Best private schools in Chicago suburbs? (Oak Park, Elmhurst: house, best schools, college)

[hana]

We are moving to the Chicago area this summer. Does anyone know anything about Elmhurst? How are the public/private schools in the area?

[badgertim]

My best friend and his wife are 25 year residents of Elmhurst..he's a native and she's a Chicago city 'kid'... it's a great place to live, neighbor and worship as far as I can tell after all these years...

It's not cheap.

There are exceptional schools, Parochial: Catholic and Timothy Christian is tops... The public system is near the top in the Country..York high school is exceptional..

It's the only suburb I would move back to the Midwest to live in from a much warmer North Carolina..

Yes, Elmhurst is great, but bring your wallet...

[nanannie]

I agree,but there are still affordable homes in Elmhurst,though no real bargains for sure.. Immaculate Conception and Visitation are the Catholic schools,both excellent,as are the public school system.Wonderful library,parks and great "downtown" area..Also, easy commute to Chicago(train)

[OakBrookMom]

I lived in Elmhurst for 5 years and moved to my current home because I couldn't afford a bigger home in Elmhurst for my family of 5 for under 650K a few years ago when the market there went absolutely insane plus my taxes are at least 2K lower where I am now and I didn't compromise my school quality. Insanity hit our market soon after we moved so we got in just in time. I love Elmhurst and I always will, it is a great town. We moved there and actually cut our commute to work downtown Chicago and we used to live in the city! The express train schedule is great (24 minutes) and parking is so much better than some of the other burbs. My mother-in-law still lives there and loves it. I agree, Timothy Christian is a great school. IC is a very small high school but well respected. I see many of the Elmhurst kids commute on the train to Oak Park to go to Fenwick or to the city to go to St. Ignacious. There are a number of private grammer schools. The public schools are very good, especially in the center and south parts of town. The Valedictorians at York have gone to the best schools, including a few recently to Harvard, what more could you want. There are only a few schools I would not reccommend - Conrad Fischer in particular.

[InformedConsent]

Originally Posted by badgertim

My best friend and his wife are 25 year residents of Elmhurst...

There are exceptional schools... The public system is near the top in the Country... York high school is exceptional...

Wow! Your information is inaccurate. York High School doesn't even make the Top 50 Public High Schools in Illinois.
STNG :: ISAT RESULTS (http://www.suntimes.com/pcds/html/stng/hs/isat/top50hs.html - broken link)

People generally have no idea how far behind York High School has fallen academically.

There are many excellent public school systems elsewhere in the Chicago area. Elmhurst used to be good, but is no longer top notch.

[tarsila1212]

I have to agree with the person above.

I live in Elmhurst and I am a highschool student as well. First of all, let me tell you, Elmhurst is not what it used to be. some parts of town are getting very bad and alot of people from the surrounding burbs ( Berkley, Maywood, Bensenville, Villapark) are moving because of the public schools. Secondly, the public school are not a good choice. I went to the "best" elementary and middle school in town and let me tell you they aren't good. York is now a breeding ground for many uneducated student who don't care about their future, I would not recomend it.
Secondly, IC is a very, very small school. I shadowed there when i had to make a choice of high school and was terrified. there are about 60 students to class and most of the kids come from the bad suburbs previously mentioned. ICHS is known to be the school to go to when you get kicked out of York. Not to mention, the facilities are outdated old and small.
Visitation is the best way to go if you want your kids to have good integrity and morals. Definatly the best when it comes to grade schools.
I am a student and Fenwick and it is definatly the only school in the area worth going to. It is about 35 min. away but it is worth it. Great academics and athletics. About 10% of all kids that go to Fenwick are from Elmhurst so when you commute you are never alone. About 10 seniors this year are going to an IV league school, a number that surpasses York or IC. While there are only about 1200 students, we have achived far greater than most schools in the area. If you are intrested in Science or Math this is the school to go to. Also if you aren intrested in waterpolo ( state champs!) swimming and basketball only to name a few. I have to tell you, it is hard work and also very selective, but definatly worth it in the long run.Fenwick High School is the best school in the Chicago area.

p.s. If you are intrested in the visual of performing arts definatly consider the Chicago Academy of the Arts. Once again, a very selective higschool but worth it.

[chet everett]

Respectfully, I would question the judgement of a highschool student in deeming "some parts of town are getting very bad"...

As other posters have reported, Elmhurst remains very desirable to many people, its median house price is among the tops in DuPage Co. .

While there have been other threads about the public schools in Elmhurst fewer people have commented on the tuition based schools. Visitation is south and IC is north/central. Visitation is k-8, IC is k-12. Many generations of families have supported IC and there is no shortage of successful current students.

Fenwick is in Oak Park, quite a distance away. It has had some academic success of late, but nothing compared to rivals such as Ignatius. Nearer to Elmhurst there are other schools, such as Nazareth & Montini that are popular options too. Further west there is Benet. All of these schools have trade-offs in size, cost, and each student should evaluate where they can be most successful.

I have heard very little feedback, nor seen much press about Chi Acad for the Arts, despite it being around for 25 years... About Us - Message From the Head of School (broken link)

btw I the term is Ivy League, unless there is a new category of college for the intravenous drug using crowd...

[nanannie]

lol,IV users. This post started almost 1 1/2 yrs ago. This person had to rummage thru alot of threads to find this one. He is really mad at Elmhurst.

[gardener34]

And tarsila poster is wrong. IC is a great school. Don't know what he/she is talking about in that post!! 98% of the students go on to college there, as do many in the parochial school systems in the area.

You are right, this is an old thread... what are they doing dragging this up.

[Anthera]

Originally Posted by chet everett

btw I the term is Ivy League, unless there is a new category of college for the intravenous drug using crowd...

You could be onto something new.