Looking for several things! (Chicago, Naperville: renting, home, preschool)

[Poshwife]

Hi to all! My family and I are moving to Great Lakes in July 08, and we unfortunately won't be able to make it up there to scout out the area beforehand. We will be Navy, so I think we are going to be in base housing for our first year until we get acquainted with the area. I do have a couple of questions though. I haven't been able to find a whole lot about the schools up there and I will have a 4 1/2 yr old and a 3 1/2 yr old. (baby too, but shes not ready for school yet!!) Anyway, here in Jax, they do Voluntary Pre K for 4 yr olds, do you have anything like that there? My oldest has been in Preschool this year because we didn't want him to miss a year of school because of his birthday, and I certainly don't want to take him back out for another year until he is 5! We prefer a Private Christian school and would also like to enroll my 3 yr old in a few days a week.
My next question is about Church, we attend a Non Denominational one here, I was raised in a Foursquare church, and my hubby was raised baptist. We would like to find a nice home church, one that has great childrens programs, incredible worship, a personable pastor, and some sort of young marrieds with children type home group. Not asking a lot are we? lol
Also, what types of sports leagues and things are available for young kids. My boys are wanting to start Tae Kwon Do next year, and maybe soccer. Are there any good places for tumbling you can recommend? My daughter will only be a year when we arrive, and we don't plan on starting her in anything until she is 3, are there any GREAT Ballet Studios??
Man that was long! Thanks for sticking through the whole thread, and I look forward to learning as much about the area as I can!!

[purplesky]

I am former Navy myself, so I would suggest you contact the family ombudsman at Great Lakes who could help you with a lot of local stuff.

If you do a search on this forum you'll find that it's best to stay clear of North Chicago with most of Waukegan. I believe Gurnee and Libertyville are the better areas around there with good schools. I don't live around there (I have a BIL that lives in Libertyville/Green Oaks area), maybe someone else can add to this.

Good luck!

[sfw1979]

opps I meant CinCHouse - Home

[prvrbs31gal]

We are heading to Great Lakes in about 6 weeks after hubby returns from IA in Afgh. We are going to concentrate on Libertyville because of the schools and proximity to base. And also because there's a Covenant Church there we plan to attend. Our sponsor attends a nondenominational church in Gurnee and they love it. Immanual something? I forget the name. They have a MOPS group so I'm going to attend there. I just spoke with housing today and they said there IS a chance we can get into the gorgeous new housing at Ft. Sheridan, so we might consider that but I think we can actually pocket some $$ by renting in Libertyville. Southern Gurnee is also an option if we can't find anything in Libertyville.

Good luck!

[smiles789]

A great church (with a large preschool/elementary-8th grade school---420 students--- tuition is not bad at all) is Calvary Church in Naperville, Illinois. CALVARY CHURCH Connecting Faith with Life They have a wonderful, funny, down to earth pastor and plenty of ministries to get involved in. And their children's ministry is AWESOME!! Don't know where the nearest base is from Naperville though.

[IbeDavid]

Originally Posted by smiles789

A great church (with a large preschool/elementary-8th grade school---420 students--- tuition is not bad at all) is Calvary Church in Naperville, Illinois. CALVARY CHURCH Connecting Faith with Life They have a wonderful, funny, down to earth pastor and plenty of ministries to get involved in. And their children's ministry is AWESOME!! Don't know where the nearest base is from Naperville though.

REPLY: Her family is moving to Great Lakes Naval Base which is North Chicago ; Naperville is about 2 hours one way from the Naval Base so i doubt that will work for them. FourSquare churches arnt around ChicagoLand but a very simular Denomination would be Assembly of God and they are plentiful in Lake County . A good non denominational church which is thriving and has many young families with strong emphasis on childrens ministrys is Village Church of Gurnee . They have 3 Sunday morning services in the summer . Gurnee is about a 20 minute ride from Great Lakes on a Sunday morning and there are major highways that you can take to get there easily. Another family oriented church is Gurnee Community Church . Theres a good Baptist church also in Gurnee on Dillys road ... the name escapes me but ive been there a couple times and it was very friendly and with young families. If you want a church which is almost entirely made up of young families and very freindly, then the Vineyard Church in Libertyville is a good one...also 20 minutes drive . Sorry i cant help you with your other inquiries.

[momofmgp]

HI,
I am a Navy Wife here in Great Lakes. I might be able to help you out. I just found a preschool for my 3 almost 4 year old to go to next year. It is in Lake Forest IL. I was searching out play groups in the area and came across this blog. I will get the info for the church and post it up here.