Raising kids "in the city" - is it possible?? (Chicago: mortgage, daycare)

[misspetite]

Originally Posted by NSH

YOu may want to look into Beverly Hills/Morgan Park. The neighborhood has a very strong community feel and as a guess I would say it is 70% families with children. 350-500K will get you a good house with 3 br + in very decent shape.

More info here
BAPA - Beverly Area Planning Association

Yes, this is a great neighborhood. I recommend it also.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by skye1974

Wow! I have never been interested in private schools for my children, so I've never looked into what tuition at one might be. Again, wow! I'll stick with public school and save that money for their college tuition.

This one is upper echelon. Most Catholic schools are MUCH cheaper.

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

A couple of other public schools to consider are Bell and Nettlehorst, though both only go up to grade 8. Whitney Young, Northside College Prep, and Lane Tech are all great public High Schools, but they all have an admissions process that includes strict testing and affirmative action (which could help or hurt you depending on your ethinc background). No one is guaranteed a spot in any of these High Schools.

I'm in a similar situation to the OP. I want to raise my kids in the city and have a similar housing budget, so I've researched this quite extensively. It's very depressing. If you want to find a decent 3-BR house for under $500,000 you will probably have to look at the far Northwest Side or the South and West Sides. You could find a 3-BR condo in that range in Lakeview, Lincoln Square, Ravenswood, North Center, Roscoe Village, and the like--but it won't be huge. And those prices won't even get you close to Old Town, Streeterville, Lincoln Park, etc. I do know many professionals are moving to Northwest Side neighborhoods like Jefferson Park to afford a house, but I personally find this area to be worse than many inner-ring suburbs. It's very auto-oriented and there's not much to walk to--although access to the Blue Line and many great parks are benefits. But if I had to live in Oak Park or Jefferson Park, I think that Oak Park has so much more to offer in terms of urban ammenities.

Another major expense to consider in the city is daycare. I'm currently on waiting lists for five daycare centers--have been since my wife was one month pregnant--and probably won't get into any of them. Seriously, the daycare centers new we were having a kid before any of our family members! Cheaper daycares on the North Side run about $1200/month for an infant, and the pricier ones in Lakeview and LP are anywhere from $1800-2000 for infants. This goes down once they are 2, and again when they are 3, but not nearly enough to make it affordable! Nannies or nanny sharing is another option, but is even more expensive. A nanny with two kids generally runs about $15/hour plus taxes (this is on the cheaper side), so cut that in half for one kid in a nanny share.

I wish I could be more encouraging, but I'm really stressing about these costs right now. To stay in the city and do it right, you should probably plan on having a household income of at least $200,000 a year, and you won't be living it up on that!

Oh, I could live it up plenty if I had a wife and a couple kids with 200k a year.

[nJohn]

Try Oak Park on the west side. It's not a Chicago neighborhood, but it's urban and it's just a train ride to downtown. Diversity is great and the community has good schools such as Oak Park/River Forest H.S. and Fenwick College Prep.(catholic school).

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by SBurgess

Need the age of the kids. If they are pre school, that's one thing. If they are transferring INTO another school from where they are, then that's a different situation and a different kind of school.

Parker, Latin, U of C Lab...all very expensive but good. Parker on the "new age" side, but great for some kids. Latin, Lab more for academically apt (or $$ to get the kid in "regardless"). Lab more math/science oriented. These are the high $$ privates.

Sacred Heart/Hardy Prep excellent, not as expensive. Goes to Grade 8. Excellent, I would say the best Catholic school in the city. Francis Xavier Warde very good, early grades campus separate from upper grades campus, but not a huge problem. One at Holy Name, other at Old St. Pat's. St. Clements in Lincoln Park good. Sacred Heart/Hardy Prep is not associated with the Archdiocese.

The Archdiocese of Chicago website has a list of schools, google them; they have a complete website. Check out the neighborhoods and then visit the schools.

British school -- big bucks but good. Small.

French school - "Lycee Francais". French spoken in class, so it's English as a SL, pretty much. Old World type education; the child would be completely fluent in Fr, obviously, but sometimes parents feel the actual English suffers in terms of writing, if they progress or change to "non French" schools.

Catherine Cook on Schiller is small and excellent for preschool and early grades. Classes get very small (very) in upper grades and many parents feel that isn't the best situation.

Ogden, Lincoln, and a few other CPS elementary schools are "okay." Children generally struggle if they transfer to a private from those schools. The services are not there to help with tutoring until the situation gets so DIRE that the kid is really behind - or held back. Most of their "support" $$ goes for ESL. The "mainstreaming" attempts (NCLB) are a sham; the basically normal kid with a tutoring issue generally cannot get services of any kind, even with a "certified" learning disability documented by a viable agency...or the CPS testing. On the other side of the bell curve, the same applies for "accelerated"; "accelerated" at Whitney Young, for instance, is only the average track at the public HS's by and large...perhaps single honors at a private, certainly not top of heap. You don't want to have the rose colored glasses on and then have your child get to the college level and find out "honors" is not actually "honors."

Roycemore in Evanston is okay in early grades and is generous with financial aid and scholarships. Upper grades, again, too small for most parents However, the elementary schools in certain nbrhoods in Evanston, I understand are fine, so Roycemore would not be necessary to investigate if you lived there.

High schools, if the kids are that old I could make another post.

All privates offer financial aid and you usually don't have to be destitute to qualify. In some cases, it is SURPRISINGLY generous. Having more than one child in the school also helps that situation.

Experienced parents don't "just trash" as a rule.....the city parents I have known for years understand that this is not "there's the school, go in the door and listen to the teacher" days of yore. There are VERY unfortunate realities in the CPS which affecty all the students. Obviously, everyone knows of people who go through less than great systems and come out "fine." That is not the "law of averages" with the CPS, however. As I said, it's the details here, and every parent has to seriously clheck these out. OFTEN, problems in the CPS do not become apparent until the child is older, and this is VERY common. I am talking academically.

Parents can share their knowledge of various schools, what they have observed, experienced or researched. Obviously, the parent knows their own child/children, their needs, strengths, personality, etc., and has to approach the situation from that viewpoint -- so recommending the schools to investigate is about as far as most people can go. It's usually better for a parent to ask about a particular school and get input to combine with their impressions and research. It is very helpful also to speak to faculty at a school OUTSIDE OF school, or parents of recent graduates.

The transfer (out) rate is very important with a private, and more than two parent references should be called personally in any case. There is a wealth of information out there. Test scores don't reveal the entire picture, of course.

I want to thank you for posting more info on several posts. I am glad that you were up to the challenge. I think you have much knowledge on the subject and it is overall a positive thing. We are all biased one way or the other, but when options are presented it is much better.

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by skye1974

Wow! I have never been interested in private schools for my children, so I've never looked into what tuition at one might be. Again, wow! I'll stick with public school and save that money for their college tuition.

That school is on the high end of the spectrum of private (non-religious) schools in Chicago. I should have mentioned that when I posted it. However, most private non-religious schools are very expensive for the average family in Chicago.

Look around a bit, it is posssible you can find a private school that you can afford. As SBurgess stated there is possible tuition assistance available.(I am no expert on that subject with private schools tuition assistance though.)

Do some research maybe you can come up with something. Maybe ask SBurgess in a direct message also.

Catholic schools could be an option and are more affordable.

Good Luck.

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by SBurgess

Yes, the campus (can't remember the new location but it's closer to downtown, been by there) is moving (or actually has) and I believe it's an issue of newer, better facilities. The IB program starts in HS, and it's very good. It is not necessarily "better" than, say, high honors at an academically challenging private, but many parents swear by it. Unfortunately, not many colleges in the U.S. put much stock in the IB in terms of advantages re admission. A few colleges will let you skip one or two "Gen Ed" classes due to IB...but it's MORE likely they will do that by taking AP classes and taking the AP (advanced placement) exam.

One parent I know just transferred her child to the British school. Fourth grade, I believe. Very happy so far this year. It's conservative and if you aren't going Catholic, you get much of the same traditional education at the British school. Small, much individualized attention. They are very accommodating about parents visiting individually, showing them around, discussing your child, etc. A personal visit would answer a lot of questions, I'm sure.

They are on the pricey side.

The new school is not done yet. It is on Halsted south of North Ave.

[Chinolala]

If you look at the areas I mentioned previously, you don't have to pay to send your child to The British School, French School, Montessori, etc. You can utilize the public schools paid for by your real estate taxes. Good deal and you'll be living in Chicago proper.

[mel2000]

Originally Posted by NSH

YOu may want to look into Beverly Hills/Morgan Park. The neighborhood has a very strong community feel and as a guess I would say it is 70% families with children. 350-500K will get you a good house with 3 br + in very decent shape.

Beverly is very nice but it can be scary to commute there because the neighborhoods bordering to the east are crime-ridden and you must go through them to get to the expressway. I would not suggest that area for someone new to the city.

[mel2000]

Originally Posted by gtrgrl74

I think I have seen the Beverly Hills/Morgan Park area..........is it different that Beverly? Can we see the city skyline from anywhere close?

Although the Beverly Hills area contains the highest natural elevation in Chicago, you cannot see the city skyline from there or Beverly/Morgan Park. I think Beverly Hills is just south of Beverly. However, a tiny part of Beverly Hills has nice views of its own (around Lockwood Ave).