Evanston school district versus Beaubien Regional Gifted Center, Chicago (Naperville: apartments, renting)

[decisionmaking]

We currently live in Evanston and my husband takes the El or Metra to work downtown Chicago. I have a 7 year old and a 5 year old.

The 7 year old has just been offered a spot in Beaubien Regional gifted center and we have been given a few days to relocate to Chicago.

I am looking at renting atleast a 2 bed apartment in a family friendly neighbourhood with good neighbourhood schools (to accomodate the younger one who will attend kindergarten next fall.)

We love everything that Evanston offers - the short walk to school, friends in the neighbourhood for the kids, close proximity to many parks, preschool, library and the lake.

The rents in Chicago are much higher and I find that we will have to shell out atleast 5k higher than we are paying right now.

The only reason prompting our move will be our son's schooling situation. The school that he currently attends is a pretty good elementary school, however he is not too challenged. There is not much opportunity for differentiation at the elementary level.

My question is : Is education at Beaubien RGC infintely better than what the Evanston school district offers? Is the move to Chicago worth it? If we do find that the RGC is not a good fit for my son, we want to be sure that the neighbourhood school is good. We are currently looking at apartments/houses around the Blaine elementary school.

Alternately what can I do to ensure he is not bored in his current school? I have a bigger problem at hand when the younger one starts school - she will be the oldest in her class and is quite smart according to her preschool teachers. Is moving to another suburb like Wilmette/Glenview a better idea for education?

[chet everett]

For as much as I emphasize school quality in making recommendations for folks relocating from OUTSIDE the area I really question if it makes sense for somebody already living in a NICE town like Evanston to really uproot themselves and move in search of some "mythical" advantage in schools.

The whole basis of CPS' efforts to have options programs was supposed to be an alternative to forced busing. Depending on how you look at things it is hard to argue how that has been other than a MISERABLE failure on the desegregation issue as Chicago has seen massive depopulation in its poorest areas AND loss of significant numbers of non-affluent majority race families too. That said, the testing has managed to create an extremely small number of slot for very well qualified students to have access to public high schools that do have top performance, so maybe there is an argument to be made that it is technically possible to educate high performing students in an urban setting if you screen out all the low performing kids...

There is really VERY scant evidence that any kind of "enrichment" in elementary schools truly helps make students, especially high performing students, any more capable down the road. Now, I will acknowledge that is an area that is VERY under-studied because it is not politically correct to worry about high performing students BUT even the handful of researchers that do specialize in "gifted education" will tell you that there is simply no reason to think that moving schools without having a total plan is going to do anything good for a talented kid, and if the parents don't have a really firm handle on a whole range of issues there is STRONG likelihood that moving is probably a bad idea. In Illinois there are NO laws that require gifted kids get any services, that means if the CPS budget issues continue to grow into an even bigger problem it is entirely probably that gifted programs will be slashed. Even many districts with no money problems have massively scaled back their gifted efforts. Illinois is a very crummy place for talented students right now and it will get worse.

It makes a whole lot more sense to either stay put in a NICE town like Evanston or maybe investigate moving to an area with even better funding as the long term pressure on schools under Illinois crushing pension issues will almost certainly force many cuts very soon. The sort of investigation I would recommend included looking closely at how much property wealth each district you are considering has to back each student -- this is ratio collected by the ISBE but they bury it deep in the old interface of the "classic" Interactive Report Card site. I would further make sure that any district I was considering has not just a very solid official position that spells out the efforts to identity and provide services to gifted students but also a COMMUNITY WIDE commitment to true excellence in such efforts and not just lip service to the most vocal. Beyond these things, before I would give any consideration to moving, I would make every effort to find out the age and experience of the actual TEACHERS is such that they are no likely to be forced into early retirement NOR transfer to another school / district. I would also make every effort to do a thorough comparison of the impact on the WHOLE FAMILY of moving, including things like COMMUTE time and of course the BUDGET. If the new school means mom or dad are spending much more time on the road that is a HUGE negative, similarly if the family no longer has funds to take the kids to musems / vacation that would have much WORSE negative impact than any positive of having a "more challenging" classroom experience.

[Thepreacherswife]

Really, what you should be thinking ahead to is the High School situation in CPS (yes, even with a 7-year old you have to start planning ahead). Few good choices, very difficult to get into selective enrollment schools, especially if you live in a higher-tier area. And then the pension and CPS dire budget situation looming just is icing on the cake. Should I mention the possibility of a strike this year too since the teachers are working without a contract?

CPS is just a hot mess and not getting any better. You'd be better off paying for private schooling if you want your kids challenged more than they are by Evanston public schools, or checking into a move to a suburb with excellent public schools.

[decisionmaking]

Chet Everett and Thepreacherswife, thanks much for your knowledgeable input.

You have given me a whole lot of points to research upon. I do appreciate it very much.

I forgot to mention in my original post that my husband and I are not citizens of this country. Our high school decisions are a product of not just the school district but a whole lot of other issues peculiar to immigrants as well as our family situation in my home country (family in my country includes both set of grandparents). In fact buying a home is also dictated by these factors over which we have absolutely no control.

In this situation, I am only looking at the quality of elementary schools right now as we have no idea how long we will be in this country. The key data against which I measure my son's academic performance is how much his peers in my home country know/and how much I knew at his age. While I really love the no-pressure education scenario of Evanston school district, I really wish there was also more focus on academics. Some schools that manage to do this, based on other parents input are Avoca in Avoca school district, Ivy hall in Buffalo grove.

Academics are important to us, in fact that's our ticket to this country. A 7 or 8 year old should be able to add and subtract easily without his parents coaching at home. He should not be forced to be add 3 plus 4 equals 7 when starting second grade! If the school fails to do this, I don't understand the point of schooling.

Its in this regard that I would like to get more input regarding the quality of academics in Beaubien Regional gifted section versus the Evanston school district. Winnetka school district probably meets all the criteria that Chet mentioned, however given the lack of socio-economic diversity there, its not an option for us.

Are school districts like Wilmette or Avoca or Buffalo grove better options? I have heard great things about schools in Naperville but the commute to work does not work for us, so its ruled out.

PS :Commute to work, visit to museums/vacations will not be affected much irrespective of whether we live in Evanston or in Chicago.

[delfri1]

We moved out of the Beaubien School neighborhood in Chicago. We were renting there and wanted to buy but were advised to buy in an area with a great highschool too. So we moved to the Avoca West school district and live in East Glenview. It's a really nice area with many immigrant families old and new. (not walkable and with no sidewalks but that is an aside!!) I think the academics are amazing, my daughter (now in 2nd grade) tested gifted through CPS but did not get into any of the gifted programs so we would have been going to the neighborhood portion of Beaubien. But I did know families in the gifted portion of the school and they loved it. If you son tested really high on the scale I see your quandry.

There is an apartment building on Lake Ave (near Laramie) in the Avoca District (not super great looking on the outside) but I know some families that live there and they say it is a really supportive community of neighbors and I doubt it's super expensive.

You can walk to businesses (kind of -over the expressway) and walk to the K-5 elementary school and parks. There is a bus to the Wilmette train station right there too.

Good luck with your search.

[Larry Siegel]

Originally Posted by delfri1

We moved out of the Beaubien School neighborhood in Chicago. We were renting there and wanted to buy but were advised to buy in an area with a great highschool too. So we moved to the Avoca West school district and live in East Glenview. It's a really nice area with many immigrant families old and new...

Also with some very old-money families with 15-room houses, horses, and such. If that's your cup of tea, East Glenview is ideal. If you prefer a slightly more urban suburb, check out Wilmette - or stay in Evanston.

[chet everett]

Horse sized properties are exceedingly rare these days in just about anyplace east of Barrington / south of Lake Co....