Palatine High School.. is it really that bad? (Chicago, Buffalo Grove: apartment, crime)

[Schnooks]

Everyone I talk to say, oh no, get in the Fremd district.. which makes me want to run as fast as I can to Palatine High District.

Anybody have opinions?

[Tex?Il?]

It all depends on what you're comparing to.

Palatine High School only might seem like a "bad" high school, compared to Fremd, Barrington, Buffalo Grove, etc.

So yes from a NW Chicago suburb viewpoint it may not seem like the best, but from an overall national perspective I'm sure its still very good.

[middle-aged mom]

There is an old saying. All schools are great. It's the kids that make or break them. There is truth in this.

The reports cards/test scores for each school make clear that more children perform better at Fremd than PHS. But what does this really mean?

PHS has 2 students versus Fremd had 1 student with perfect ACT scores, in 2007. This could flip in 2008.

PHS has a more diverse student population than Fremd. ESL is a bigger issue at PHS than at Fremd. There are more lower income students at PHS than Fremd.

If one's child is focused on education, chances are they will do well at either school. If your child is not, chances are they will struggle at either school.

Drugs are in both schools. Drugs are in every school.

Both schools have too many kids obsessed with this gangsta hip hop rap thing.

Organized gangs are present in District 211, which covers both PHS and FREMD. I think it fair to say that gangs do not control either school.

Home values are linked to the perception of the school system, especially the high school. Homes in the Fremd school district tend to appreciate better and sell for more than PHS. Property taxes for homes in Fremd tend to be higher than PHS. And there are exceptions to this rule.

You know your kids better than I do and only you can decide which is the right school for your child.

[Chaser r]

dd

[Chaser r]

i grew up on the north side of palatine in runaway bay, it was rough, gangs crime all that i remember locking my bike up to a tree in the strip mall where kens video is to get a hair cut at one of the stores super cuts or something. i was ten minutes and when i came out the pegs were stolen of my bike, they tried taken the whole bike, the mexicans walk around with tool belts on for that type of thing, theres also a good amount of crime n shootings, killings on baldwin road off of dundee, i used to hang over there its really bad, i went to palatine high full of mexicans n blacks lots of race fights gang fights took place every! single day! i also went to to other high schools in the west suburbs after that n it was no comparison, its bad! i dont care what u compare it to!

[nanannie]

I am sorry you had bad experiences, but I think your post is very exaggerated.

[middle-aged mom]

Originally Posted by nanannie

I am sorry you had bad experiences, but I think your post is very exaggerated.

I agree with you.

[rose125]

I most certianly agree that post is exaggerated. This isn't the ghetto it's Palatine. The "rough" parts of town would probably be the nice parts in some other towns.

[cubssoxfan]

i grew up on the north side of palatine in runaway bay, it was rough, gangs crime all that i remember locking my bike up to a tree in the strip mall where kens video is to get a hair cut at one of the stores super cuts or something. i was ten minutes and when i came out the pegs were stolen of my bike, they tried taken the whole bike, the mexicans walk around with tool belts on for that type of thing, theres also a good amount of crime n shootings, killings on baldwin road off of dundee, i used to hang over there its really bad, i went to palatine high full of mexicans n blacks lots of race fights gang fights took place every! single day! i also went to to other high schools in the west suburbs after that n it was no comparison, its bad! i dont care what u compare it to!

If you avoid the parts of Palatine that is apartment building saturated, you are in a nice suburb. The section to avoid is a line starting on the west with Hicks Rd., south along Dundee and then Southeast along Rand Stay away from this area and it's A-OK.AND, yes there are area HS's with better standardized test scores than Palatine HS, including Fremd. However, Palatine is still a decent HS with the advantage of having diversity. I think it can be good for kids to go to school with kids who economically have far less than they do.(As long as the school is good academically) It can really teach them to not learn the "Gimme-Gimme, shop-shop, I gotta have what the others in my class have just because they have it" mentality.

[crbcrbrgv]

Originally Posted by Schnooks

Everyone I talk to say, oh no, get in the Fremd district.. which makes me want to run as fast as I can to Palatine High District.

Anybody have opinions?

Instead of kids driving up in Beemers they will drive up in hand me down Malibus. The horror!