Schools in Lake County, good or bad? (Grayslake: district, looking for)

[SHSguy]

Well if you want to be cheap and effective at the same time, you can move into the mundelein/ vernon hills area which feeds into stevenson... but dont move into the mundelein high school area...mundelein is not as good as its ranks. I know many people who go there that hate it. But I love stevenson.

[CoachTom]

I know you precluded private schools earlier, but I still have to recommend the school that my boys attend(ed) (Currently 12 and 17). They both went to St Gilberts parochial school. The 12 year old is still attending St Gilberts.

The majority of kids that graduate from St Gilberts qualify for AP and Honors classes. My 17 year old scored in the 99th percentile on his public and parochial high school entrance exams. I believe that these scores are the direct result of the preparation he received at St Gilberts.

The staff, which has very low turnover, is very devoted to the kids. The volunteerism rate of the parents is very high. Nearly all the kids play on a sports team, with parents providing all of the coaching.

That having been said the tuition is currently $300 per school month. Tuition is discounted for multiple children from one family.

I can't speak for Grayslakes public grade schools but the High Schools are quite good. There is an extensive Honors and AP program. The schols are in terrific physical shape. They both have beautiful field houses and other athletic facilities.

The local Catholic high school, Carmel, is one of the best schools in an area of great high schools.

Grayslake Public Library is also a tremendous asset for school kids.

[nanannie]

Robin Williams went to Stevenson,it is a top notch school

[SloopyJ]

Be very careful when looking at whether schools "meet state standards". One of the criteria for whether a school meets standards concerns whether there is a large performance gap between white students and minorities - and that is often a big problem at otherwise excellent schools. Most of the schools in the areas you've cited are very good to excellent, but often there are small pockets of lower-income areas that feed into those schools and whose students perform significantly below more affluent kids.

So if 95% of caucasian students perform at/above grade level but only 35% of minority students do, the school gets a failing grade from the state.

My suggestion is to try to identify the school districts you're interested in, and see if the district has a website with its state testing results posted. Those testing results can help you understand why the state labels the school "failing".

[chitownnburbs4eva]

Here is an evaluation of high schools in Lake County

Good: (most of the kids go to competitive colleges/universities)
Deerfield
Stevenson
Lake Forest
Libertyville
Highland Park
Vernon Hills
Barrington

Average: (most go to either competetive colleges, colleges, or community college)
Lake Zurich
Warren
Grayslake Central/North
Lakes
Mundelein
Antioch
Grant

Below Average:
North Chicago
Waukegan
Round Lake
Zion Benton

Basically, in short, the more property taxes you pay, the better the schools (elementary, middle, or high). Also, there are a couple good private schools such as North Shore Country Day and Woodlands. Finally, Carmel is a popular Catholic High school which has a pretty good reputation around the area (even though I know some kids that transferred out)

[SLS216]

I know its been a while since you posted but I'd have to agree to moving into the Stevenson High School District. Like someone else mentioned, look into the mundelein/ vernon hills areas that feed into stevenson. The only issue with that is that the junior highs are split so some of your childrens friends will go to Stevenson and some will go to Vernon Hills HS or Mundelein HS. You can alawys look at unicorporated Deerfield (Off of a street called Inverrary) or unincorporated Prairie View too. Those both are in the Stevenson School District and their Primary Schools are good too (district 102).

I grew up in the Lake County part of Buffalo Grove and went to Stevenson. At the time, I'll be honest-- I hated it but when i started college and was among students from all over, I felt that I had an advantage over others. I talked to friends I made and they didn't have half of the preperation and experience that we at Stevenson were offered. At Stevenson you are almost guaranteed to find any kind of club, organization, class, etc that you could imagine for a high school.

I now live in Wisconsin and my fiance and I are moving even further up north. I'm hoping that when we decide to start a family that I Will be able to convince him to move into the area where I grew up. It's hard for him to understand the importance of that because of the fact that in my mind, Stevenson High School really is a total experience. Its very different from many other high schools ecspecially in size and ameneties. The school sits basically on a campus and its just enormous but its still great! My only complaint would be the diversity. After moving here, I have realized the one thing that the area I grew up in was lacking but I still don't think that I would change it and in recent years, it seems as if that area is becoming more diverse.

Like the others said, so long as you try to avoid Zion, Waukegan, and North Chicago, the schools are all ok. I've heard mixed things about the Round Lake Area schools as well. But I agree with the otheres, Deerfield, Libertyville, Vernon HIlls, Stevenson, etc...those are all excellent schools.

Good LucK!

[nintendochick]

We live in Waukegan, my kids go to the Magnet school there. They both are straight A students. My oldest just got nominated for national young honors society, and young authors.

Waukegan may not be a great place, and I'm sure some schools are better. But we are happy here with the school they are in.

[kwest133]

Great information regarding the schools, however the only thing that I don't see mentioned is the SIZE of the schools. I may be moving to Chicago and have a son that will be in High School in the fall. I would like to put him in a High School that is highly ranked academically and in a good area. However, I want a smaller school with a great athletic program where he will have a better chance at making the teams. Any information would be appreciated. Thanks.

[jhpabc]

Antioch's not so good... Trying to get my child out of there

[gurneemom3]

look into Gurnee Grade School...soon to be named River Trail. K-8 that just earned Excellence Award. 1 percent of the schools in the state get the award.

check out this article [url=http://newssun.suntimes.com/news/10472346-418/gurnee-grade-school-students-earn-excellence-award.html]Gurnee Grade School students earn Excellence Award - Lake County News-Sun[/url]