Where are the best Public Middle Schools in Chicago?? (Ogden: move to, area)

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by thevintageguy

I found this link; not sure if it's the same one that's been talked about or not:

http://www.cps.edu/SiteCollectionDoc...st_Central.pdf

Yep, that's the one. I meant to come back here and post the link, but I apologize that I forgot about it. I have the PDFs saved on my computer at home for reference now. The North Side map is useful as well.

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by mh7

I assumed the cabrini area fed ogden due to the proximity. Something still isn't kosher here though, because looking at the ogden boundaries on the map I just don't see how 22% of the students speak limited english - where are they living?

Perhaps something like this is going on at Ogden?

"At Carson Elementary, an overcrowded school in Gage Park where even neighborhood kids were restricted from enrolling, five lower- level employees got six relatives into the school by falsifying addresses. Sixty-nine students from outside the attendance area got in, but they didn't even bother to lie about their addresses. CPS had to spend as much as $252,000 to bus kids who live in the neighborhood to other schools, Sullivan said."

http://www.suntimes.com/news/educati...pect07.article

[chet everett]

Basically any of the decent schools (elementary or high school) in CPS and even some 'burbs have SOME students that falsify addresses to a certain extent. For some families this is actually not a bad thing -- if they live apart from a dysfunctional parent and stay in a better neighborhood there is probably a lot less chance of them getting into a "trap of poverty". For too many kids they are unsupervised whether they are in the "real home" or staying at a falsified address of an "auntie" / cousin...

The frustration comes when the kids who really live walking distance from a decent school are in an overcrowded school because of the falsification OR flat out denied space because the school is TOO crowded.

As I stated this is an especially big problem at schools that are close to the path of employment / transit, because parents can (and do) drop kids off on the way from their home in an area with crummy schools to work in a better area.

[cubssoxfan]

The inconsistency of the CPS schools would have me running to the suburbs. There are some good Magnet Schools but outside of those it is a few good schools mixed in with many mediocre to awful schools. Suburbs within 15 miles: Evanston, Wilmette, Winnetka, Northfield, Northbrook, Skokie, Morton Grove, Glenview, Niles, Park Ridge, Mt. Prospect, Prospect Heights & Arlington Heights. The last 3 towns do get a bit farther from Chicago. All the school districts in the towns mentioned will be decent to excellent. Because some towns, like Skokie, have 5 elementary districts feeding into one HS district, it can make research a little more challenging. Perhaps adding other living preferences into the equation will help narrow it down. Such as what kind of activities are important for you and your child. How important is walkable neighborhood? Is there a niche sport or hobby that may be better served by a certain park district? What kind of house, size and budget is this fitting into? How urban and busy versus peaceful and less urban? There are many more suburbs within 15 miles, but I know the North and Northwest suburbs better than the other areas.

[hockholly]

The kids getting into Ogden aren't necessarily falsifying their addresses. If a non-competitive school is not at capacity, any kid can apply to that school and the school can accept them on a space-available basis. So if all of the kids in that district are going to private school, that leaves a lot of empty seats and the school has the right to fill them with kids from outside of the district.

There are kids at my daughter's school in Lincoln Square who live outside of the district. But her school is not yet at capacity. The school is gaining in popularity by leaps and bounds and in a couple of years, they won't be able to accept out of district kids, but for now they do. Especially in the older grades.

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by hockholly

The kids getting into Ogden aren't necessarily falsifying their addresses. If a non-competitive school is not at capacity, any kid can apply to that school and the school can accept them on a space-available basis. So if all of the kids in that district are going to private school, that leaves a lot of empty seats and the school has the right to fill them with kids from outside of the district.

There are kids at my daughter's school in Lincoln Square who live outside of the district. But her school is not yet at capacity. The school is gaining in popularity by leaps and bounds and in a couple of years, they won't be able to accept out of district kids, but for now they do. Especially in the older grades.

Absolutely. I am glad you gave truth to one of my possibilities...

Originally Posted by Avengerfire

...People that live in areas that have questionable schools like to use fake addresses to get their kids in better schools. One thing that is odd though about this school is the fact that 22.5% of the kids speak limited English. I also know that when schools are overcrowded the CPS will send the extras to schools that have a lesser enrollment. I do not know if this practice is in play at Ogden or not...

[Lookout Kid]

There was an interesting article about Ogden Elementary in the Tribune today... Apparently they will be sending kids to temporary school at Cabrini Green while they rennovate the Ogden building! As you can imagine, this brought on some serious hellfire by Gold Coast parents...

Ogden School move: Parents in Chicago's Gold Coast upset by impending temporary move to Cabrini-Green area -- chicagotribune.com

[Venom]

Lmao!!!

[surlycue]

"I am not sending my child there," said Michelle Herman, mother of two Ogden students, one of whom would be affected by the move. "That is directly across the street from the projects."

LOeffingL

What's the big deal? The article states that the students will not be sharing the building with any other schools. If they already pick their children up, what does this change? It isn't as though they are forcing their precious heirs across the cabrini quad with bullseyes on their backs.

[surlycue]

Ok, I have to add, because this article just keeps getting better and better, I can see the parents' issue with the Schiller Elementary address because it's on the same grounds shared by some tough as nails kids (though I think any actual Cabrini kids would go to that grade school on Larabee), the Ogden street address is literally a stone's through from the North/Clybourn coridor and British School. If that isn't monied enough for them, I'm not sure what will be.