Well since the CPS strike began I can’t stop thinking about schools and where to send our son.  Now I’m not one to see a strike and start counting my pennies in order to send my kid to private school.  I’m still pro public school and I know they will figure out the contracts and it will be business as usual soon enough.  It sounds like the ‘situation’ goes far deeper than I know, so we’ll just leave it at that.

Even though our son is only teetering on pre-school age I’m starting to do some digging on where to send him.  I have heard rumors that it can be quite cut throat so here are some tips that can give us the edge on your top schools.

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Neighborhood Parents Network (NPN) has a great network that is for members only.  There is a small annual fee that will put you in the know from babysitters to playgroups to (below) school fairs.

http://www.npnparents.org/school-fairs

NPN Annual Preschool & Elementary School Fair (open to members only)
• WHEN: Saturday, October 13, 2012, Parents RSVP for 1hour time slots to help us manage attendance
• WHAT: NPN brings together more than 130 exhibitors to give our NPN member families unparalleled access to representatives of public and private schools, enrichment programs, family friendly businesses, and nonprofits. Each year, nearly 1,000 parents turn to NPN to help them navigate Chicago school search by attending this event.
• WHO: NPN Members/Adults only Event. Free admission. RSVP is required. Parent RSVP will open in September.
• WHERE: Grossinger City Autoplex, 1561 N. Fremont
• REGISTRATION: https://secured.npnparents.org/exhibitors/new/534
Parent registration opens one month prior to the event and accessible only to NPN members. Your membership must be current to RSVP. Click to renew or join.

NPN Developmental Differences Resource Fair
• WHEN: February 2013, 10 am – 2pm
• WHAT: Our first school fair dedicated to improving Chicago families resources, school programs, service providers, and nonprofits that focus on serving parents of children with developmental differences. Categories of needs include, but are not limited to, sensory processing disorder,autism, ADD/ADHD, PDD-NOS, mixed receptive-expressive language disorder, Down Syndrome, and physical disabilities. PLUS 3 workshops!
• WHO: Open to the public. Free admission. RSVP is not required.
• WHERE: Gordon Tech High School, 3633 N. California Ave.

With that here is a list of the 2012 top elementary & High Schools in Chicago.  I’m sure you will be able to find a great school in your current neighborhood, or if you decide to make a move use the schools as a guide on where you may want to live.

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TOP 20 ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS IN CHICAGO
SCHOOL NEIGHBORHOOD GRADES ENROLL-
MENT
% LOW
INCOME
SPENDING PER PUPIL CLASS
SIZE

ISAT
1 Decatur Classical School West Ridge K-6 283 17.7 $7,946 26.5 100
2 Edison Regional Gifted Center Albany Park K-8 269 8.9 $7,946 28 100
3 Skinner North Classical School Near North Side K-3 165 28.5 $7,946 28.5 100
4 Keller Regional Gifted Center Mount Greenwood 1-8 244 15.6 $7,946 29 100
5 Poe Elementary Classical School Pullman K-6 192 47.4 $7,946 26 99.2
6 Lenart Regional Gifted Center West Chatham PK-8 322 28.3 $7,946 34 100
7 Skinner West Elementary School Near West Side PK-8 718 26.7 $7,946 29 99.3
8 Edgebrook Elementary School Edgebrook K-8 455 11.9 $7,946 26 97.5
9 McDade Classical School Chatham K-6 196 34.7 $7,946 29 98.9
10 Andrew Jackson Language Academy University Village K-8 550 32.2 $7,946 29 98
11 Bell Elementary School North Center K-8 947 20.3 $7,946 27.8 96.2
12 Hawthorne Scholastic Academy Lake View K-8 561 17.3 $7,946 32 97.6
13 Blaine Elementary School Lake View PK-8 915 22.3 $7,946 26 95.1
14 Lincoln Elementary School Lincoln Park K-8 742 14 $7,946 30 96.3
15 Oriole Park Elementary School Norwood Park PK-8 646 16.7 $7,946 23.3 94.7
16 Mount Greenwood Elementary School Mount Greenwood PK-8 837 30 $7,946 28.8 95.1
17 South Loop Elementary School South Loop PK-8 693 35.4 $7,946 30.7 95.4
18 Burley Elementary School Lake View PK-8 566 25.8 $7,946 26.5 94.7
19 LaSalle Language Academy Old Town K-8 571 22.1 $7,946 32 95.2
20 Sauganash Elementary School Sauganash K-8 551 29.4 $7,946 29.5 94.9
TOP 15 HIGH SCHOOLS IN CHICAGO
SCHOOL NEIGHBORHOOD ENROLLMENT % LOW
INCOME
SPENDING PER PUPIL GRADUAION
RATE
ACT PSAE
1 Northside College Prep High School North Park 1,086 34.8 $7,946 100 29.2 100
2 Walter Payton College Prep High School Old Town 893 33.1 $7,946 98.8 28.3 95
3 Whitney Young Magnet High School Near West Side 2,160 38.5 $7,946 96.2 26.6 96.1
4 Jones College Prep High School South Loop 844 53.2 $7,946 92.9 25.2 92.8
5 Brooks College Prep Academy Roseland 764 85.3 $7,946 94.1 21.7 70.5
6 Lane Technical High School North Center 4,161 60.6 $7,946 88.5 23.3 88
7 Lincoln Park High School Lincoln Park 2,273 56.1 $7,946 90.6 22.1 61.2
8 Devry Advantage Academy High School North Center 221 75.1 $7,946 100 19.7 68.4
9 King College Prep High School Kenwood 925 72.2 $7,946 86.6 20.2 56.9
10 Von Steuben Metropolitan Science Center North Park 1,659 74.9 $7,946 86.5 20.4 55.6
11 Lindblom Math and Science Academy West Englewood 878 69.8 $7,946 81.5 21.6 76.8
12 Noble Street College Prep West Town 5,330 88 $7,946 89.7 19.9 50.4
13 Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences Mount Greenwood 586 52.6 $7,946 82.5 20 59.1
14 Chicago Virtual Charter School N/A 564 61.7 $7,946 81.8 20.1 43.8
15 Kenwood Academy High School Kenwood 1,829 78.2 $7,946 85.1 18.9 45.4

NOTES: All data are from 2010-11. Class size is for first grade. Low income is the percentage of students who qualify for free or reduced lunch. ISAT is a composite percentage of students who meet or exceed minimum state standards on the Illinois Standards achievement Test. ACT is an average for student performance on the ACT college entrance exam (36 is the highest possible score). PSAE is the percentage of 11th graders who meet or exceed minimum state standards on the Prairie State Achievement Examination. SOURCE: Illinois State Board of Education

PLUS: How they ranked the schools:

Of the many statistics that reflect academic quality, say education experts, the most revealing tend to be students’ test scores, spending per pupil, pupil-teacher ratio (for elementary schools), and graduation rate (for high schools).

Using data from state report cards for the 2010-11 academic year (the most recent available), Chicago assigned points to each public school in the metro area based on how well it compares with its peers on those key measures. We then weighted the results to calculate our rankings (see formulas below). Because all Chicago public schools report the same amount spent per student—$7,946—we excluded the figure for CPS rankings.

Of course, many factors go into making the right choice for your child. Use these rankings as a starting point.

CHICAGO

Elementary schools

  • Average class size in first grade: 33.3 percent (This is a better measure than CPS’s district-wide pupil-teacher ratio.)
  • Percentage of students who meet or exceed state standards on the ISAT: 66.7 percent

High schools

  • Graduation rate: 33.3 percent
  • Average ACT score: 33.3 percent
  • Percentage of students who meet or exceed state standards on PSAE: 33.3 percent

Enjoy Chicago!

Juliana

For your real estate needs and beyond look to your Chicago Real Estate Family, The Yeager Team, every time.

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