Naperville 203 or 204? (Chicago, Aurora, Bolingbrook: renter, house, to buy) - Chicago Suburbs - Illinois (IL) - City-Data Forum

exLI-er · 07-14-2010, 07:55 AM

I have been reading a few comments, some stating, "anything in 203 is better than 204" and am just wondering what this is based on? We have lived in the area for 5 years and find all of the schools to be better than where we were before( ny). We originally lived in 203 but moved to the 204 area where our children are now attending elementary. We are still renting but looking to buy this year and are trying to decide if it is worth it to get an older house in the 203 area or a newer house(and nicer...) for the same price in the 204 area.

What are some of the problems that people are referring to in the 204 schools(we have been very impressed so far!) and what is superior about 203? THanks!! Trying to make this decision is hard!

Oh, also, I have heard that there are more drugs in NV than in Central or North. Any truth to this? What kind of drugs are we talking about? Thanks!

chet everett · 07-14-2010, 08:28 AM

The data that I would look as a renter considering purchase is the longer term trends of performance and spending. The projections for what will be needed in terms of tax increases in 204 are sobering. They have spent a lot of money building new schools and the long term costs of those are going to with the district ...

Performance wise the consistency of the 203 schools is well established, there are some signs that 204 will not be at the same level.

The demographics of most parts foe 203 are similarly more stable than all but a handful of the sections served by 204.

Don't misintrept, 204 is among the better large unit districts in the region, and it is unlikely that things will ever drop to the point where most people would not be entirely pleased, but if you are at a point where you can make the decisions to go for a house and school attendance area whewre things are "locked in" it makes sense to do so...

MannheimMadman · 07-14-2010, 08:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by exLI-er

I have been reading a few comments, some stating, "anything in 203 is better than 204" and am just wondering what this is based on? We have lived in the area for 5 years and find all of the schools to be better than where we were before( ny). We originally lived in 203 but moved to the 204 area where our children are now attending elementary. We are still renting but looking to buy this year and are trying to decide if it is worth it to get an older house in the 203 area or a newer house(and nicer...) for the same price in the 204 area.

What are some of the problems that people are referring to in the 204 schools(we have been very impressed so far!) and what is superior about 203? THanks!! Trying to make this decision is hard!

Oh, also, I have heard that there are more drugs in NV than in Central or North. Any truth to this? What kind of drugs are we talking about? Thanks!

Drugs will exist at any high school. I doubt that there are proportionately more drugs (whether it be cannibus, cocaine, etc..) at any school in Naperville schools ..except for Waubonsie - that has always been a school that has a rougher crowd.

Chicago0304 · 07-14-2010, 08:59 AM

If you can afford 203, I'd do that.. Better in the long run for resale.. We bought in 204 and they changed the boundaries after we bought so now my kids go to school at Waubonsie. My friend bought in 204 and her kids got re-routed to a school in Bolingbrook so she moved to 203 where they are "all" good..

MannheimMadman · 07-14-2010, 10:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chicago0304

If you can afford 203, I'd do that.. Better in the long run for resale.. We bought in 204 and they changed the boundaries after we bought so now my kids go to school at Waubonsie. My friend bought in 204 and her kids got re-routed to a school in Bolingbrook so she moved to 203 where they are "all" good..

This is an example of why you buy into an established district.

I remember when the fairly prestigious subdivision of White Eagle was rerouted into Aurora schools from Naperville schools. Holy cow, there was a hell storm.

jamaicabound60565 · 07-15-2010, 09:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by exLI-er

I have been reading a few comments, some stating, "anything in 203 is better than 204" and am just wondering what this is based on? We have lived in the area for 5 years and find all of the schools to be better than where we were before( ny). We originally lived in 203 but moved to the 204 area where our children are now attending elementary. We are still renting but looking to buy this year and are trying to decide if it is worth it to get an older house in the 203 area or a newer house(and nicer...) for the same price in the 204 area.

What are some of the problems that people are referring to in the 204 schools(we have been very impressed so far!) and what is superior about 203? THanks!! Trying to make this decision is hard!

Oh, also, I have heard that there are more drugs in NV than in Central or North. Any truth to this? What kind of drugs are we talking about? Thanks!

I don't have kids so I don't keep up with the school ratings but people say 203 performs better in those ratings.

Honestly both 203 and 204 are probably in the top tier in the Nation I would imagine so its not as if your going to go wrong with either. As far as boundaries go in certain areas you wont have to worry about boundaries changing.

I went to district 204 for a few years. Your going to find drugs in every school, its all about which groups of people you run with whether you get into them or not. Pot is going to be at all high schools. During my time in district 204 coke got big for a while and years back ectasy was big as well. If you get your kid involved in activities, sports, etc and aren't one of these parents who wants to be freinds with your kid you shouldn't have too many problems with drugs. It's the parents that buy their kids booze, don't have curfews, etc that are going to have the problems for the most part and there's a lot of those types of parents in Naperville.

chet everett · 07-15-2010, 09:25 PM

When it comes to hyperbole like "top tier in the nation" the results of the PERFORMANCE of all the non- selective admissions public schools in Illinois is simple NOT that impressive...

Don't get me wrong, if you are looking for a pretty good district 204 meets that standard. If you want better, 203 is notch up.

If you want many notches higher Illinois has some there too, (hard to say any unit districts in Illinois that would compare all that well with the top high school and elementary districts) mostly associated with higher income areas like Hinsdale, Oak Brook, towns on the NorthShore. Even then they probably would not rate among the highest performance in the nation...

exLI-er · 07-16-2010, 10:46 AM

Thanks for all of you input. We have always been drawn to the 203 area...more trees, closer to downtown, more established, etc. On the other hand, the housing prices are appealing in the 204 area! I guess we have a lot of homework ahead of us.

cookpr · 07-16-2010, 01:30 PM

As I think you are finding out - you tend to get what you pay for. Not saying 203 is vastly superior to 204 - its simply a mature/established area - boundaries wont change and I think outside of a new youth center - they have not built a new school in 20+ years.

The benfits to 203 area also include items you mentioned (established, mostly on northside/downtown and east sides, higher home values = more desirable).

We are lucky enough to live downtown Naper. We would not have bought in 204 - simply because it gets further out and waubonsie and metea are simply so far west and nequa so far south. Dont forget about the school district to the north (wheaton/warrenville) or lisle to the east. Both very solid without the national press 203 gets.

jamaicabound60565 · 07-16-2010, 04:21 PM

This 203 vs 204 seems to come up again and again.

It seems ideally most people would prefer to live in 203. I know 203 also rates higher on the school ratings as well but they are both great schools, honestly do you really think your kid is going to be that much more successful in life b/c they went to Naperville North as opposed to Neuqua?

I think there's plenty of reasons to want to live in 203 better for resale, more established area. Just a different feel, people like having real trees as opposed to these two inch thick parkway trees like on the south side of Naperville. Also, most of 204 is a much further commute for parents than something in 203 would be.

The one thing 204 has going for it is probably better facilities, the gyms, pools, theatre, etc rival those of college campuses so if your kid is really into extracuriccular type things thats one nice thing about 204.

I think there's a lot of reasons why someone would prefer to live within the 203 area to 204 however I wouldn't think it would be a deciding factor just in terms of quality of school.