Skokie questions (Evanston, Urbana, Niles: homes, buy, school rankings)

[chicagoRE]

Hi. I have searched the forum looking for info on Skokie schools and cannot find too much info. Thoughts on schools in this area? I have posted before about Wilmette but looking at Skokie now as well.

We are currently in Lakeview downtown but looking to make a move due to kids/schools.

Negatives/positives about the area?

Many thanks.

[Dncr]

Well, it really depends entirely on what you're looking for. It won't be long before people swoop in here and tell you Wilmette, and depending on your circumstances, I may agree with them. It really depends on what you're looking for.

Skokie's much more diverse than Wilmette, and is for the most part a great suburban town. Skokie is served by 3 high schools, depending on where you live you can either be served by Niles North (most of Skokie goes here), Niles West (a large portion of Skokie goes here), or Evanston Township High School (a very small portion of Skokie).

All three schools are great, and your children will receive great educations. All 3 schools are extremely diverse, something you may or may not be looking for, and have an abundance extra curricular activities for your kids. New Trier is a pretty much a private high school haha. The test scores are much higher than the rest of the area, but unless you think your kids have a shot at getting into Harvard or some other Ivy, it really won't get them far. I've met a dozens of people at Urbana who went to New Trier, and we're getting our degrees from the same place...

I think the elementary schools are just as well performing, but in Skokie you might want to avoid District 69 in Skokie...

[chet everett]

If you give two hoots about schools performance you will take a long hard look at a comprehensive survey of schools that do a good Jon of preparing students for success beyond high school.

The best measure of such success comes from the work that is contained in the US News & World Report and sadly none of the schools mentioned above make even "Honorable Mention" while many other schools nearby merit inclusion on the quite distinguished "Silver" category.

The fact is that schools cannot coast on prior good performance. The talents teachers retire. The involved parents often seek out towns that offer either more space , newer homes,better commute options, more prestige or some other combination of those and perhaps lower taxes.

Do what you want but please do not buy into the platitudes offered by some who offer no objective data to back up their assertions...

[allen2323]

Everyone looks at different things when comparing public high schools. I tend to look at the graduation rate for a public high school as being the most important number. That number and that number alone says alot in my opinion. Schools with lower than average graduation rates tend to have serious underlying problems. Such as gangs, fighting, high percentages of disruptive students, racial tensions among students and faculty, ect. Students that are not in school to graduate do not care about other students, and might prevent your child from receiving a quality education. On the other hand, high schools with high graduation rates tend to be good learning environments . In my opinion the Newsweek high school rankings is a better guide for public open enrollment high schools. Becase, Newsweek specifically focuses on the quality of education available at a high school and the percentage of students at the school who take advantage of the opportunities, and take Advanced Placement courses.

[chet everett]

It is not a quibbling point. The Newsweek methodology has some funky leveling factor built in so that if kids take AP tests but bomb on them that still is a positive. I have no idea what half baked mindset that comes from!

Having both taken AP classes myself and taught students that did quite well on them I have to say it is downright counterproductive to have some laggard tsking up space in a demanding class...

I further disagree that folks, if we are talking about academics, "look for different things when comparing schools". In my experience people that want their kids to have the best shot at success beyond high school know full well that taking demanding classes and doing well in them positions their children for success beyond high school. Now, if you have a kid that is on the road to a NCAA Div 1 scholarship maybe the coaches and athletic pedigree of the school matters, but so far as I know ther is nothing like the track record of success that goes along with academic rigor...

[Bogey]

Currently, my children attend preschool in Skokie, and I recently toured one of the district 68 elementary schools (as well as 2 others in D65 in Evanston). Like you, my family is also in the process of deciding the best place to live and attend public schools, so I can relate to your situation.

We are quite pleased with the preschool, it's staff, and enjoy the fact that our children are making friends of several different races. The other parents have been open and friendly.
We visited Devonshire Elementary School (D68) this past week. They have grades K - 5, then the kids move on to Old Orchard Jr. High, then to Niles North. To give you a glimpse at one Skokie elementary school, Devonshire Elem. racial makeup is: 44% white, 11% black, 8% hispanic, 27% asian/pacific islander. Average class size = 20 students. ISAT testing performs at or above state average for reading and math at grades 3, 4, and 5 (per the 2010 Illinois School Report Card). You can see their stats online at the niu site.
The children at Devonshire Elem. school appeared happy, and several teachers had been there for years and years and also expressed their love of the school. On this impromptu tour, we peeked into a music class and were then asked to be the audience for a class to sing the song they'd just learned. I chuckled when we entered the bright gymnasium and heard upbeat music, and observed a class of 1st graders peacefully engaging in a variety of independent physical activity "stations." After visiting two other schools that day, it was as though we were on Candid Camera--how idyllic was this gym class! Also, there's a computer lab with at least 20 computers, which all grades use.
Hope my research is helpful to you.

As I see it, Wilmette and Skokie have different vibes, for a few reasons. I enjoy the parks in Wilmette, but I find Skokie more accessible, love their library and have observed that it's citizens take good care of their town in regards to planning and upkeep.
Let us know what you decide.

[chicagoRE]

Thanks to everyone. And Bogey, a special thanks. I do appreciate your own research. It really is coming down to these 2 areas and coming from the city Wilmette seems a bit far out (even though in reality I know it isn't), baby steps:-) I too love the tree lines streets of Wilmette but we do not want to make the wrong decision. We love living downtown and will miss it dearly.

[terramama]

Originally Posted by chet everett

If you give two hoots about schools performance you will take a long hard look at a comprehensive survey of schools that do a good Jon of preparing students for success beyond high school.

The best measure of such success comes from the work that is contained in the US News & World Report and sadly none of the schools mentioned above make even "Honorable Mention" while many other schools nearby merit inclusion on the quite distinguished "Silver" category.

The fact is that schools cannot coast on prior good performance. The talents teachers retire. The involved parents often seek out towns that offer either more space , newer homes,better commute options, more prestige or some other combination of those and perhaps lower taxes.

Do what you want but please do not buy into the platitudes offered by some who offer no objective data to back up their assertions...

ETHS was mentioned above, and it was included in the Silver category also.

Best High Schools Search - US News and World Report