Moving to Hinsdale (Chicago, Naperville, Downers Grove: how much, house, school district)

[movingtotown]

We are moving to Il this summer and want Hinsdale for its great schools.
Is Hinsdale a town that has good morals or does the snob factor overshadow that? How would Glen Ellyn compare apples to apples?(schools, downtown commute)

[nanannie]

Good Morals? I am sure some people have 'good morals' and some dont. Just like the rest of the world. If you meet someone who is a 'snob', dont hang with him. Glen Ellyn is a nice town. With moral, immoral, snobs and nice folks- just like the rest of the nation. Do you think there is a town that only allows snobs and immoral people and others are sent elsewhere ?

[InformedConsent]

Originally Posted by movingtotown

We are moving to Il this summer and want Hinsdale for its great schools.
Is Hinsdale a town that has good morals or does the snob factor overshadow that? How would Glen Ellyn compare apples to apples?(schools, downtown commute)

Glen Ellyn's schools aren't up to Hinsdale's level. The only DuPage County public high schools that have been recognized for educating all students well and preparing students for college are included in US News & World Report's Best High Schools are listed here:
Best High Schools Search - US News and World Report

USN&WR's methodology:

A three-step process determined the best high schools. The first two steps ensured that the schools serve all of their students well, using state proficiency standards as the measuring benchmarks. For those schools that made it past the first two steps, a third step assessed the degree to which schools prepared students for college-level work.
The Ranking Formula - US News and World Report

[Paige65]

Schools are very good in Glen Ellyn, but generally the perception is that Hinsdale schools are better. However, I'm not sure that in reality it really makes a difference when you are looking at elementary schools that have roughly 95-98% meeting expectations (Hinsdale) versus 90-95% (Glen Ellyn). Both are nice communities. Glen Ellyn commute would be longer than Hisndale.

I think the morals of the people in Hinsdale will be no different than any other community. There may be some snob factor, as almost every town has it. I'm sure it will be easy to avoid if you try.

If you are looking for a very pretty town with great schools and a decent commute, Hinsdale fits the bill. There are several other towns that would be great too, but Hinsdale is a wonderful choice. I'd live there in a second if it was closer to Lake Michigan.

[cmoscinski]

Hinsdale hmmmm...pretty luxurious homes there (and attitude). You could consider lower home prices (& taxes) in great neighboring "family oriented" towns that are still within the school district (86): Willowbrook, Clarendon Hills & Westmont.

Hinsdale Central (broken link)
Hinsdale South (broken link)


Very nice homes in these areas.

Also, here is link to Downers Grove Dist. 99, great school system and town as well:
District 99

[SloopyJ]

Hard to get into a debate over morals, I'd agree. Having lived in Hinsdale a long time ago, grown up in Western Springs, and having a good friend who lives there, though, I think it's fair to say that Hinsdale's affluence is hard to ignore or avoid. You should probably assume that your kids will be influenced by that in some meaningful way - maybe some good, maybe some bad.

My friend there does lament at how pervasive the materialism is, and how he feels "poor" there, despite a family income that I'd guess is in the low-$300K's. He complains that there's an awful lot of pressure to keep up, and told me this morning that his 6-year-old asked how much their house cost this weekend because all the kids agreed to find that information out this weekend. (Who knows where this question came from, but it bothered my friend regardless.)

So yes, you get good schools, a safe environment, good amenities, and all that, and I'm sure people's "morals" are good, whatever that means, but privilege is privilege - if it's all around you, you can't expect that your kids won't be affected by it.

[Paige65]

Originally Posted by SloopyJ

Hard to get into a debate over morals, I'd agree. Having lived in Hinsdale a long time ago, grown up in Western Springs, and having a good friend who lives there, though, I think it's fair to say that Hinsdale's affluence is hard to ignore or avoid. You should probably assume that your kids will be influenced by that in some meaningful way - maybe some good, maybe some bad.

My friend there does lament at how pervasive the materialism is, and how he feels "poor" there, despite a family income that I'd guess is in the low-$300K's. He complains that there's an awful lot of pressure to keep up, and told me this morning that his 6-year-old asked how much their house cost this weekend because all the kids agreed to find that information out this weekend. (Who knows where this question came from, but it bothered my friend regardless.)

So yes, you get good schools, a safe environment, good amenities, and all that, and I'm sure people's "morals" are good, whatever that means, but privilege is privilege - if it's all around you, you can't expect that your kids won't be affected by it.

Good post.

Do you know why your friend feels pressure to keep up? Who is putting the pressure on him? It is a shame that he feels that way, since he has a decent income and I'm sure there are many people in Hinsdale who make less than he does.

If my kids came home and said that all the kids got together and decided to find out what everyone's house was worth, I would just laugh it off (not saying that your friend would tell his daughter) and figure this sort of conversation among young kids goes on all over, not just in affluent communities. Maybe I'm wrong/naive about that though.

[InformedConsent]

Originally Posted by Paige65

Schools are very good in Glen Ellyn, but generally the perception is that Hinsdale schools are better. However, I'm not sure that in reality it really makes a difference when you are looking at elementary schools that have roughly 95-98% meeting expectations (Hinsdale) versus 90-95% (Glen Ellyn).

It's hard to take K-8 results too seriously, though. Illinois K-8 state standards are pretty low. You really want to pay attention to what's going on at the high school level - if students are adequately prepared for college/work. Glen Ellyn's high school district adequately prepares only 29% of their students for college/work.
Daily Herald | A decade of school funding

Accompanying article for more info:
Daily Herald | Chapter 10: Only 1 in 5 high school graduates are ready for college

In all seriousness, I would stick with any of the Illinois Silver or Gold Medal winner high schools from USN&WR if you want a competitive public school education for your kids. The only Gold Medal high school in the suburbs is Stevenson (not New Trier - NT was awarded a Silver Medal).
http://www.usnews.com/directories/hi...y+/detail+less

[Paige65]

Originally Posted by InformedConsent

It's hard to take K-8 results too seriously, though. Illinois K-8 state standards are pretty low. You really want to pay attention to what's going on at the high school level - if students are adequately prepared for college/work. Glen Ellyn's high school district adequately prepares only 29% of their students for college/work.
Daily Herald | A decade of school funding

Accompanying article for more info:
Daily Herald | Chapter 10: Only 1 in 5 high school graduates are ready for college

In all seriousness, I would stick with any of the Illinois Silver or Gold Medal winner high schools from USN&WR if you want a competitive public school education for your kids. The only Gold Medal high school in the suburbs is Stevenson (not New Trier - NT was awarded a Silver Medal).
http://www.usnews.com/directories/hi...y+/detail+less

Interesting data, and it's probably a good guideline. However, I wonder how U.S. News's source, Schoolmatters, compiles its data. My town's high school (Highland Park) has higher PSAE scores than Naperville Central, Naperville North, Lake Forest, Buffalo Grove, Vernon Hills, all awarded Silver medals, but it doesn't make the list. I'm sure that's only because it's an AWS school, and was immediately cut from the Gold or Silver medal list because of it. Also, I find it interesting that Stevenson would be the only Gold medal school, when its scores are a bit lower than both New Trier and Hinsdale Central. The criteria must be more than test scores, so I tried to go on School Matters to find out their criteria and couldn't find it.

In the end though, you make a good point, in that those schools that are on the Gold Medal list generally the best.

I wasn't aware that IL elementary testing standards were considered low. I have a friend who is a superintendent of schools at the elementary level in the Chicago suburbs, so I'll have to ask him about that! Like most educators, he's not a fan of standardized testing.

Thanks for the links.

[InformedConsent]

Originally Posted by Paige65

Interesting data, and it's probably a good guideline. However, I wonder how U.S. News's source, Schoolmatters, compiles its data. My town's high school (Highland Park) has higher PSAE scores than Naperville Central, Naperville North, Lake Forest, Buffalo Grove, Vernon Hills, all awarded Silver medals, but it doesn't make the list. I'm sure that's only because it's an AWS school, and was immediately cut from the Gold or Silver medal list because of it. Also, I find it interesting that Stevenson would be the only Gold medal school, when its scores are a bit lower than both New Trier and Hinsdale Central. The criteria must be more than test scores, so I tried to go on School Matters to find out their criteria and couldn't find it.

The expanded methodology link was on the main 'Best High Schools' page. It's a pdf file:
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/hig...ethodology.pdf