Stevenson High school or Barrington (Long Grove, Hawthorn Woods: houses, college, art)

[Lisamel]

Is Stevenson much better than Barrington HS?
We are considering Barrington because it looks great, but should we consider other areas because of the stevenson school?

[nanannie]

I have relatives that go to Stevenson. We are in Barrington.You will get an excellent education and great college prep at either places.Stevenson is "rated" one of the top schools in Illinois.and has been for a long time..Barrington is up there,but Stevenson continues to outrank it...I am not sure what the big differences are,,my neices and nephew really like Stevenson,but wish they lived in BArrington...You cant go wrong with either school and will have no trouble getting into college with what is offered at both

[ahava]

You should definitely consider other areas. Hawthorn Woods, Kildeer, and Long Grove are similar to Barrington - large houses with a lot of land (and large price tags). The zoning laws in Long Grove are that residential lots must be a minimum of 1 acre. Most lots outside of the newer subdivisions are at least 3 acres. I don't know much about Barrington High School so anything I'm about to say about Stevenson may apply there too. Stevenson is an outstanding school. It offers a huge variety of courses, including over 20 AP courses. Same goes for extracurricular activities - there are almost 100 clubs/activities, and students who want to find somewhere to belong don't have any trouble doing so. There's also a lot of academic support for students - two resource centers which are staffed by teachers, and teachers are required to be available before school and during the school day to help students. Technology is everywhere at Stevenson. The school has five computer labs, and the computers get replaced with new ones every year or two. Each teacher has a laptop (provided by the school) and most classrooms have projectors for showing DVDs, PowerPoints, etc. Stevenson also has a huge performing arts center (the theatre program is excellent) and an Olympic-sized swimming pool.