Potential relocation from uk. British school of interest but where to live?

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by richixs

Hi,
we are also moving to Chicago in August 2015. we have 2 children, my daughter is 7 and my son is 9. We are going to find a house in may. we are thinking lincoln Park area so it is near the children's school. would also love to share notes/research as i have never been!
many thanks

What exactly are you looking for in a neighborhood? Where will you be working? How much money on housing are you willing to spend per month?

[Finp06]

Originally Posted by acrossthepondagain

Hello, I was reading your posts about moving to Chicago and deciding where to live, choosing the right schools, etc. We are also moving from the UK to Chicago in July 2015, and are facing the same decisions re schools, commutes, etc.

We have three children, 8, 7 & 3. The eldest two are in an excellent local state school in Brighton, and I am looking at state schools in Chicago suburbs vs private options in the city. We are all going over at Easter for a fact finding mission, looking round neighborhoods, schools, etc.

Have you made any decisions yet or found out any further info? I am also reading an interesting book comparing different education systems which you might find interesting - "the smartest kids in the world and how they got that way".

Would love to compare notes/research/dilemmas!

Sorry - only just seen your post.


so we moved in January 2014 on a permanent contract. Mentally we had the vision of 3-5 years before we left but when we landed we said we are here until we don't want to be - that way we can just enjoy every day without thinking too much. We are on a L1 visa which is 5 years. we can extend for another 2 then we would have to get a green card to stay. We don't want a green card at this stage as the tax implications are huge.

We decided on the North Shore - My husbands commute is only 45 mins to Itasca and as he has a National role needed the airport too. When we were looking to rent a home there was very little to choose from but we have ended up in a wonderful property with a fantastic landlord. We live in a village called Winnetka. The schools are 10's which mean they are the best that can be BUT the public schools (State) don't start until the kids here are 5 and due to redshirting some of the kids are 6 when they start PART TIME kindergarten.

Having now been here over a year here are my findings:
The North Shore is truly beautiful (it should be the taxes are 20% of house value) The majority of houses in my village have cleaners and a lawn service. It is very affluent but you wouldn't be able to live in an area like this in the UK - to get this level of lifestyle you would need to earn way way over £500k. The average house price here is $2million. We pay $7k in rent.

Schools - eek - this is where I am really struggling. My son is gifted (according to USA standards - in England he was classed as well above average) The school here tested him as being 3rd grade equivalent in Math when he moved into 1st grade. The school system in Winnetka is progressive, it teaches the whole child and is truly fabulous HOWEVER they cannot cope with kids gifted in Math. Speaking to many Americans this a theme across most schools. There isn't a gifted budget which I'm guessing means that gifted programs are hard to come by. As a result my son genuinely doesn't think he is learning anything new. The school is doing their best but they won't teach above curriculum. I have to send him to a gifted program on a Saturday in the Winter to ensure he grows academically.
Writing - my son came to the US (he had to go to Kindergarten to be with his aged kids) having learnt cursive but as he didn't fit the US mold - this school doesn't teach cursive until 2nd grade - he wasn't given lessons in writing. His writing hasn't really improved that much in the 17 months we have been here - it got worse in Kindergarten as the assistant told him to stop writing as she thought he would get confused…. Our school here doesn't teach in the way I was used to at my Outstanding state school in Surrey. FYI I've been told that if your child is below average there is literally a tonne of help available to you.

The schools here don't have playing fields - very strange to this Surrey Mum! I asked a US mum why that may be and she said that in the suburbs they struggle because of space….!!!!! Hilarious - the school is huge - my kids are in classrooms the same size as our UK school with half the kids inside! Plus they get an art studio, a gym, an auditorium, a lunch room, a music room, a spanish room, a huge library and RC centre - Maybe it's because the weather is so bad in the winter they are worried about the maintenance - no idea! With all that space inside it is truly like getting the facilities of a UK private education. My kids have class sizes of 17.

Positives!!! There are a lot!
My daughter is probably more mature than her friends back in the UK whilst I genuinely think staying a little more innocent - e.g. sex ed is being taught right now to her english friends which she doesn't get for another year - I'm happy with that!
My kids can play in the street with friends and can run a lemonade stand! When the weather is finally warm (!) we are a block from an amazing beach with lifeguards. The crime rate is non-existent and the Police and fire brigade are only ever a couple of minutes away. there are also some of the best children's hospitals in the whole of Illinois within a 20 min drive.
There are hundreds of after school activities for your child to choose from! The US leans heavily towards sports of course but we knew that before we came. Swimming is taught completely differently and is AWESOME! so embarrassed that my 8 year old daughter can do butterfly when I can only just about swim a couple of lengths in 'english swimming'! There are sports fields everywhere to practice every type of US sport you can think of! Also because of the weather there are ice rinks everywhere too - I love the fact that i can now ice skate - completely useless skill of course to a 42 year old mum.

Customer Service is just brilliant - all shop staff come across as much more positive than English ones! I don't care if they don't really want to help me - they do a good job of pretending that they do. I get my bags packed for me at the grocery store and there is always someone free to ask for help.
Restaurants - so nice to get water as soon as you sit down from the water waiter in even the most basic of cafes.

I've made some really really great friends. My job as a stay at home mum is of course the same here that it was in England. I have some Great British friends too so that i can gossip about nonsense things!
Halloween and Christmas - sooooooo brilliant to go completely over the top - so excited when i got my flashing blow up 8ft orange spider for my front lawn…

Healthcare - took me ages to understand it and I spend a lot on it but I am working the system to my advantage and I am very very happy with the level of care I can receive.

To your question about the city:
As I understand it the Private schools in the City are a nightmare to get into - which is why people move to the Suburbs. I have no advice on that at all but there is a Facebook group called Brits in Chicago that are just brilliant for information. Living here my kids have a fabulous street lifestyle which I couldn't imagine swapping for City living. The City wasn't an option for us to start with - my husband has recently offered to do a brutal commute so that we could go to the British school (because I'm concerned about the schooling here) but I'm not willing to pull the kids again in such a short time frame. I will spend the money on tutors instead - which I will have to do anyway if we end up going back - can you imagine - they won't have been taught any English history for a start lol!