Stevenson or New Trier High School? (Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove: environment, real estate, property taxes)

[NKR]

Hi,
Was looking at the school report and compared both the schools.Both are close in terms of %pass out, test scores etc. But one thing I did notice is that the AYP ( Asians) in Stevenson is much higher than New Trier and as we are Asians , I was wondering how much of an influence would it be on the kids.
And does anybody know what are the AP courses etc offered at both the schools, after schools clubs etc. I read somewhere that New tier will stop offering Level5 classes from 2010.what is Level 5? And looking at the housing looks like we are in a better shape to find homes in Lincolnshire than New Trier. BTW, my hubby would be working in Northbrook .
Any help will be really ( i mean it ) appreciated.
NKR

[ahava]

Stevenson's student population is 14% Asian, vs 7.8% at New Trier, so that may be responsible for the difference in AYP. Are you sure it was level 5 that isn't going to be offered? Level 5 classes are the AP classes at New Trier. New Trier has a really complicated system of levels where Stevenson simply has college prep, accelerated, honors, and AP. The AP classes offered by both schools are: Studio Art, Art History, English Language, English Lit, Calculus AB, Calculus BC, Statistics, Computer Science, Latin, German Language, Spanish Language, French Language, Music Theory, Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Science, Physics B, Physics C, US History, European History, Psychology, American Government, Comparative Government, Macroeconomics, and Microeconomics. In addition Stevenson offers Human Geography and Spanish Lit. Both schools have a huge list of student activities; it would be easier if you tell me what your kids are interested in and I can tell you what each school offers for them.

[k dog 101]

hello, im a sophmore at new trier and i was just sifting through the web to see what would be good for my high school diploma when i ran into this. now please note that i am from new trier so there could be a bit of a biased opinion but i assure you that its at least 95% all correct.

as a 2011 student i do not have the opportunity to take level 5 (AP theyre the same thing) because they dont let me. the reason this is is because that the state of illinois thought our school was moving too far ahead of the curriculum of state so we had to cut back. in our school there is levl 2e 2 3 4 for freshman and sophomore. level 4 being the hardest. however level 4 here is basically AP at any other school including Stevenson. right now i have 4 english and 4 world history and i can tell you that i have to spend 2 hours alone on each subject to understand and do well in the class.

now other than academics and clubs and beyond all college material, new trier is in one of the richest cities in the united states. naturally ppl think that everyone is a snob and im not saying that no one is but there are way more nice people then there are snobby jerks. nobody picks on the freshman (btw they cant cuz tehres two campuses one for freshman and one for upperclassmen) or the sophomores. theres no hazing for athletes or anyhting. and the school spends more than i think 5000 dollars on each student alone per year. yes of course tehre are druggies and ppl who smoke but theyre everywhere. theres not violenece at all in the school.

dang that was a long post but i really hope you come to this school because we have trevian pride and we stick together. plus we all would like to see new faces each year

if you have any q's at all im at hlitonkim@sbcglobal.net

[cubssoxfan]

Housing costs may play into the decision. You can find less expensive housing in Buffalo Grove feeding into Stevenson than you can find in NT district. Have you thought about living in Northbrook and attending Glenbrook HS? I believe they are very highly ranked as well. Also, Prospect HS, is ranked #14 in the state, only 5 slots behind Stevenson. Smaller school with full offering of AP/Honors and housing in Mt. Prospect/Arlington Heights will be less $ than Buffalo Grove because of the lower Cook Co. property taxes.

[ProfWatson]

I'm curious. What ever happened to "Glenbrook North" in this informal cocktail party banter?

GBN used to position itself along with Deerfield and GBS as the New Trier equivalents, but out of nowhere "Stevenson" has catapulted over them all!!

I am not suggesting that this is true in reality, but when it comes to perception, how did Stevenson pass GBS and GBN?

It must bug those in Glenview and Northbrook. How did this come about? True suburbanite opinions are welcome.

thanks

[edsg25]

Originally Posted by ProfWatson

I'm curious. What ever happened to "Glenbrook North" in this informal cocktail party banter?

GBN used to position itself along with Deerfield and GBS as the New Trier equivalents, but out of nowhere "Stevenson" has catapulted over them all!!

I am not suggesting that this is true in reality, but when it comes to perception, how did Stevenson pass GBS and GBN?

It must bug those in Glenview and Northbrook. How did this come about? True suburbanite opinions are welcome.

thanks

It virtually makes no sense to ignore the Glenbrooks and their obvious excellence; their reputations are impecible.

Wouldn't HPHS have to be included, too?

The cocktail circuit "players" in the extended North Shore area would be, IMHO:

NT, GBN, GBS, DHS, HPHS, SHS

Joining them in the excellence category, but perhaps due to some special demographic considerations of the community, not the school: Lake Forest;

I say that in the sense that communities like Winnetka, Deerfield, Northbrook, Lincolnshire, Glenview, and Highland Park probably have more overlap in the same folks looking for homes as any of them do with Lake Forest.

[ahava]

Originally Posted by ProfWatson

I am not suggesting that this is true in reality, but when it comes to perception, how did Stevenson pass GBS and GBN?

Test scores and shameless self-promotion

[Chicagoaklandish]

Your children will find much better drugs at New Trier. Probably a little over priced though.

[sammy22]

Edsg25,
I'm not sure I understand why there is so much criticism of LFHS - everyone I know that went to school there went onto very prestigious universities and they have always had strong sports and extracurricular programs considering how much smaller they are than Stevenson, GBN, etc.... they also have the 2nd highest ACT scores of that list (after NT)... I agree that it may not be New Trier but it is certainly a peer of the other schools you mentioned.

[edsg25]

Originally Posted by sammy22

Edsg25,
I'm not sure I understand why there is so much criticism of LFHS - everyone I know that went to school there went onto very prestigious universities and they have always had strong sports and extracurricular programs considering how much smaller they are than Stevenson, GBN, etc.... they also have the 2nd highest ACT scores of that list (after NT)... I agree that it may not be New Trier but it is certainly a peer of the other schools you mentioned.

absolutely no criticism for LFHS. On any level.

My comments were that people looking for homes in places like Winnetka, Highland Park, Deerfield, Lincolnsire, Glenview, and Northbrook have a lot of overlap in the real estate market.

I said that Lake Forest, as a community, is not generally part of the same choice group.

I went out of the way to say that LFHS completely belongs with the other schools, but doesn't make into the cocktail discussions among peple who probably won't be looking at the LF housing market.

And, in all honesty, there are overlap parts of LF as a community, particularly the western end.

LFHS has a stellar reputation and doesn't give out elitist vibes any more than other schools do.