Plainfield- Pros/Cons

[chet everett]

Some of my comments above do sound too harsh as I read them. I know some families that bought into new subdivisions in Plainfield because when they were shopping the "price was right" and I don't really fault them for that. I further know that had they tried to "get out" to a place with more established schools when it would have made sense based on their kids ages they would have been priced out of many mature suburbs where "bubblicious pricing" was far more inflated than any seller in Plainfied could have reasonably expected.

I guess my point is that UNINVOLVED parents / homeowners are really to blame for letting spending outpace performance. Whether folks are "putting down roots" in Plainfield or Naperville or Winnetka or Chicago if they think things in schools are going to be on "auto pilot" the whole enterprise will CRASH DOWN HARD if parents are not guiding their kids and making sure the hands on the rudder of the Disrict at the School Board level is steady. The thread about CPS being bullied into withdrawing Charter School applications now that Huberman has hung his towel is exactly the kind of "you've to be kidding me" nonsense that really hurts kids with few good options. I don't believe everything in"Waiting for Superman" but I've seen enough shenanigans at enough different schools to know that bad schools don't get better without the cooperation of Unions and decent schools can go vey bad as the Union protect their members instead of kids...

[tolovefromANFIELD]

Unbelievable. A poster comes on here asks a simple question, I as a resident of a town she is considering give her, I thought a simple quick overview and then boom...Chet tell us where you live, will you please? It seems as though not one thread can go over without your expert opinion and school report cards. How often are you in Plainfield?

To the poster that just registered to tell us his/her "objective opinion" To what blinders do you speak of? Sun Times just named Plainfield North one of the best 100 high schools in the state, and Heritage Meadows Middle School also received a national award for its academic performance. What bad performing schools?

It seems as though I live in a parallel world to the two of you.

[majka]

All right-
First -I drove Plainfield downtown today I have to admit the town is really nice I am sure summertime is awesome there.
Second- I don't expect my kids start the best school and run to Harvard right after High school.
Simply, I just want to be peaceful in term of knowing my kids live in safe environment. So, I believe neither elite nor sloppy schools are good. If I had to choose place for myself I would probably choose downtown Chicago (I have lived there for 10 years) or my dream place would be Steamboat Colorado so I could ski all day long.
But in reality we have to choose safe and yet affordable place to live with our huge family and on top of that we're not milliners.

[chet everett]

Perhaps if people actually read the article that accompanies the annual compilation of data from the required NCLB testing it would be clear that merely "ranking" the results of various schools says NOTHING about the QUALITY of the education of Illinois and the relative lack of standards that are fostered by lazy parents.

As I clearly stated, many people have been duped into ignoring the problems of Illinois schools and the attitude that "well my school is one of the good ones" is why I like to link to the data that generally shows how widespread the problems are.

Apparently BRENTWOOD Elementary School won a Blue Ribbon, which is more an accomplishmentnof the staff filling out paperwork to document the progress / acheivement of the school than any sort of true "competition"

HERITAGE GROVE is a middle school in the Plainfield District and no special awards were returned in extensive searches.

Similarly the Walker's Grove Elementary School shows no evidence of any special recognition...

You sure you live in Plainfield?

[tolovefromANFIELD]

Originally Posted by chet everett

Perhaps if people actually read the article that accompanies the annual compilation of data from the required NCLB testing it would be clear that merely "ranking" the results of various schools says NOTHING about the QUALITY of the education of Illinois and the relative lack of standards that are fostered by lazy parents.

As I clearly stated, many people have been duped into ignoring the problems of Illinois schools and the attitude that "well my school is one of the good ones" is why I like to link to the data that generally shows how widespread the problems are.

Apparently BRENTWOOD Elementary School won a Blue Ribbon, which is more an accomplishmentnof the staff filling out paperwork to document the progress / acheivement of the school than any sort of true "competition"

HERITAGE GROVE is a middle school in the Plainfield District and no special awards were returned in extensive searches.

Similarly the Walker's Grove Elementary School shows no evidence of any special recognition...

You sure you live in Plainfield?

?
You really are obsessed with the test scores you know that?

There are dozens of posts by you in regards to the same thing in different towns. Where do you live?

[chet everett]

I live inside the portion of Clarendon Hills served by D181 schools. As a former teacher and real estate investor I know that because all of the schools in the district perform VERY well it makes it a desirable district. Yes, lots of affluent folks live here. I hardly qualify. Lots of well informed, involved folks live here too, and that I plead "guilty as charged".

When I bought my current home I could have bought in the same school district in Oak Brook or Hinsdale, but money would not have gone as far and the access to trains would not have have been as good. I am not one to preach any secrets to real estate success, but I willingly share the criteria for evaluating real estate purchases that I hope is as useful to city data readers as it has proven valuable to me...

I do not feel I am obsessed with test scores, and generally feel there is TOO LITTLE objective data available about schools. I do feel too many misunderstand the value of the data, and I try to help folks understand what the effects of the data have on future real estate values.

[majka]

What's your point of view on those schools. Is it good to invest time to put kids there? Are they safety enough?

School Data
Elementary: Central (202)
Junior High: Indian Trail (202)
High School: Plainfield Central (202)

Thanks everyone.

[mattr85]

All three of those schools are good...I actually went to Central before they opened south (last class to not be split) Plainfield schools are good, I finished my last two years at PHS central after moving to plainfield from lake geneva and plainfield was so much better, safer, and as a new student everyone was very welcoming. I also have to throw in that most people that go to south are not plainfield residents, they are mostly from joliet, shorewood, cresthill and other towns...Plainfield village boarders actually stop at about the dupage river just north of caton farm...nothing south of caton farm road is plainfield and is all joliet or shorewood...some have plainfield mailing addresses but that was just a way that builders could sell their houses faster and trick home buyers into thinking they were buying in plainfield...

[linicx]

My opinion is based on watching schools perform for 40 years as a parent and grandparent. What I think is simple. I had a good basic Illinois education from teachers who cared. I scored well on my SAT test and went to college and did not particularly like the harried, uninterested, tenured teachers that had no particular interest in students.

What I think is education has slowly dumbed down all but the very brightest students.
I think agerage students who do not have parents motivated to be involved with every facet of education from the first day of kindergarten to the last day of high school will have children who did not meet or exceed their potential to learn, comprehend and put into practice what they learned.

I think "no child left behind" is a smoke screen, and a waste of time that turns great teachers into baby-sitters. Not all children can learn on any day in any school. Conversely bright children with involved parents can excel in bad schools in poor neighborhoolds.

Illinois schools are what they are. But, they are not nearly as bad as schools I've been involved with in other states where sports was far more important than Math, English, Reading, Science and Literature. I've seen way to many Superintendants and Principals who didn't care and teachers who came to school hung over or high. There is a coach still teaching who is still selling drugs. And there are a few tenured teachers whose contract should not have renewed after the first year.

Yes there are problems in education. But it is not one school, one district, one city or one state. It is a national problem and a national disgrace that no one wants to acknowledge or clean up.

To the OP: Put your kids in public school and get involved. If you don't like the schools, then Homeschool. It is cheaper than private schools and whole lot better than what they will get in most public schools today.

[PlainfieldRailroad1993]

I would like to search those old houses or anything that fits our budget.
We are waiting for better weather and drive to Plainfield just to take a look.

I Would Think That The Best Place To Search For A House Would Be Around Southern Plainfield Around Shorewood Which Shorewood Is Located South Of Plainfield And The Location Around There Is Beautiful Such As The Wesmere Club Location Is Beautiful And Some Area Around Wesmere Does Not Cost As Much As Another Location Around Wesmere.

Note: Wesmere Is A House Division (Subdivision) From Southern Plainfield Located Down Caton Farm Road And Theodore Street Which The Area Is Beautiful And Your Child Or Children Would Go To Wesmere Elementary Which I Think Is A Good School Than Your Child Would Go To Drauden Pointe Middle Than Plainfield South Which Both Are Excellent.

The One Problem I Believe That Each School Has Come To Face Around Plainfield Would Be Revenue And Cash Since The Plainfield School District Has Been Known To Be Cheap Which As I Am A Student I Would Think So Also Since The School District Most Of The Time Would Have School All The Time No Matter The Weather Condition. The Weather Would Have To Be The Worst To Have The School Close And That Is The One Bad Area About The Plainfield School District But Other Than That The School District Is Fine And I Go To Plainfield South Which The Environment Is Excellent From The Teacher To The Student To The What Ever.

The Town Of Plainfield Is The Same All The Time From When You Wake Up To When You Go To Bed Which Most Of The Time I Do Not Go Out Around That Time Which I Believe It Would Be The Same But I Do Not No For Sure.

Also The Reason I Would Recommend Southern Plainfield And Not Northern Plainfield Would Be The Reason That From Southern Plainfield The Area Is Beautiful And There Is A Close Area Where You Could Purchase A Good And Service Which From Northern Plainfield There Is More Vehicle And Train Movement Around The Area And Northern Plainfield Is Not At All Bad But More I Would Mention Industrial Than Southern Plainfield.