North Shore Country Day School (Chicago, Wilmette: 2014, how much, layoffs)

[Humboldt1]

Great school. Kids who attend their can basically write their ticket anywhere.

[kindrakindra]

Lab School is incredible. It's a different educational experience in that the people that are writing teaching theories practice those theories there (whole language, Everyday Math). It's way more diverse than Parker and Latin.

Humboldt, historically, Lab had kids ranging from professors' kids and doctors' kids to the janitors' kids, but these days, I believe there are fewer, if any, spots for staff. My friend is considered staff and her child did not get in. She was told that no staff members got in that year. That was for admission last fall (2009-2010 school year). I believe they are trying to expand and adding an extra k classroom. This may ease admission slightly.

[AuDiBelle]

Bah, don't get me started on that Everyday Math!! lol

[Rlest8]

There are also many kids from the North Shore who can't cut it at New Trier or feel NT is too big.

[Humboldt1]

I don't think NDCDS has kids who could not cut it at New Trier. You can't really compare North Shore to any public school but I don't think its graduates have any problems getting into top tier universities.

If anyone has questions I would be happy to answer them one on one as I meet with school officials quite regularly.

[chet everett]

I have a little different take on private schools in general, and NSCD in particular.

The thought that those who attend this or any other private being able to "write their own ticket" is not correct. The extreme disconnect from what the majority of even other well off folks experience going to even highly regarded public schools puts kids that go to private schools at a disadvantage in many situations. If your family is able to pay for expensive private schools at the elementary, high school and college level it tends to sap one's drive to achieve more than your parents and ultimately makes you ill suited to more positions than open to more typical paths of success. For every Walgreen or Wrigley heir that manages to avoid the pitfalls of privilege on their way to securing a shot at the Chairmanship of the family business there are dozens of others folks that succumb to the common deadends of the idle rich -- certainly drug abuse and bad relationships are not unknown among grads of the more pedestrian schools, but in my experience the percentage of kids / young adults that can overcome such problems coming from a background of private schools is smaller than the percentage that avoid it all together / have better chance of getting back on track coming from public schools.

When you really think about the skills and behaviors that one needs to succeed in most any setting, whether that is an effective executive of a company that faces real-world problems or a skilled professional with technical skills in the law or finance or medicine or other traditional careers of the successful are better honed by standing on your own than by being overly pampered.

Now don't get me wrong, if this were NYC and it environs where the tradition is that even the best public schools don't really produce many folks that go on to the same levels of greatness as those that do climb from prep school to college to MBA to board room, but really it is NOT. Heck with the continued erosion of top level corporate jobs in Chicago and the region the only real path to really being high on the food chain remains through dominance in the markets. Chicago's "trading pits" have largely gone electronic and the virtues in that arena are best personified by a rather technical bent, which has made even the "former jocks" that once could bully their way to riches on the trading floor a rather endangered species.

Now I am sure one could have a pleasant enough life with an "official title" of something academic if one does not mind relying on "family money" to prop up their lifestyle, and if that degree is in econ or something else that at least gives the impression that you might actually understand how that portfolio of family money is being managed on your behalf, all the better. But to suggest that in the rough tumble world that characterizes the world of wealth creation a private school is any big advantage misses the point entirely...

This a big shift that has been gathering speed for some time. The real estate barons of times past have largely been wiped out by the down drafts of not just recent times but major shifts in who makes real estate decisions for big firms and who those decisions have to be supported. Heck even in "dynasties" like that of the Kennedy's they have little ability to squeeze income out of their behemoth and have to be part of something much bigger: Vornado Realty Trust (http://www.vno.com/corporate_governance/christopher_kennedy.phtml - broken link)

Frankly with more and more of the "top slots" being eliminated as firms continue to be merged out of existence and the old-fashioned folks that are left behind don't have a clue how to use modern social networks to find the next place to land I think the very idea of private schools, except for those fleeing miserably public alternatives in increasing neglected urban settings, may become an anachronism...

[Former847]

As a parent who has sent children to both North Shore Country Day School and to public schools in New Trier Twp, I highly and unreservedly recommend North Shore Country Day. The school offers incredible resources, great teachers, and an enriching curriculum. NSCDS is also generous with financial aid, and they use it to help a wide array of students from various backgrounds.

The New Trier system is certainly a good system with a lot of caring and intelligent faculty, administration, parents, and kids. Your child can potentially have a great experience at New Trier HS and its feeder districts, and many do. But my family's personal experience with the public schools of New Trier Twp was decidedly mediocre when compared to experiences we've had elsewhere. While my kids had one or two great years in our experience in New Trier Twp public schools, we found our kids more consistently engaged, challenged, and happy when we went elsewhere.

[Czem]

Originally Posted by Former847

As a parent who has sent children to both North Shore Country Day School and to public schools in New Trier Twp, I highly and unreservedly recommend North Shore Country Day. The school offers incredible resources, great teachers, and an enriching curriculum. NSCDS is also generous with financial aid, and they use it to help a wide array of students from various backgrounds.

The New Trier system is certainly a good system with a lot of caring and intelligent faculty, administration, parents, and kids. Your child can potentially have a great experience at New Trier HS and its feeder districts, and many do. But my family's personal experience with the public schools of New Trier Twp was decidedly mediocre when compared to experiences we've had elsewhere. While my kids had one or two great years in our experience in New Trier Twp public schools, we found our kids more consistently engaged, challenged, and happy when we went elsewhere.

Does NSCDS have a gifted and talented program?

[4122]

No, they have a lot of honors and AP classes though

[nyctransplant27]

Really small school. I had friends who went there for elementary school and some for middle school as well, but most transferred over to New Trier for high school to get the experience of being around more than 25 people.

Ridiculously unathletic. When I was in 8th grade, we beat their varsity basketball team by over 30 points haha. It's a weird place, I'd never go there and I live within 5-6 blocks from it. I'd send my kids to LFA, Parker or Latin before NSCD. FWIW, LFA kids are a lot preppier.