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Old 04-28-2016, 09:33 AM
 
4 posts, read 5,254 times
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Hi!

I've been voraciously reading the forum and it has been a great source of information. My husband is being transferred from out of state to Naperville. We have three kids in grade school/middle school; all three are currently in pull out gifted programs. We are looking for schools that have that je nes sais quoi... a focus on creativity and not just academics. I'm also wishing for an expansive gifted program. Private school is out of our budget, so we are looking at the public schools. I'd love to find a smaller school zone with a great sense of community. We are looking to be within a 30 minute drive of Naperville. Budget around 325k, which I know is limiting, but I'd be willing to live in a not so great house to get into the right location. I am a bit of a hippy and want my kids to have fun while learning. If I was less of a hippy and made more money I would send them to a Montessori or Reggio Emilia school.

Thanks for the help!

Last edited by L.lulu; 04-28-2016 at 09:41 AM..
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Old 04-28-2016, 10:17 AM
 
28,453 posts, read 85,379,084 times
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Firstly, if you want a French immersion program you want find any. Even in school districts that teach French in elementary schools the demands of idiotic state mandates that range from the horrible PARCC test to ensuring Gym Teachers are fully employed mean there is not enough time to build any kind of fluency. Your " je nes sais quoi" will run into the brickwall of Illinois overall bureaucracy...

Secondly your budget will not go far in any of the towns in the region that have any kind of desirable public schools. There have been a few threads with folks of similar budgets looking for even starter homes and there are slim pickins', though lately more folks have been focused on towns with good rail commute to the Loop so it is possible that towns that lack such convenience (notably Batavia and St. Charles, as within a half hour or so of Naperville workplaces...) MAY be worth exploring.

I have some experience with private schools and really, even at MOST schools that preach their "child centric" approach you are not likely to find anything too "hippy chic" as the majority of parents that have the 'bread' to pay for private education (and not live in a yurt becuase they got evicted for not also paying their highest in the nation property taxes...) sorta want their kids to have a shot at doing something other than sell tie-dyed shirts from the back of Partridge Family-style schoolbus/RV...

I kid, I kid!

But seriously, in all honestly I have friends who are rather happy with places that often go unnoticied. There are some pretty good deals in Winfield, which is very small community. Even if you were to find a home in the portion of town served by West Chicago High School D94, which is not generally as well regarded as those in Wheaton, there is still a very nice focus on arts and such. In fact, though the school has a much higher percentage of minority students than those in Wheaton, West Chicago HS has an impressive record of getting kid from all backgrounds involved in things like literary festivals and arts --
http://www.d94.org/site/default.aspx...=3677&PageID=1

http://www.d94.org/site/default.aspx...=3660&PageID=1

You can get a very attractively priced home that is an easy commute to most work locations in Naperville in the part of Winfield served by D94 -- https://www.redfin.com/IL/Winfield/2.../home/18150040 or
https://www.redfin.com/IL/Winfield/2.../home/18149616

Please note: I would not recommend this strategy for most folks relocating to the area. I anticipate the pressure on Illinois school funding to impact schools like D94 more severely than those in more affluent areas. I making this recommendation based ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY on the current budget ceiling...
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Old 04-28-2016, 10:33 AM
 
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Check out The Children's School in Berwyn. It's a progressive private that tries to keep tuition down and offers sibling discounts and financial aid. The only problem is that it's K-8, so you'll want to make sure you move to an area with a good public high school option or be prepared to cough up for a private high school (a lot of Children's School graduates go to Oak Park River Forest High School or Fenwick).
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Old 04-28-2016, 10:40 AM
 
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The commute between Naperville and Berwyn would be hard to justify. Fenwick's (a Catholic High School in Oak Park) tuition is over $14k per child. http://www.fenwickfriars.com/Page/103

Homes in the Oak Park - River Forest HS attendance area are likely outside the OP's budget unless quite small /poor condition ...
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Old 04-28-2016, 10:42 AM
 
70 posts, read 92,662 times
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You don't have to live in Berwyn to attend the school. Of course, it might make drop off / pick up a pain depending on which town she picks, but it's unclear to me whether OP will be working and how she feels about a school commute generally.
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Old 04-28-2016, 10:43 AM
 
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Tough budget. Taxes in the D94 portion of Winfield can only be described as OPPRESSIVE. And the current trajectory makes it so the area is really hard to recommend on any budget. The two listings chet provided carry annual bills of $7600 and $9200 respectively -- that's 2.54% and 2.78% of the asking prices! If your expectations are realistic, there are a few nice options in CUSD 200 (Wheaton) with MUCH lower tax bills and MUCH better schools, amenities, etc -- but listings go fast:

0N074 Nepil Avenue WHEATON, IL 60187 | Redfin (tax bill $4700, 1.44% of ask)

Wheaton has a reputable gifted program (Gifted Education / Program Overview / CUSD 200) but the je nes sais quoi probably won't be found in any Chicagoland setting outside of Montessori et al. If you're eventually able to afford Montessori, Wheaton is home to the only AMI (Association Montessori Internationale) certified school in the western suburbs. It's just one mile northeast of the listing above: Welcome - Wheaton Montessori School

The listing is also near the Illinois Prairie Path (IPP), Cosley Zoo, and the Lincoln Marsh Natural Area. The latter two provide lots of affordable ways for kids to have immersive nature experiences:

Individuals & Families – Lincoln Marsh Natural Area
Programs | Cosley Zoo

And the former provides a streetless, natural route into Wheaton's vibrant core:

DOWNTOWN WHEATON DIRECTORY

Last edited by holl1ngsworth; 04-28-2016 at 11:36 AM..
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Old 04-28-2016, 10:51 AM
 
70 posts, read 92,662 times
Reputation: 49
Chet, you keep editing your post so it's hard to respond. OP doesn't have to send her kids OPRF or Fenwick, I was just pointing out that many families do - Brookfield might work for her. Yes the commute to Naperville isn't ideal but it's something to consider if she wants out of the public school regime.
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Old 04-28-2016, 11:30 AM
 
4 posts, read 5,254 times
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Wow, that was fast! Thanks for the responses. I want to be IN a house by the end of summer so I'm feeling some pressure to look and decide quickly.

I know the budget sucks-- In our little corner of the Southwest, a six figure salary equals pretty decent living. Of course, we have meager amenities so I am expecting to be blown away by what Chicago has to offer. Serious question-- are the salaries just much higher because of the cost of living, or do people scrape by? I don't want to get stuck being house poor, but I know finding the right neighborhood matters. I'm hoping to find a fixer upper or foreclosure that I can work on. HGTV told me this is easy to do

Batavia was on my radar, but I wasn't able to find much beyond the test results for the schools or get much a feel for the population. I will look into the homes in the other areas you have mentioned as well. They seem very promising!
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Old 04-28-2016, 11:47 AM
 
28,453 posts, read 85,379,084 times
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It is really hard to say if anything will "blow you away" and I would go so far as to say that unless you have a really awful situation and/or turning down the relocation will kill your future career prospects it might make sense to take a pass...

If your current schools have nice offerings for gifted kids, your salary gives you a comfortable home, provides for enough vacation / travel, and allows you to save for your kids' college you would really take a big hit seeing more salary being eaten up by voracious taxes that increasingly support unconscionable pensions for crooks in the legislator : their insider pals...

If you literally cannot afford both to feed your kids and take them to a museum in the city then what good is that museum doing for you? Stay away ...
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Old 04-28-2016, 12:25 PM
 
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I appreciate the sentiment, Chet, our situation is kind of a mix of what you described. We live in a cultural and literal desert and this move will be a step up in all ways. I grew up in Northern Virginia and know about metro area housing markets. There everyone was furiously paddling to stay afloat and I don't want that for my family. I asked about salaries out of curiosity, but I do understand the reality of the situation. We can live comfortably within a 325000 budget (give or take depending on the tax situation, which does look atrocious) without having to give up any of the vacations, museums, college savings, etc.... I'm more than happy to live in an older smaller home further out of the mainstream to make that work. Test scores mean less to me than the other stuff I mentioned, so hopefully I can get a good deal in one of the less traditionally desirable spots.
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