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Chicago: Non-Homeschooling Families!

1K views 14 replies 11 participants last post by  dawnredwood 
#1 ·
Hi, Fellow Chicagoans!

My DD is still too young for school (almost 3 years old) but the question of where to send her to school is weighing heavily on my mind!

I am curious as to what fellow MDCers are doing or planning on doing. TIA!
 
#2 ·
Hi Elena,

The simple answer is I don't know at this point! We are considering everything from private schools, to the local public school, to homeschooling. I don't know how I'm going to decide. The only thing I'm sure about is no religious schools for us. The range of choice is mindboggling! And it's not like picking a baby sling, where (to me, anyway) they all look so wonderful. Instead, it's like picking the one with the least disadvantages. At least that's how I'm seeing it at the moment - I'm normally not such a pessimist.

I used to think the Waldorf school was for us, but after learning more about it I now know it is DEFINITELY not for us.

Good luck figuring it all out!
 
#3 ·
Elena,

We're planning to send our son to the local public elementary school. It recently got local magnet status for the arts, so I view that as a positive in terms of additional resources and funding. I do have a few friends in our neighborhood whose kids attend there and they tell me that the teachers and administration are "warm and fuzzy, " which they like and so do I, since that is what I think an elem. school should be. Quite frankly, I cannot afford to send my children to private schools, so either trying to get into a magnet outside of our area or going to the local magnet are really our only options if we are to remain in the city.
 
#4 ·
You have a really good shot at getting into any magnet school that's within a 2.5 mile radius of you. You have to fill out an app. and get it to the school you're applying to in December.

I picked the magnet cluster school in our area that I liked the best and applied. DS is attending this school now and I'm satisfied. Not thrilled, but satisfied. There's a lot of sitting in desks doing busy work, but I do feel safe sending him there. I don't hear about many discipline problems and the other parents are friendly. I figure that we still do lots of cool educational stuff on our own, so he's still learning in a creative and fun way very often.

We tried private school, and homeschooling first. We never clicked with any of the local homeschool groups, so we were way too isolated. Poor guy had no friends near his age.
The only private school I could afford was a parochial school and I don't think that the education or community was any better there than at our public school. Also, I think that public education, at least in theory, is an important part of our society. I believe that more consciencious parents need to send there children to urban public schools before we'll see any big improvements.

I'd like to consider Montessori - there's a prek - 8 school on the near northside, but it's too expensive for us. I think elementary tuition is about $8K a year. Waldorf, Latin, and Francis Parker are all around $10K. IMO, these schools are not also diverse enough in their student body - probably because of the expense.

Ooh, I forgot charter schools. There's one called Namaste in the McKinley Park neighborhood that has yoga as a main component of their curriculum! If it wasn't too far from our home I'd definitely have looked into that one!
 
#5 ·
Hi, Beth! I "know" you from Alice. . . she mentioned your Waldorf experience and ugh-- I felt better knowing we couldn't afford it! I agree that, unfortunately, I'm comparing schools in terms of which problems/issues I can live with, and those I can't.

Caroline, we can't afford private school either, or at least not until I go back to work (which won't be for several years if everything goes as planned). And once I do, I just don't want to spend SO much money on school. I'd rather spend it on travel, which I see as real education!

Molly, I have those same fears about homeschooling. I have had thoughts about "what if I don't click with the groups?" because, just as you said, if you don't, you're somewhat out of luck. And as far as Montessori . . .that would probably be my first choice, but I felt better about not spending the 10K a year (per child) when I saw the homework on a local Montessori's school website . . .it was all GRAMMMAR. I know it's probably better than what the site represents, but it made me feel better to not have the money! (Sour grapes can be comfort food!)

As far as charter schools, I don't trust them inherently because they are charter schools, but I should research them more! I like the sound of Namaste-- too bad it's SO far from me!

So far, our 2 options are a neighborhood school or a magnet school. The neighborhood school would be SO close, but that's about it . . . the class sizes are quite large and the mobility rate is high, so those aren't good signs. We are lucky enough to have spot saved at a magnet school (my mom was its co-founder) but it's somewhat inconvenient in terms of location and it would just be nice to have a choice . . .

Has anyone looked into North Park Elementary? It's still expensive for me (6K) but cheaper than any other private school I've looked at. But, I do agree with you, Molly . . .there is something important about public schools in general!
 
#6 ·
Hi Elena,

Alice has mentioned you to me, too! Isn't she the best source of information? She knows anything and everything about kids in Chicago.

You must be the one whose mom started the Inter-American school. I live pretty close to it and have walked by a few times without knowing what the heck it was. Then Alice mentioned it- didn't you do student teaching there or something? Anyway, I saw a group of kids with teachers walking near there and asked them if they went to that school. They said yes, and the teacher said it was a great school. It was nice to see the enthusiasm. It is definitely on my list of must-visits.

And I am intrigued by North Park, too. A former co-worker sent his kids there, and they loved it. It seems like a pretty regular school, kind of like the public school I grew up with. By that I mean that I don't think it has any overriding philosophies, or anything particularly progressive going on. But it does seem to have a small, nurturing community. I say all of this never having set foot in the place, but I did talk to representatives at their booths at a couple of fairs. It used to be on my short list, but the last parent I talked to went on and on about all the homework the kindergartners get (she thought it was great) and I started to think it wasn't for us. But I still want to visit and see for myself.

I can't believe how much thought I've already put into this, and how much more I will before dd ever sets foot into a school. She's only 18.5 months old! But I have to admit that I love schools, so I'm definitely having fun doing my research.

Beth
 
#7 ·
I have recently met a woman who is sending her daughter to North Park Elementary and is very pleased with it. She did say, though, that they do a fair amount of fundraising events to keep the tuition at around 6K. Also, I wanted to just point out that Parker and Latin are even worse than someone mentioned. I looked them up just for kicks and they are about 14-16K for preschool and 20K by the time you get to high school. Waldorf, Rogers Park Montessor, and Lycee Francais are all around 9-11K.
 
#8 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by Mizelenius
Hi, Fellow Chicagoans!

My DD is still too young for school (almost 3 years old) but the question of where to send her to school is weighing heavily on my mind!

I am curious as to what fellow MDCers are doing or planning on doing. TIA!
We have Noah on the waiting list to start Kindergarten at a Christian school near us. It is the same distance to the elementary school, so driving there will not be more effort. I was shocked at how low the tuition amount was. I was expecting it to be 5k or more per year, per kid. I was pleasantly surprised that we pay more now to Kindercare for full time daycare. Since we have already absorbed that cost into our budget, private school is very do-able for us.
 
#9 ·
Hi Elena -

We talked about this via e-mail, but I thought that I would still respond to this thread. My 5 year old is at a half-day kindergarten at a Chicago Public School on the far NW side across the street from our house. For now it is working pretty well for us. He likes it, and that is the most important thing!

He attended our parish Catholic school for preschool and I loved the teacher and I kind of miss the small, warm feeling of that, but overall I am pleased with his current school. I think it is a strong school in terms of academics and test scores (for whatever that is worth), I like most of the teachers and the administrators, and there is a group of active parents that I respect.

I looked at all the options and visited most of the schools that I was considering - 2 Waldorf schools, 1 Montessori, 3 Catholic schools, a bunch of CPS magnet, gifted and neighborhood schools. I never really considered North Park, but I know people who are happy with the school. But it seems to me that the parents that I know with kids at North Park would send their kids to a CPS school if their neighborhood school was a good option.

There are things that I like about different programs and my goal now is to incorporate what I like best from different approachs and aim to give my kids the most eclectic well rounded education. We go to Waldorf festivals, we do yoga together, we go to LLL meetings, he attends a Montessori based religious ed program and he attends children's liturgy on Sunday with the kids he went to preschool with, we do park district programs...

The thing that I miss is that I was hoping that when my children were "school aged" that I would find a community where I would feel that we were all grounded as a family - so I guess I sort of wish we were at a private or parochial school, or even more based within the homeschooling community. A public school is great for its diversity, but in all that diversity it can be hard to find like-minded parents that you click with.

But there were several reasons that the CPS school was best for us at this point - we could afford Catholic schools but not any other private school and we decided our CPS school was stronger than the Catholic schools in our neighborhood. And since the school is across the street from our house, it is pretty ideal. I could see myself homeschooling my kids during the middle school years if the school environment is not right for them, but for now school is a good match for my son. I expect to send our kids to Catholic highschools.

Gosh, this is long and rambling! Anyway, that is my "short answer".
Kathleen
 
#10 ·
Former Chi Town mama here--I used to live across the alley from North Park. Just across Damen, in the same neighborhood, is Pilgrim Lutheran. If you aren't opposed to a non-secular education, you may want to look there. It's a small school, fairly inexpensive, and I know many happy pupils and former pupils.

I'll go back to my quiet homeschooling life in Philadelphia now. Sorry to intrude, just thought I'd suggest another option.
 
#11 ·
My friends daughter goes to Subury school. I think that you can find it online. They love it, although it is unschooling and WAY less expensive than everything else. All the kids are in school together, its kind of like the older kids are the younger kids mentors.I think that it is very affordable, and you can work for the school to lessen the toution. I too thought Waldorf was a great school, then I read up and we recently went to the holiday fair...It was so bazaro. It was like they breed fragile children. We defintley cannot afford private school. Ever, no matter how hard we work. I also have other friends that send their kids to Disney, which is a magnet school near LSD and Montrose. They love it. She loves it. We are still pushing around the idea of homeschooling, although thoses few hours a week of mom and dad time sure would be awsome. Good luck in all your choices mamas.

darkstar
 
#12 ·
I attended Disney a looong time ago from K-6. I liked it a lot. Then my mom transferred me to catholic school in 7th grade & I was so unhappy there. (Not saying all Catholic schools are bad, I just had a bad experience.) I'm already nervous about where to send DS. Trying to convince DH to homeschool (He's really smart-but super busy). I was wondering if there was some kind of homeschooling co-op...I'll have to check. Good luck searchin'!

Jennifer
 
#14 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by mimim
Also, I think that public education, at least in theory, is an important part of our society. I believe that more consciencious parents need to send there children to urban public schools before we'll see any big improvements.
Molly, I totally, 100% agree with you. While I don't want my children to be "guinea pigs," I certainly feel some sense of responsibility in sending my kids to the public school system (and the local PS at that, although I think it helps to know it's a magnet). The system will never get better if educated, involved parents don't demand it. That's my take anyway. I don't know if my opinion would change if I could afford private school, but I tend to think it wouldn't. I went to public schools all the way through and I'm sure that has a lot to do with it (especially when I compare myself to my husband's family members who all had private school educations and seem to have a very closed view of the world [which may just be who they are and not a reflection of how their educations were funded]).
 
#15 ·
I was hoping to be able to send my son there someday, but I have seen a few negative references to it. Could someone help me out and tell me a little more about those experiences. Right now my son goes to our local CPS, which is really good in most ways, but swamps the kids with homework, presumably to keep test scores high like they like them. There is a nice bit of diversity (not huge). I heard the same thing about the large amount of homework re: North Park elem. from a mom at the school fair. Can anyone tell me more about Namaste or Drummond (newly Montessori) magnet? Thanks
 
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