London to Berwyn?? Life with Preschool Kids?

[OP Phil]

If you dont like the community schools, and if that is an important criteria for living in a community, then go with private schools or church schools. If that's not your thing either, then maybe these near west 'burbs are not for you.

Either way, the best thing to do is to go and look and see the happy smiling faces of the kids and the hard work and skills of the dedicated teachers and decide for yourself.

[Cooldiva]

Please check out Plano, Il.
There are plenty of older homes to remodel, its lovely, growing, the train station is right
in town and it goes to union station, more brand new schools and shopping on the way,
people can still ride their horses in the street too. You can have the countryside and
small city living this place is a little gem tucked away! I lived around O'Hare airport all my life and bought my first home here. If I want the city's hustle and bustle I go there,
but its soo beautiful here, and crime is very low HERE.
The schools are also great ! Our football team at Plano High has won three or four
championships in a row, and "reaper pride" oozes enthusiasm through it residents and businesses.
If you want, I will answer questions for you about our fair city, and send you pictures of how beautiful it is! Just let me know!

[Cooldiva]

You should move to Plano too!

[BRU67]

Originally Posted by OP Phil

If you dont like the community schools, and if that is an important criteria for living in a community, then go with private schools or church schools. If that's not your thing either, then maybe these near west 'burbs are not for you.

Either way, the best thing to do is to go and look and see the happy smiling faces of the kids and the hard work and skills of the dedicated teachers and decide for yourself.

This concept was a factor in our choice to move to Berwyn. Private religious schooling coupled with a diverse environment is something we decided on a long time ago – believing this to be the best way to equip our kids to deal with the realities of 21st Century America. And the private school choices in this area are fantastic, and very accessible. My wife and I still work hard in the community to improve the public schools for many reasons. It's the right thing to do, for one, and good public schools equate to a good community, more importantly.

Berwyn's elementary and middle schools are quietly posting some very good scores. The Morton H.S. district definitely needs some work but hopefully, in time, it too will improve. Despite popular perception, there are some really bright kids who go there, and parents who may not have a ton of money but place a high value on education. Last year’s Valedictorian at Morton West is now in his freshman year at MIT.

Schools like Sandburg, Lincoln Way, Naperville North, et al., are all very nice, and very well funded of course, but the truth is that there are many people out there who want better for their children who cannot afford to live in the communities which feed into those schools. Yet, I have no doubt that their kids will succeed in life. Going to the “best” high school does not necessarily mean automatic success, nor does going to Morton, Bloom, or Proviso mean automatic failure. That’s between you and your children.

[bearballz]

Yes Berwyn has it's problems with gangs but so do all the other satellite 'burbs from Evanston to the far Southside. Even far Western 'burbs like Aurora and Elgin have issues.

The new Mayor has said that cracking down on gangs and section 8 refugees from Chicago are a priority. Berwyn has too much going for it to turn into the next Cicero. As somebody who has lived in Berwyn for 10 years (grew up in LaGrange) I've seen bad, ugly but mostly good. I have seen progress and have met many residents who give a damn about what happens here and that gives me confidence. People are moving back into the city and don't want to spend an arm and a leg especially in this economy. Oak Park is too expensive and built up to expand and other towns like LaGrange, Brookfield, Downer Grove are simply too expensive to live as well. Berwyn IMO is a no brainer. It's still in the 'burbs but yet has bit of that city "grit" that makes it an interesting place to live.

As for the schools, yes there is work that needs to be done and as of now if I had small kids and I had a choice to send them to schools in Berwyn, LaGrange or Naperville I probably would chose the latter. But I am confident that the problem is a fixable one.