Deerfield HS and New Trier (Chicago, Highland Park: real estate, renting, credit)

[packmanbears]

Both schools are top in the state, according to schooldigger.com DHS is 4th and NTHS is 5th. Schooldigger also gives oter interesting stats, both are great schools, do you agree with the internet ratings many of which say DHS is better. How can they compare besides ACT scores and other standardized tests?

[chet everett]

Schooldigger, like all sites that rely exclusively on the PSAE raw numeric ratings, fosters and unrealistic and not particularly useful myth that schools within fractions of a point on such raw numeric data are somehow "better" or "worse" than each other.

I much prefer the objective but "categorized" groupings used by US New & World Report to rank schools. Additionally the primary data used by USN&WR is from the success that students have on college level credit tests such AP & IB -- these are better both predictors of college success & more accurately reflect the actual quality of instruction / student learning than PSAE rates of "success".

By this measure both Deerfield and New Trier are in the same desirable "Silver" category --

Deerfield High School: Best High Schools - USNews.com

New Trier Township High School (Winnetka): Best High Schools - USNews.com

Their "college readiness index" is very very similar: 54.8 vs 53.7, among the highest of any non-selective admissions schools in the state...

Subjectively many people might prefer the smaller school vs the larger or vice verse, and those how know some of the faculty at either school (as I do...) might be able to offer deeper insight into why kids that do take AP classes at one do slightly, but consistently better at one vs the other, but really it would be foolhardy to rate either of these as other very very good choices.

[lakecountylifer]

Originally Posted by packmanbears

Both schools are top in the state, according to schooldigger.com DHS is 4th and NTHS is 5th. Schooldigger also gives oter interesting stats, both are great schools, do you agree with the internet ratings many of which say DHS is better. How can they compare besides ACT scores and other standardized tests?

I graduated from DHS. Its a very good school and I have been very lucky to be successful professionally, and I also went to a top flight college via DHS. There are advantages of going to a top flight high school and disadvantages. Schooldigger and U.S News and world report won't tell you that both DHS and New Trier are "super achievement focused" and can be both an academic and social pressure cookers for kids. Where some people (i.e. previous poster), equate real estate values, school rankings added together = suburban affluence utopia, you need to keep in mind that many kids do not do well in this pressure cooker environment. Status and class are big time drivers at these schools. Combine that with rigorous academics and some kids cant handle it. Real Estate agents probably won't mention this though when selling the benefits of Deerfield or Winnetka

[chet everett]

...but I also have to defend myself and other real estate agents against any charges that we are peddling some kind of "utopia".

I know many many people that come from very meager roots and have fantastically successful careers as well as a disturbingly large number of kids that go to the best schools (public or private) and subsequently "crash & burn" either metaphorically or in a litetaly car wreck of substance abuse doom.

Please understand that when I make recommendations about the linkages between housing prices and ACADEMIC ACHEIVEMENT LEVELS OF THE SCHOOLS THAT SERVE them I am reporting things AS THEY ARE!

I firmly believe that well informed parents can make honest decisions about living in area where a variety of income levels are represented and in such areas the liklihood of children being well balanced and successful is quite high with appropriate parenting, however I know of no better objective way of assessing the present and future value of real estate purchases in suburban Chicago than to follow the groupings as reported for the high schools in the desirable category of the US News rankings...

Further as a former high school teacher, and some one who truly believes the overall quality of US schools lags far behind that of other nations, I think it is a matter of critical importance to laud schools that take achievement of all students and continued advancment as important to their mission. Schools for which mediocre or worse has become "acceptable" or "standard" do not deserve to be coddled!

Clear? Not "utopia" , no value in ranking down to the tenth of decimal point..

[nico7]

Let me interject, and please take it for what you think it's worth. I went to high school in Connecticut and now live in Highland Park and work in Deerfield.

I recently witnessed my high school, which was just a "very good" high school in CT (got me into a top-3 Ivy League college, for ~[3-8]/250 graduating seniors an annual occurrence) start "teaching to" the state exam, and instantly it became a USN&WR Silver school.

So my point is that these rankings are only useful if you cannot examine the metrics of your choice. What do you really want to know about the school system? Ask people who have been through the school system and also competing systems. Anyone who isn't local cannot give you the whole story.

Keep in mind that teaching to state tests is detrimental if the local standards have been historically better.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by chet everett

I much prefer the objective but "categorized" groupings used by US New & World Report to rank schools. Additionally the primary data used by USN&WR is from the success that students have on college level credit tests such AP & IB -- these are better both predictors of college success & more accurately reflect the actual quality of instruction / student learning than PSAE rates of "success".

By this measure both Deerfield and New Trier are in the same desirable "Silver" category --.

The truly awful, terrible Lake View High School is listed as a Silver Medal school this year. This alone should tell you how irrelevant the USN&WR rankings are. I would sell my organs to avoid sending my kids to that school (it is currently the one assigned to our place of residence).

[tonythetuna]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

The truly awful, terrible Lake View High School is listed as a Silver Medal school this year. This alone should tell you how irrelevant the USN&WR rankings are. I would sell my organs to avoid sending my kids to that school (it is currently the one assigned to our place of residence).

That school's attendance boundaries need to be redrawn and/or the school become selective enrollment.

It would help the northside greatly.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by tonythetuna

That school's attendance boundaries need to be redrawn and/or the school become selective enrollment.

It would help the northside greatly.

Agreed. It seems like we're importing a lot of kids from other parts of the city to fill the school. Granted, there are plenty of thugs in Uptown in that high school age bracket.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

The truly awful, terrible Lake View High School is listed as a Silver Medal school this year. This alone should tell you how irrelevant the USN&WR rankings are. I would sell my organs to avoid sending my kids to that school (it is currently the one assigned to our place of residence).

last time I checked it was "bronze" and that is BIG difference...

https://www.register.facebook.com/pa...07278009301736

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by chet everett

last time I checked it was "bronze" and that is BIG difference...

https://www.register.facebook.com/pa...07278009301736

Check the current rankings. It's silver.