vanishingly thin leading edge of achievment curves the degree to which the school was a factor is essentially a non-issue. I mean you are talking a sample size of exactly ONE and as if IMSA is not selective enough Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy you toss in the TINY number of kids that grew up in Evanston that go to Northwestern Northwestern University Admissions Statistics and Chances | Parchment - College admissions predictions. and then further winnow out the infinitesimally small number of people that earn PhDs at Harvard leaves you with what? Certainly ONE outstandingly talented student, however I would argue that such a student would likely do well at anything this side a truly physically unsafe school AND EVEN THEN the potential for college recruiters to be blown away by such a student's likely stellar standardized test score MIGHT still land him (or her) a scholarship to a highly selective school.

For those that know I am strong believer in looking for the best part of the best towns there may be some confusion. Let me be clear, my motivation for that strategy is driven by YEARS of experience in the real estate market. Private schools have essentially ZERO effect on that model -- look at the relative non-desirability of areas surrounding what is arguably Chicago's most desirable Catholic high school, St. Ignatius. Heck even in desirable town like Wilmette the proximately to schools like Loyola Academy has if anything a negative effect on property values (though in fairness the lack of proximity to the Lake / nearness to busy streets is probably the bigger downside...).

There is certainly some value to choosing a private school based on the success of its graduates. The problem is that unlike the public school system there is no uniform measure of that success. While I believe all elementary schools in the Chicago Archdiocese (which the Catholic schools in Evanston are part of ...) do use standardized test like the TerraNova they do not typically publish results by school. Archdiocese of Chicago Elementary School Terra Nova Standardized Test Results That does leave you to either inquire of each of the schools one by interested in OR to rely on the overly narrow sample size of anectdotal evidence that includes outliers like nikitakolata's cousin. I am not really comfortable with that...

Originally Posted by nikitakolata

I don't have kids; however, my cousin went to St. A's. His parents are VERY education-oriented and specifically moved near St. A's. My cousin must have gotten a good enough education as he went on to attend IMSA (the Illinois Math & Science Academy) for high school, then Northwestern, and now he's getting a PhD at Harvard. So, I figure St. A's gave him a solid enough start.

[nana053]

Let me say that graduates of the Evanston Public Schools do quite well. The problem comes in the poverty/wealth split, imo, not in the quality of the schools.

[chet everett]

The relative performance data of the public schools in Evanston compares pretty favorably with similarly desirable suburbs. The long term gaps in performance are like those in another suburb adjacent to Chicago's western edge; the somewhat radical step that ETHS has taken to attempt to address that gap has been discussed in that BOE decision to de-track a course offered to freshmen. The results of that effort have not yet been desseminated ...

The choice of sending one's children to parochial schools in an area where the public schools are mostly performing well is of course a right that anyone has. In my experience those that make choice are doing so mostly for social /cultural issues for themselves at least as much as any real educational impact on their children.
Of course since folks that make that choice are still supporting their public schools through inescapable property taxes they are generally financially in a position that such a decision is would be considered well-off, and the inescapable linkage between parental income and children's educational attainment thus applies too...

Originally Posted by nana053

Let me say that graduates of the Evanston Public Schools do quite well. The problem comes in the poverty/wealth split, imo, not in the quality of the schools.

[nikitakolata]

Chet, I agree with your point; my cousin would have done well wherever he went to elementary school. I was definitely not trying to say "send your kid to St. A's and then they can go to Harvard!" My point was just that my aunt and uncle have always put a high value on education and I know they did their research before selecting St. A's for my cousin. It's the school they selected, for whatever reasons, but I know they had them.

If I were living in Evanston my kids would, without a doubt, be in public school. But, that's me...

[linicx]

I do not believe it is that unusual for a Catholic family to prefer a Catholic school over a public school. The same can be said for a Jewish family, a Muslim family, a Lutheran family, a Baptist family, or a family that choses a private non-denominational Christian school. The private schools are not underperforming any more than public schools.

I would venture to say there is no performance gap between the religious schools in Oak Park than in Evanston. The real difference is political and integration. Evanston is larger and farther from the Loop than Oak Park, and it adjoins Wilmette, one of the smallest, wealthiest enclaves in Chicago -- the 46th highest income in America with a population over 10,000.

[Larry Siegel]

Originally Posted by edsg25

NT Winnetka is crumbling....it cannot be retrofitted for 21st century education because its very structure is rooted a century before in another era.

I'll bet you that I can teach an effective academic class in the school that William Shakespeare attended (he learned quite a lot) and make use of any technology that you'd care to specify, except for scientific lab equipment.

We'll get started by having everyone bring a wireless laptop computer.

Education is not rocket science. It's people sharing knowledge.