Gurnee vs. Grayslake

[CoachTom]

I've lived in Grayslake for the last 20 years, raising, along with my wife, two boys, ages 17 and 12. One attends Grayslake Central High School and the other attends St. Gilberts parochial school.
This is a great place to raise a family. The high schools are excellent. They have an extensive honors and AP program. St Gilberts is a great alternative to the public grade school.
Athletic activities are numerous and well run. Among the organizations are Little League baseball (Spring and Fall leagues), Park District basketball, AYSO soccer and youth football leagues. A new, four field baseball/softball complex is being completed and a new athletic building is scheduled to open this Spring
The library is new and very large. It received a large endowment to purshase books, I believe it was for $1,000,000.
There is a large aquatic center, with water slides and beach volleyball courts.
Just about every neighborhood has a park. The entire town is interconnected with bike/walking paths.
There are two grocery stores, four pharmacies, seven or eight banks and lots of fast food places. We do lack good, white linen type restaurants.
We are equidistance from Milwaukee and Chicago and all that they have to offer.
The big negative are our property taxes, they may be the highest in the county or even the state. There is relatively little commercial/industrial business. Because it's a great place to raise a family, we have lots of kids in town and consequently lots of schools.

[txnmom]

Thank you for the additional comments. You mentioned that the parochial school was a good alternative to the grade school. Was that because of a particular problem encountered or is that just an additional choice?? I have two small children so the grade schools are definitely important. With the increased housing and tax prices we really cannot afford private school too. Thank you in advance!

[CoachTom]

The public grade schools were in trouble a few years back. They failed to pass a referendum, to provide operating funds, for several years in a row. There were program cuts, including Spanish, Art and gym. Those programs have been restored and things seem to be much better the last few years.

[stavrache mihaela]

hello...
my name is mihaela, I'm from romania , constanta and I want to know how is the park six flags, gurnee il because this summer I will work there... and how I get there from the airport of chicago.
sorry for my english...
thank's

[chrisingurnee]

tsnmom:

I have a child in first grade in Gurnee school dist. 56 (which is the east side of gurnee). Woodland dist. 50 is mostly west side of gurnee. The Gurnee Grade School in dist. 56 that you mentioned has a waiting list - is an optional school - it is the original Gurnee school building and uses multi-age classes (1st and 2nd grades together, etc.). And soon will go from K-8th grade. So the waiting list is for this special school only. Dist. 56 schools are: Spaulding School (PreK-2nd), O'Plaine School (3-5) and Viking School (6-8). Gurnee High School (Warren -Dist. 121) has 2 campuses - one for Freshman/Softmore and the other for Junior/Senior, which both elementary school districts 50 (Woodland) and Dist. 56 go into. Last year in kindergarten, the Woodland school (Dist. 56) had 36 kindergarten classes (18a.m. and 18 p.m. classes). While Dist. 56 - Spaulding only had 6 (3 a.m. and 3 p.m. classes) - much smaller. I love that we are in the smaller school district, but when high school hits and the schools are all combined, my child will be in shock at the high number of students entering high school. I hope this helps!

[chrisingurnee]

stavrache:

There are many students that work at Great America for the summer from other countries. I think the best way to get there from O'Hare airport is by taxi. It will cost you about $50.

[txnmom]

Thank you for the additional info on the two areas of Gurnee schools, that is very helpful! We are still trying to decide between Gurnee and Grayslake so I am not sure what schools we will be in yet. We are actually making our 1st trip to look at houses next week during spring break. It will be helpful to see the areas I have been looking at on-line. I will likely visit the schools as well to get a feel for them.