Fremd vs Naperville vs Barrington vs St Charles vs Stevenson (Aurora: mortgage, houses)

[skygal29]

We are a family with kids in elementary school looking for our home for the next 10-15 years. We are trying to make a decision with their education being a top priority. Ideally we want a good house about 2500-3500sq ft. A decent quality of life with convenient access to shopping, commute would be the next big things on our priority list.
- Stevenson has been our first preference, solely because the school is ranked so high and we always hear great things about their high school. The problem for us though, the choice of houses there are older & smaller. Besides the sheer size of the district has me thinking twice.
- Fremd , Loved what we hear about the school and also at a nice location with easy access to trains, highways, shopping and lot of neighborhoods with nice homes . Are we missing something here?
- Naperville. Seemed the most modern and we were really amazed at the downtown area with the shopping choices, restaurants, wider roads, newer homes. Younger crowd and energy almost like a mini chicago. Schools are all ranked high.
- We also actually liked St Charles considering the houses are bigger with bigger lots, picturesque landscapes , beautiful downtown with a rustic charm. But our concern here is lack of easy access to metra train or highways . We also saw a big quarry near south Elgin and wonder if being closer to there will give issues down the road.
- We also visited Barrington but were kind of turned off by how outdated the whole area looked. And it felt far off from I-90 or 294.. or even decent shopping. My husband has family near there but we rather not have to deal with the narrow roads, lack of street lights, train tracks across the main roads, water quality issues. Just don’t see ourselves having the time or patience to deal with all these.

So in the end, what we are left with are Naperville and Palatine. Anything we should know about? Or any insight into the culture of Fremd vs Naperville? Property taxes seems so high everywhere and we have realized it will be as big as the mortgage.
Are we missing any other district worth considering?

[fusillirob1983]

Originally Posted by skygal29

We are a family with kids in elementary school looking for our home for the next 10-15 years. We are trying to make a decision with their education being a top priority. Ideally we want a good house about 2500-3500sq ft. A decent quality of life with convenient access to shopping, commute would be the next big things on our priority list.
- Stevenson has been our first preference, solely because the school is ranked so high and we always hear great things about their high school. The problem for us though, the choice of houses there are older & smaller. Besides the sheer size of the district has me thinking twice.
- Fremd , Loved what we hear about the school and also at a nice location with easy access to trains, highways, shopping and lot of neighborhoods with nice homes . Are we missing something here?
- Naperville. Seemed the most modern and we were really amazed at the downtown area with the shopping choices, restaurants, wider roads, newer homes. Younger crowd and energy almost like a mini chicago. Schools are all ranked high.
- We also actually liked St Charles considering the houses are bigger with bigger lots, picturesque landscapes , beautiful downtown with a rustic charm. But our concern here is lack of easy access to metra train or highways . We also saw a big quarry near south Elgin and wonder if being closer to there will give issues down the road.
- We also visited Barrington but were kind of turned off by how outdated the whole area looked. And it felt far off from I-90 or 294.. or even decent shopping. My husband has family near there but we rather not have to deal with the narrow roads, lack of street lights, train tracks across the main roads, water quality issues. Just don’t see ourselves having the time or patience to deal with all these.

So in the end, what we are left with are Naperville and Palatine. Anything we should know about? Or any insight into the culture of Fremd vs Naperville? Property taxes seems so high everywhere and we have realized it will be as big as the mortgage.
Are we missing any other district worth considering?

-What's your home budget (either price, monthly payment or both)?
-Where are you and your husband commuting to? If this is one of the big priorities, it's easier to provide feedback if we roughly understand the commute?
-I'm not familiar with the Fremd section of Palatine, but I live in Naperville. I doubt the property taxes would be as big as the mortgage here, especially now that interest rates are so high.

[Hiruko]

The difference between Latin, FW Parker, Avery Coonley, Roycemore, Lake Forest Academy, etc. is far greater than any difference between the public schools you mentioned. Same text books, same curriculum, same union, etc. The "rankings" and standardized test performance are directly correlated with the demographics of the student body. I would not put much faith in any of them.

Is the school well-funded? What are the extracurricular options (anything unique)? Does the principal and superintendent have the respect and admiration of the parents and students (this could turn on a dime, however)? Those are the questions I would be asking.

If you have problems with trains blocking the roads, living in the biggest rail hub in the country is probably not for you. An inner-ring or lakefront suburb will have fewer surface level railroads than others, so perhaps Oak Park/River Forest, Evanston, Winnetka, Skokie, or eastern portions of Highland Park and Lake Forest might be attractive?

[ChiGuy2.5]

Here are my opinions. Just make sure that wherever you choose to buy you check all of the ratings for Elementary through High School. You can check school ratings on ISBE.net which is your best source for school ratings.

Stevenson
The high school is great but I wouldn't say it's the best school district in your list. I wonder why this would be a top choice especially if you're considering the area around it. The cities that feed stevenson aren't all that great IMO. No real downtowns and no natural beauty to them.

Fremd
I don't know much about Fremd except that they have a decent football team. I do know that Palatine is a nice town but it's not known for it's school district.

Naperville
Probably the most overrated suburb but that doesn't mean it isn't great. Traffic is bad naperville and some areas can get bad, especially on the west side towards Aurora.

St Charles
I grew up here and loved it. The schools are great, I had no problems, but I wouldn't say they are top tier. As for downtown and beauty, this is the best choice in my opinion. Either STC or Geneva which both have beautiful downtowns along the river. I grew up near the river with access to two forest preserves. Don't worry about the quarry, that's been there for forever and I have never seen or heard of any issues from it. It's quiet and you generally don't even notice it driving by.

Barrington
It's known as a high class suburb but I don't know much about this area.

Others to consider (based on budget)
Park Ridge
I live here now. The schools are top notch but housing stock is old and you don't get a lot for your money. Still the commute would be the best out of any of your other options. PR's downtown is beautiful and depending on where you live the area is extremely walkable.

Winnetka
Wealthy beautiful suburb with great schools and easy commute. The only downside? You're gonna pay.

[FlyBird747]

If you go by school ranking, Stevenson is indeed on top and New Trier, Glenbrook north, Highland Park, Neuqua (Naperville) are all up there. If those are absolutely not for you, you may want to consider Lake Zurich? What is your budget?
This is how the schools compare on test scores per ISBE

[fusillirob1983]

Originally Posted by Hiruko

The difference between Latin, FW Parker, Avery Coonley, Roycemore, Lake Forest Academy, etc. is far greater than any difference between the public schools you mentioned. Same text books, same curriculum, same union, etc. The "rankings" and standardized test performance are directly correlated with the demographics of the student body. I would not put much faith in any of them.

Is the school well-funded? What are the extracurricular options (anything unique)? Does the principal and superintendent have the respect and admiration of the parents and students (this could turn on a dime, however)? Those are the questions I would be asking.

If you have problems with trains blocking the roads, living in the biggest rail hub in the country is probably not for you. An inner-ring or lakefront suburb will have fewer surface level railroads than others, so perhaps Oak Park/River Forest, Evanston, Winnetka, Skokie, or eastern portions of Highland Park and Lake Forest might be attractive?

I think the train tracks item can be town by town. In Naperville, there's just the BNSF/Metra tracks, which has eight "crossings" stretching from Naper Blvd to Rt. 59. Six of those crossings have over/underpasses. The two that do not are easily avoidable, one of which is at River Rd, and the other is at Loomis. Loomis is near the Naperville Metra station and has an over or underpass within a block or so to the east and west of it on Washington and Columbia, respectively. If you're thinking in terms of kids' safety going to school, around town with friends, etc., the entire city can be traveled by bike or foot without directly being on a train track.

Forgot to add - there's also a 9th "underpass" on the DuPage River bike trail that exists between the long stretch of no under/overpasses from Mill St to Ogden, close to the River Road crossing.

[Nodpete]

It's slow driving around Naperville, for instance on Rt 59 a major highway, there are 20 stop lights from 95th St. on the South side to the East West tollway on the North and that's only 6 miles.

[Kmanshouse]

These scores and rankings are simply reflections of the wealth/privilege of the families that go to those schools. It has very little to do with actual skill of the teachers, etc.

Performance comes from drive, parental support/force, tutoring/prepping for SATs, AP classes, etc.

[fusillirob1983]

Originally Posted by Nodpete

It's slow driving around Naperville, for instance on Rt 59 a major highway, there are 20 stop lights from 95th St. on the South side to the East West tollway on the North and that's only 6 miles.

Yeah, really depends where one lives in Naperville and where they have to travel on a regular basis.

[pvande55]

I've heard good things about Stevenson. And the numbers bear that out. Also, about commuting. You should try to be within 10, maybe 15 miles or on the same Metra line. Of course if you work in the loop, you have no such restrictions. Naperville has the best train service followed by Palatine (Fremd). Stevenson district served mostly by the North Central, which has the least service. However it serves Ohare airport.