BEST elmentary Schools in Chicago? please help me out!!! (Naperville: best neighborhoods, condo)

[chicagomom333]

My family with 4 young children is moving to Chicago. We need the absolute hands down best public school.

NOT the magnet schools/gifted-I have 4 kids & I would like them to attend the same elementary-if there is a great elementary that we are zoned for, that they can for sure go to, that is our first choice.

For HS we'll have to figure that out.....

$ is not an issue in that Im happy to live in a 3/4 bedroom condo vs. a house if it means being in the best neighborhood w/ the best school if that makes sense.

Love culture & everything Chicago has to offer so pretty familiar with the city but not when it comes to the schools. What happens, say in oen of these great public elemntary schools-come HS time-do they ALl go to the hs (like Lincoln Park High School for an example) or do they split off with many doing Private at that point in time?

Thanks so much!

[chet everett]

I would suggest you read some of the many threads cataloging such things. It would also be smart to join the "neighborhood parents network" site which is a fee based thing.

https://secured.npnparents.org/signup

The mayor himself, who lives in what is arguably among the best neighborhoods for designated attendance area school, chooses to send his kids clear across the city to the private and very costly UofC Lab Schools. That is his right, and I respect the decision. He and his wife absolutely should send their children to a school that gives them the kind of experience to which they few acustomed to at private school in the DC region. That said it is telling that they choose private over public...

[Chi-town Native]

Here's another great resource:

CPS Obsessed

[Vlajos]

Look into Bell, Blaine, Nettlehorst, Burley, Audobon, Coonley, Lincoln, Waters, Peirce, Wildwood, Sauganash. These are all good to amazing neighborhood schools.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by Vlajos

Look into Bell, Blaine, Nettlehorst, Burley, Audobon, Coonley, Lincoln, Waters, Peirce, Wildwood, Sauganash. These are all good to amazing neighborhood schools.

On what basis are these schools "amazing"?

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by chet everett

On what basis are these schools "amazing"?

On there scores and facilities. Have you been to these schools Chet?

[666northstate]

Originally Posted by chet everett

On what basis are these schools "amazing"?

If you do not know how good these schools are or you are trying to claim they are not that good, you have no business giving school advice having to do with schools in Chicago.

[chet everett]

I very much know how dysfunctional most CPS schools continue to be. I have been to many CPS schools and formerly worked as a teacher in CPS. I still have many friends that continue to plod along with the challenges the system fails to address.

The top performing schools in CPS are magnet schools where all the admissions decisions are based on test scores and as such it is no surprise that the scores on the weak State of Illinois mandated tests are quite good. Beyond those magnet schools the scores drop off quite precipitously.

In fact, of the schools ranked best on the basis of the state mandated tests only a handful of schools with neighborhood admissions components rate among the one hundred highest rated in the SunTimes summary of scores:


12 Lincoln
27 Bell
30 Oriole Park
33 A. Jackson
44 Edgebrook
48 Hawthorne
72 LaSalle
96 Burley

Among these there are some that have at least partial "admissions by test" students, which probably inflates their scores considerably.

The reason I continue to pound on the fact that CPS is a mess that does a poor job of educating students is because I honestly believe the weak economic conditions are a direct result of the underprepared workforce.

Believe me, schools that do a much job should be lauded.

Of the top 10 slots 7 are held by the all-test CPS magnet schools:

1 Decatur* Chicago SD 299
2 Keller* Chicago SD 299
3 Lenart* Chicago SD 299
4 Edison* Chicago SD 299
5 Skinner* Chicago SD 299
6 McDade* Chicago SD 299
7 Braeside North Shore SD 112
8 Highlands Naperville CUSD 203
8 Poe* Chicago SD 299
10 Ravinia North Shore SD 112

If one evaluates overall DISTRICT wide performance many suburbs are quite impressive, with all their schools ranking in the top hundred, but many show poorly, further showing just how poor the overall quality of education remains statewide...

Subjective terms like "amazing" bother me greatly. I much prefer some data, flawed and one dimensional though it is for elementary schools, at least it is an objective basis of comparison:

Top 100 Chicago-area elementary schools - Chicago Sun-Times

Facilities are a very tricky thing -- some of the best performing elementary schools have very basic, even antiquated facilities. Some of the worst performing schools have shiny new buildings that attracts folks looking for a "better" schools than the decrepit schools that still disgrace the city. Given the choice I would much prefer a safe, basic building with a superior staff and PARENTS that tolerate but performance over a shiny new building.

[666northstate]

Originally Posted by chet everett

I honestly believe the weak economic conditions are a direct result of the underprepared workforce.

OMG I just shot coffee and scrambled eggs out of my nose.

[Chi-town Native]

Originally Posted by 666northstate

OMG I just shot coffee and scrambled eggs out of my nose.

Yeah, that's a bit of a leap - however, you could probably make a decent case that poor schooling is responsible for many individuals' lousy economic conditions.

Taking out multiple credit cards, starting families while still teenagers - dumb.