Good schools in Southern IL (Salem, Fairfield: home, private schools, community college)

[ricjanbor]

My daughter is moving to the Salem/Flora/Fairfield area. She has a daughter in 3rd grade and has found 2 options for school. One is Wayne City and one is Iuka Grade School, which feeds into Salem High School.

Does anyone have an opinion of these schools? What about others in the area?

Thanks.

[HOWELL_STREET]

... I can only assume that nobody has an answer to your questions. That's probably because people down in that area usually do not spend much time in Internet Forums.

I also don't know the answer to your questions. However, as an FYI for everyone - - The distance from Fairfield to INA, Illinois is 49 miles per Map Quest.

So if someone has an interest, there is a very nice community college in Ina, Illinois. It is known as "Rend Lake College". It has several different web sites but one in particular is Rend Lake College - Ina, Illinois. Use Google search to find the other one.

I discovered this school by accident when I was doing historical research regarding Jefferson County, IL.

All of my information is free and I don't charge for it. That's supposed to be a 'joke'.

Carter Glass,
Du Page County, IL

[HOWELL_STREET]

Dear Friend:

Certainly, I realize that. However, these threads are read by people even in England and the Phillipines. So with my answers, I try to help somebody out with any possibilities in which they might have an interest.

Is it better to just refuse a response? Or is it better to add something a little to one's generic question. Since I am an author, this is the method that I choose.

Talk is cheap so I don't charge for my answers.

This morning, I found this dormant thread approaching the archives. So this was also my method of getting it started again. I'm sure you won't mind that.

Carter Glass

[illini84]

I grew up near Fairfield, IL. As you are probably aware, it's a largely rural, small-town area. There aren't many private schools, but the public schools are decent. They may not have a lot of offer in terms of classes compared to a large school, but I think a lot of other positives come with going to a small school in such an area (able to play on sports teams, able to stand out in the classroom, no little crime/violence/drugs etc.). I felt like I received a decent education. Most of the schools in that area are average schools--nothing outstanding, but not terrible either. I think your granddaughter would be fine in any of the places you mentioned.

[Boo2]

My first time posting here but I saw your question and
thought maybe I could shed some light as I was raised
in in good Clay Co.,Il. You will find exceptional schools.
Some rate the highest in the state.

[Animal]

Try talking to the schools around the area. They will be well documented on how their school compares to others because public schools like competition.

Also, try asking around. You can write to your local paper or even a local news channel. They should be able to find answers for you without too much of a problem.

[CourtneyM]

I used to live in Fairfield. There are fewer class offerrings at the HS level as compared to the big city schools, but you get so much more attention. Wayne City is even smaller than Fairfield. Salem is supposedly good, but I only know someone with a child at the grade school level.

[Dolly]

We lived near Salem, I would put my child in Salem Schools, including the High School, over any other. Salem has a higher income level overall and a little better quality of people, in my opinion. We lived one year in Flora and it had the worst school system I had ever seen. Our son was placed in a second grade classroom with a teacher that had had failed her teacher re-exams, so they just moved her to a different grade. She was terrible and we finally pulled our son out and moved to Salem. I don't know about Iuka, it is a very small school is all and you may be shorting your kids on opportunities with a small school. Actually, the only people I know that live in the Iuka district, home school thier kids. It is really very easy in Illinois to do and there are several home school support groups in the area.

[jojojohnson76]

HOWELL_STREET, why would you assume that people in southern Illinois wouldn't spend time on internet forums? We have paved streets and running water, too.

[lannr]

Hi! I am actually having to move to the Salem, IL area and noticed that their High School did pretty bad on the 2007/2008 School report card. In fact, they didn't even meet AYP?! This concerns me, does anyone in that area know why this would be other than it is not a good school?