Affordable city neighborhoods with good schools? (Chicago, Evanston: buy, public schools, vs.)

[noplacelike]

Oak Parkers themselves often send their kids to private grade school, then the public high school. The high school is well-respected, but the grade schools have a terrible reputation in town. A lot of tax money has been diverted from them for TIFs, don't ask. Can't be as bad as Chicago, of course.

The neighborhoods Forest Glen/Wildwood/Sauganash are where all the city workers live. It is safe, good looking, and I hear schools are good. Hard to find rentals though. If I had kids, I would definitely go to Norwood rather than Oak Park. But I am easily disturbed by the prospect of sudden violent danger.

[oakparkdude]

Originally Posted by noplacelike

Oak Parkers themselves often send their kids to private grade school, then the public high school. The high school is well-respected, but the grade schools have a terrible reputation in town. A lot of tax money has been diverted from them for TIFs, don't ask. Can't be as bad as Chicago, of course.

Grade schools are terrible? That's news to me. Our kid is still too young for school, but every single kid on our block (all SFHs in North Oak Park) go to the local public elementary school (one block away).

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by noplacelike

Oak Parkers themselves often send their kids to private grade school, then the public high school. The high school is well-respected, but the grade schools have a terrible reputation in town.

This sounds crazy to me. I literally know at least a dozen people with kids in Oak Park schools right now, and most of them have very positive things to say, almost to the point of gushing. The once exception is a friend who has a child with a learning disability (the parents feel they need more tutors at his particular elementary school).

The test scores vary among Oak Park's elementary schools, but none of them are even close to bad. Mann and Lincoln have the highest test scores, but the other schools are grouping closer together in recent years. None of the District 97 elementary schools have "meets or excedes standards" percentiles too far below 90%. The worst in 2009 was Hatch with an 85%. Mann had a 94%. The black/white achievement gap becomes a larger issue at the high school level, so OPRF High School has wide discrepancies between the peformance of white and black students. The high school has become a bigger target of criticism than the D97 elementary and middle schools in recent years, though it seems to serve some groups of students better than others.

I personally don't see much reason to move to Norwood Park as an outsider unless you have a city residency requirement with your job. It's just a pretty bland neighborhood with somewhat character-less architecture and few amenities. Park Ridge has a lot more to offer at a similar price range. I personally love the city life, but Norwood Park is decidedly suburban in character.

The more "urban" North Side neighborhoods with good CPS neighborhood schools are usually quite expensive. There are a few parts of Lake View, North Center, and Lincoln Park that have really good CPS elementary schools that are not selective enrollment. If your kid qualifies for a gifted program, they have a better chance of attending a good school in the CPS system.

[noplacelike]

No, not crazy. The primary school district of Oak Park had to sue the village to recover funds diverted from them by TIFs, adversely affecting the schools. We run with different crowds. I know no Oak Parker that uses the primary school system. One couple, neither Catholic, sent their kids to Catholic school. Again, likely not as bad as most Chicago schools.

Yes, it's true that the other neighborhoods we spoke of are suburban in character. Unfortunately, the question itself is oxymoronic. It is probably true that there is no affordable neighborhood with good primary schools in the city, but I'm sure there must be pockets on the North Side without having to go all suburbanish.

Oak Park and Evanston are the city people's suburbs, but what comes with it is higher crime than in some parts of the city proper.

You will be looking at just the North and Northwest sides of the city if crime is your concern, with some parts safer than others.

[Citybythelake]

Go with something in the community areas of Norwood Park,Edison Park,Forest Glen,or Jefferson Park.

[Attrill]

Oak Park and Evanston could certainly be good options. CPS is incredibly complex and convoluted. Between Magnet Schools, Magnet Cluster Schools, Charter Schools, Gifted Programs, and Selective enrollment High Schools it can take a lot of work to figure out your options. Also, much of it can come down to the luck of the draw in the school lotteries. Previous posters are correct that the North and Northwest sides have the best neighborhood schools, and many of the better magnet schools as well. Check out the CPS site to get an understanding of how admissions work at different schools, and also consider getting a membership in NPN (http://www.npnparents.org/index.asp - broken link) to check out their discussion boards on schools. CPS is a fairly complex system, and unfortunately they make it rather difficult for people moving into the city.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by noplacelike

We run with different crowds. I know no Oak Parker that uses the primary school system.

Clearly we do run in different crowds. Mine may be a bit skewed towards architecture, engineering, design, and advertising, but it's definitely a professional crowd. I also know a couple of lawyers and a college professor in Oak Park.

Most Oak Parkers with kids do use the public schools. There are 5,247 kids in District 97 (K-8), and about 3,100 at Oak Park River Forest High School (though some are from River Forest at the high school level, but River Forest is only 1/5 the size of Oak Park and is more likely to avoid OPRF). All in all, that's at least 7,700 kids from Oak Park in the public school system. In the 2000 Census there were about 15,000 kids under the age of 18 living in Oak Park, including babies. If we assume equal age distribution for each year, that's about 10,000 school age kids. This isn't perfect statistical analysis, but it's quite clear that the vast majority of Oak Park children attend public school... Probably close to 80%. Not bad considering that Fenwick in Oak Park also has 1200 students and there are a bunch of Montesorri and other niche options in Oak Park.

[oakparkdude]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

Clearly we do run in different crowds. Mine may be a bit skewed towards architecture, engineering, design, and advertising, but it's definitely a professional crowd. I also know a couple of lawyers and a college professor in Oak Park.

Most Oak Parkers with kids do use the public schools. There are 5,247 kids in District 97 (K-8), and about 3,100 at Oak Park River Forest High School (though some are from River Forest at the high school level, but River Forest is only 1/5 the size of Oak Park and is more likely to avoid OPRF). All in all, that's at least 7,700 kids from Oak Park in the public school system. In the 2000 Census there were about 15,000 kids under the age of 18 living in Oak Park, including babies. If we assume equal age distribution for each year, that's about 10,000 school age kids. This isn't perfect statistical analysis, but it's quite clear that the vast majority of Oak Park children attend public school... Probably close to 80%. Not bad considering that Fenwick in Oak Park also has 1200 students and there are a bunch of Montesorri and other niche options in Oak Park.

I fail to see the point in paying the high property taxes in Oak Park and not taking advantage of the public schools. If I was going to send my kid to private schools, I'd just buy a house in Forest Park. In my experience, of the roughly 80-100 families with school-age kids I know in Oak Park, 100% send their kids to the public elementary schools.

Oh, and to correct a previous statement by NOPLACELIKE, its actually the high school, District 200, which is suing the village. The elementary school district, District 97, declined to sue and is doing all it can to stay out of the proceedings. As a taxpayer, I have no idea what the leader of D200 are thinking by suing the village. The only people who are benefiting are the attorneys.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by oakparkdude

As a taxpayer, I have no idea what the leader of D200 are thinking by suing the village. The only people who are benefiting are the attorneys.

I understand their gripe with TIFs, but it seems counterproductive for one government entity to sue another one within the same jurisdiction. I don't think I've ever seen this before.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by oakparkdude

I fail to see the point in paying the high property taxes in Oak Park and not taking advantage of the public schools.

I agree. And to take it further, I believe the future of Oak Park is tied to the schools. If people start fleeing Oak Park schools en masse, property values will plummet. In spite of the growing gay and lesbian presence and the smattering of young childless people in Oak Park, it is really more of a family town than anything else.