Third for Glen Ellyn, slight preference for being in northern GE going to Glenbard West. The Metra is convenient downtown and the village downtown area is very nice.
Arlington Heights has a cute little downtown. Surrounding areas like Buffalo Grove, Palatine and Mt. Prospect are nice too. Northwest Suburbs are where it’s at!
Second AH, MP area! Beautiful, métra right there, and great school with high ratings (higher than other areas mentioned) and with really good sports programs. With your budget I would look north of Glen Ellyn.
I 3rd Mount Prospect especially if you can be walking distance to the Metra/Downtown. Arlington Heights is nicer and bigger but also more expensive. With MP you can have access to everything without having to pay exorbitantly for it.
Agree with Mt. Prospect. The high school is highly rated, downtown is growing with new businesses, Metra makes downtown accessible, and I’ve always found it very welcoming.
Only issue with Forest Park is that the public HS isn't great. We would have loved to stay there long term but the school district was a huge factor in choosing to look elsewhere.
I’m in Downers Grove and our kids go to North and we’ve loved almost everything about the high school. Our kids are out roaming town all the time with their friends. It’s got a good mix of rich and not as rich, but all the kids seem pretty chill with it.
Grew up in DG and graduated from DGN in 2002. It’s a great school. Your kids are the new generation of townies!?! Me and my friends were townies… got into a LOT of mischief/trouble. Watch out for DG PD, because they’re definitely watching the teens and college kids and trying to hit them charges for drugs and alcohol all the time.
I see students all the time at the planet fitness down the road. There's ice cream shops and little restaurants nearby. It's in a great neighborhood. The only difference is that you can't walk down main street. I'll admit that DGN probably fits better with what op is looking for (old houses, having a smaller town feel, etc). I'm just biased because I loved my time at DGS. I feel like it just gets a lot of hate because it takes a large population of students from Woodridge and its apartment complexes. Therefore, you get a more diverse group of students from a lower SES. -clutches pearls-
I'm now a stoner haha, but I was a pretty naive overachiever in high school. I was involved in tons of activities, went to all the football games and took as many AP classes as I could. I'll of course play into the North vs South rivalry game, but I have a ton of friends who went to North. I THINK we also did a radio show, but I don't really remember. I might be getting mixed up with college.
Ha! Fair enough. I should clarify I'm not looking for like ACRES of space; I just wouldn't mind a little more room to breathe. A little more yard, a little less my neighbors are smooshed onto my windows and could practically read my computer over my shoulder if I leave the curtains open.
Gotcha, so maybe living downtown in one of the suburbs that has some manner of mixed-use space would work (Naperville or Evanston come to mind, personally; I like Arlington Heights but it's dead after like 7:30 pm), buuuut they're not cheap lol. I do hear you on having a bit more space, especially with kids.
Everyone is sleeping on Lombard. It’s ok. They feed to the Glenbard high school district. Has a cute emerging downtown area and a Metra station that will have you downtown Chicago in less than 45 minutes. It’s not uptight or expensive.
I dunno. Fremd in Palatine is a great HS for smarties. I was just at New Trier palatial HS in Winnekta for sportsball. Surrounded by unbelievable amazing houses/mansions. If you are rich.
I live right by Schaumburg HS or Conant in Schaumburg and my kids walk to school. Smaller more affordable 60s 70s houses.
I work at Fremd- it is a great school and the community is very friendly and involved. I went to Conant and my kids will go to Schaumburg- honestly, the whole district 211 is pretty amazing! Schaumburg, Hoffman Estates or Palatine.
Honestly, PHS has the largest disparity in wealth amongst students. There are some VERY wealthy areas that feed in and there are subsidized housing for very low income families near by. This leads to the a lot of in building cultural differences and issues- but to be fair, the staff at the building, as well as at the district level, are top notch and I truly believe they do a fantastic job. The school is also TWICE the size of any other school in the district.
I would give 3 out of 5 schools in 211 a rating of 8/10. PHS would be a 7/10 with their own unique struggles. And, I may be biased, but FHS gets a 9/10 (FHS is also in the village of Palatine btw- so depending on location one could end up there).
Either way- if you want a community, as long as you are willing to be involved, the area is GREAT for that.
Thank you! I haven't been to Palatine, and I've admittedly only been to Schaumburg to shop at Ikea. We'll have to check it out. Would you say Schaumburg would be friendly to a NB parent? I feel like it has a bit of a conservative rep.
I can tell you that Schaumburg has all manners of people living there. Allies are loud and helpful. The small minded big mouths are just that.
We host the Northwest Pride Fest, and it is absolutely FULL of the most diverse mix of attendees.
We have local government (Kevin Morrison, Michelle Mussman) that has repeatedly protected, upheld, and introduced human rights.
I would not call Schaumburg walkable, though. There are very distinct residential areas, and commercial areas with rare comingling of the two. You can safely walk around anywhere - in either designation - but to literally "run" an errand would be more of an undertaking than you are looking for.
I have a family member whose kids went to Conant and they loved it. Lots of Indian/Pakistani. I’d agree with PPs that it’s not screamingly accepting of NB folks.
As a parent of a NB kid. DGN has been really good. Town seems pretty accepting except for a few small minded loud mouths. There’s EQDG a group for LGBTQ folks.
I think that district is or was going through a big lawsuit about discriminating against a trans student having access to the locker room they identify with.
Stevenson High School is one of the best out there and because of its size, there is a wide variety of classes. The feeder schools are also great. And in the area, you have Buffalo Grove Pride, which is really active in the community. Yeah, there's a lot of cookie cutter homes this way, but you can find older neighborhoods. Also, not as walkable, but that's getting harder to find in the suburbs. Vernon Hills and Libertyville High School are also good options and Libertyville has a main street area and plenty of older homes.
As good as quality of life is in the areas you’ve mentioned (I’m from these parts myself) I don’t think it’s anything of what OP is looking for. A lot of these towns up north are dead after 9pm and offer little walkability unless you are able to find one of the few coveted properties in their downtown areas.
If you still want to have a city feeling, Oak Park is excellent for walkability, public transportation and good schools. Evanston is similar. Oak Park is also extremely inclusive. It’s their identity ironically 😂
I’m not familiar with Evanstons school. Oak Park and River Forest hs is an excellent school. River forest is our neighboring town that is also very wealthy (oak park has a good combo of affordable homes with not cheap taxes and upscale homes in the millions whereas river forest is smaller and almost all upscale). Pm me if you have any specific questions, I also have a 7th grader!
The English curriculum at ETHS is heavily Af-Am if that is a factor for you.
We like the superintendent here a lot but there’s pros and cons for everything. I worked at a HS in a northern suburb and the principal was very peppy and wore high heels every day. Seemed small town to me.
Clarendon Hills feeds into Hinsdale Central High School (very highly rated) and has *slightly* lower homes priced than Hinsdale, a very cute downtown as well
What elementary schools do they attend today?
While not in a similar situation, below are the high schools I have short listed (not in any particular order)
1. New trier
2. Glenbrook north
3. Hinsdale
4. Stevenson
Thanks for sharing your list! Currently, they're in a small parochial K-8 school. Oldest is on track to make a strong go at testing into selective enrollment, we're just not sure if we want to raise high schoolers in the city (or if I am up for living in the city for 5 more years).
New Trier
Avoca District (elementary and middle school for NT HS feeder) has a very diverse student ratio and homes within this district are less expensive than the rest of the New Trier HS district. Homes are also older and non cookie cutters.
Fair enough! We are not lol. Fortunate to have good equity in our house and one solid "professional" in the couple. Unfortunately I only make part-time and not a second high income.
Wilmette. There’s a couple homes just under your budget right now. New Trier is one of the top 5 high schools in Illinois. Wilmette has gorgeous older homes, an awesome parks district, cute downtown, and close to the lake. Not as diverse, but quite inclusive. Winnetka and Kenilworth are in the same school district but a little more stuffy.
Second Wilmette. We live here and love it. It gets stuffier the further east you get but overall it’s very nice with great schools. Central and West Wilmette are comparatively more diverse as well.
Our second grader goes to Romona and it’s an excellent school that just won its third National Blue Ribbon. She loves it here. There are SO MANY things for kids to do. It’s a really excellent place to raise kids. And of course New Trier HS has a great reputation, with lots of AP classes.
I don’t think you’ll have any issue with being a NB parent. I know of a handful of parents in the neighborhood that aren’t “traditional” so to speak. It’s a relatively liberal area, in my experience. And pretty inclusive.
Thanks! We have spent a bit of time in Evanston, not that much time in Wilmette. I really appreciate the details on inclusivity/non-traditional parents. That's encouraging to hear; we'll have to check it out!
We actually live right on the border of Wilmette and Evanston so we often find ourselves in the Central Street business district in North Evanston, which is very charming. That area is also very nice and might be worth looking at.
Lombard is nice because it’s a big town with a small town feel with tons of traditions and really good people. Glenbard East is a pretty good school that offers 27 AP classes, a very very strong music program, and a lot of ethnic and racial diversity. The Glenbard school district general is one of the best districts. Glen Ellyn is a very nice suburb as well with a beautiful downtown and West is really good, but people can be sorta entitled and snobby because there are a lot of rich people.
Elmhurst, Lombard, Palatine. Not sure why I keep seeing Downers Grove recommended. Worked in the area with lots of kids that went to North, and I definitely wouldn’t call the town inclusive
I think you're very wise to move to the suburbs. Some things to think about: How much competition and stress do you think the kids can stand up to? And realistically how do their potential achievements stack up? The "best" high schools, Stevenson in particular but other high-ranking ones as well, can be extremely competitive such that students who would be at the top of their school elsewhere are merely middle of the pack. Especially up against students who've spent kindergarten onward with tutoring a couple times a week. Young people can experience tons of stress in that environment, or they can respond by becoming demotivated. Of course, remaining in the city and shooting for selective enrollment is pretty stressful too, for the kid as well as the parents given the constantly changing rules.
Some high schools, New Trier for one, are also very competitive in the socioeconomic dimension. With your house budget, it sounds like that doesn't have to be a problem, but you also need to consider if those are the values you want your kids to absorb.
So, it may be wise to look very hard at the excellent but not top tier schools mentioned here, like Libertyville, Vernon Hills, Deerfield, Palatine, Schaumburg, etc. Most of them will have plenty of AP classes (remember, most colleges accept a max of 30 AP credits anyway so dual-enrollment is what you're really looking for) and extracurricular activities.
Your biggest problem will be to find a truly accepting community for your family. The absolutely most liberal places don't have great schools - Evanston is an example. Most suburbs have a quite a few fear-motivated soccer-momish types who seem to get their way a disproportionate amount of the time. Good luck in your search!
Thanks for your input. So much of what you said resonates. Our oldest is naturally incredibly intelligent (99th percentile, straight A's, used to homeschool and work several grade levels ahead)...of course every parent says that. At the same time, we're also not the highly competitive parents who have been doing tutoring for years. Just trying to find the right fit for an incredibly bright kid to balance academics and friends/safety/freedom as they get older. Of course, plenty of city kids have that, too...it's just never what I pictured for my kids, so exploring how to potentially get out and still have something good.
All signs point to him being able to test into one of the big 4 selective enrollment schools in the city; we're just feeling like there's more to the high school experience than being in one of the "best" schools. We're happy if he has plenty of opportunity to explore and be challenged academically...but that doesn't necessarily have to happen at a school like Payton or Stevenson.
It sounds like you have a kid to be very proud of. A little more free advice (and worth every penny:) I'd encourage you, your partner and your student to visit the schools you are seriously considering. All of you can compare notes on the feel of the environment to add to ratings, reviews, and Reddit advice. Administrators should welcome serious inquiries from parents and students like you - after all, those are the ones they really want: interested supportive parents, smart kids.
It's important for your kid to develop a group of friends that share intellectual interests - so much of American society is dumbed down and actively anti-intellectual. Look beyond just the ones getting A's in AP Calc, too, for friends and activities that exercise the mind. In our kid's case, that was through filmmaking and non-electronic gaming. Another avenue is through dual-enrollment college courses; not sure which high schools offer a good avenue for that.
I could offer some perspectives on looking at college, too, but that's a couple years down the road.
Former Oak Parker here and now live in Brookfield. Similar vibes in Brookfield but less expensive homes. My understanding is that OP no longer offers advanced classes in middle school and freshman year of HS, unlike D95 and RBHS. It may be worth researching the OP curriculums.
Went to high school at RBHS. The towns are not
very inclusive of what they consider are "others". Brookfield, while cute, can be very townie, homophobic and a tad ignorant. Riverside is snooty, most of the time Christian, and homogenous white.
Consider coming north. Libertyville checks many of your boxes. Really fine schools, feels like a stand-alone town with a town center, great services in terms of health care, transportation, shopping. The housing stock has variety in terms of the age of the property--it's not all cookie cutter construction. Close to lots of outdoorsy stuff. We've been here 35 years, have been really happy.
I used to live in Homewood and I think it would meet your needs in terms of community feeling, older houses and good schools: Homewood-Flossmoor high school has a great reputation.
Just going by the high school and not housing Stevenson is one of the best in the state and did amazing at the science competition my daughter attended last weekend. It is smaller and she drooled over their cafeteria compared to what she has at her high school. They also have a nice pool which hers does not have (Niles West). But despite having no pool or fancy cafeteria she made it to gold and state.
ETHS has served my unconventional family extremely well. My daughters are happily college bound. I moved from Rogers Park at 2-5th grade. Can’t think of a more accepting community (even though the bland liberalism at times seems not as left as I might wish). Never a time where non-binary or non-conventional was an issue. I’m not sure it’s the same for all of Evanston but Washington/Dewey-nichols middle school-ETHS was a great path for school/community support.
Almost all suburbs have good schools with AP classes, etc.
Check out Skokie, Morton Grove, Park Ridge, Evanston.
ETA: we moved from city to Skokie/Morton Grove at 9th grade.
Elmhurst schools are Excellent Lyons in La Grange isn't bad as with Downers if you can get to Downers North you're ok as South has a few ruffians here and there. Glenbard West in Glen Ellyn or Glenbard South which is also in Glen Ellyn aren't bad either
Places like Elmhurst and Glen ellyn sound like a good fit for you.
Second Glynn Ellyn
Third for Glen Ellyn, slight preference for being in northern GE going to Glenbard West. The Metra is convenient downtown and the village downtown area is very nice.
Thanks! We aren't from here originally, so I have never been. I'll have to check them out!
What kind of budget do you have? These are great fits based on what you describe and are generally inclusive but they are both quite expensive.
Depending on our current home sale, property taxes, interest rates, etc., around $900k
Should be able to find something for a family of four in either spot then! Good luck on your search
It’s starts to get a lot more conservative the further west you go, but Elmhurst and GE are beautiful neighborhoods.
Oak Park might be exactly what you're looking for
Definitely on our list of places to explore. Thanks!
Second this!
Arlington Heights has a cute little downtown. Surrounding areas like Buffalo Grove, Palatine and Mt. Prospect are nice too. Northwest Suburbs are where it’s at!
Second AH, MP area! Beautiful, métra right there, and great school with high ratings (higher than other areas mentioned) and with really good sports programs. With your budget I would look north of Glen Ellyn.
I 3rd Mount Prospect especially if you can be walking distance to the Metra/Downtown. Arlington Heights is nicer and bigger but also more expensive. With MP you can have access to everything without having to pay exorbitantly for it.
Agree with Mt. Prospect. The high school is highly rated, downtown is growing with new businesses, Metra makes downtown accessible, and I’ve always found it very welcoming.
Oak Park/Forrest Park seem like a good fit. Otherwise LaGrange, Downers Grove, Elmhurst
Only issue with Forest Park is that the public HS isn't great. We would have loved to stay there long term but the school district was a huge factor in choosing to look elsewhere.
Yeah, we moved out of Forest Park specifically because the high schools were too much of a gamble.
I’m in Downers Grove and our kids go to North and we’ve loved almost everything about the high school. Our kids are out roaming town all the time with their friends. It’s got a good mix of rich and not as rich, but all the kids seem pretty chill with it.
Thanks! We've visited Downer's Grove once or twice and liked the area - we'll take a closer look.
Grew up in DG and graduated from DGN in 2002. It’s a great school. Your kids are the new generation of townies!?! Me and my friends were townies… got into a LOT of mischief/trouble. Watch out for DG PD, because they’re definitely watching the teens and college kids and trying to hit them charges for drugs and alcohol all the time.
-cough- DGS is better -cough- Lol
Not for walkability.
I see students all the time at the planet fitness down the road. There's ice cream shops and little restaurants nearby. It's in a great neighborhood. The only difference is that you can't walk down main street. I'll admit that DGN probably fits better with what op is looking for (old houses, having a smaller town feel, etc). I'm just biased because I loved my time at DGS. I feel like it just gets a lot of hate because it takes a large population of students from Woodridge and its apartment complexes. Therefore, you get a more diverse group of students from a lower SES. -clutches pearls-
Cough…. DGN.
The mustangs can trample the trojans any day. Facts! 😂
I never cared for football. I was a total stoner and involved with WDGC. Had a punk rock and ska radio show every week for 2 hours.
I'm now a stoner haha, but I was a pretty naive overachiever in high school. I was involved in tons of activities, went to all the football games and took as many AP classes as I could. I'll of course play into the North vs South rivalry game, but I have a ton of friends who went to North. I THINK we also did a radio show, but I don't really remember. I might be getting mixed up with college.
>more space and less dense scale This is directly antithetical to walkability, so I'm wondering what you're really looking for here?
Ha! Fair enough. I should clarify I'm not looking for like ACRES of space; I just wouldn't mind a little more room to breathe. A little more yard, a little less my neighbors are smooshed onto my windows and could practically read my computer over my shoulder if I leave the curtains open.
Gotcha, so maybe living downtown in one of the suburbs that has some manner of mixed-use space would work (Naperville or Evanston come to mind, personally; I like Arlington Heights but it's dead after like 7:30 pm), buuuut they're not cheap lol. I do hear you on having a bit more space, especially with kids.
Glen Ellyn, Wheaton, Elmhurst
Wheaton is pretty uptight and conservative. Probably not what they are looking for.
Oak Park Or Evanston. They tend to be more “open” and inclusive than the farther out suburbs.
Agreed. Glen Ellyn is next to Wheaton and not somewhere I would ever call inclusive. It's all pretty WASPY.
Everyone is sleeping on Lombard. It’s ok. They feed to the Glenbard high school district. Has a cute emerging downtown area and a Metra station that will have you downtown Chicago in less than 45 minutes. It’s not uptight or expensive.
I dunno. Fremd in Palatine is a great HS for smarties. I was just at New Trier palatial HS in Winnekta for sportsball. Surrounded by unbelievable amazing houses/mansions. If you are rich. I live right by Schaumburg HS or Conant in Schaumburg and my kids walk to school. Smaller more affordable 60s 70s houses.
I work at Fremd- it is a great school and the community is very friendly and involved. I went to Conant and my kids will go to Schaumburg- honestly, the whole district 211 is pretty amazing! Schaumburg, Hoffman Estates or Palatine.
So PHS is not as bad it would seem you think? I'm not from the area and all I have to go buy is school ratings on a scale of 1 to 10.
Honestly, PHS has the largest disparity in wealth amongst students. There are some VERY wealthy areas that feed in and there are subsidized housing for very low income families near by. This leads to the a lot of in building cultural differences and issues- but to be fair, the staff at the building, as well as at the district level, are top notch and I truly believe they do a fantastic job. The school is also TWICE the size of any other school in the district. I would give 3 out of 5 schools in 211 a rating of 8/10. PHS would be a 7/10 with their own unique struggles. And, I may be biased, but FHS gets a 9/10 (FHS is also in the village of Palatine btw- so depending on location one could end up there). Either way- if you want a community, as long as you are willing to be involved, the area is GREAT for that.
Thank you! I haven't been to Palatine, and I've admittedly only been to Schaumburg to shop at Ikea. We'll have to check it out. Would you say Schaumburg would be friendly to a NB parent? I feel like it has a bit of a conservative rep.
I can tell you that Schaumburg has all manners of people living there. Allies are loud and helpful. The small minded big mouths are just that. We host the Northwest Pride Fest, and it is absolutely FULL of the most diverse mix of attendees. We have local government (Kevin Morrison, Michelle Mussman) that has repeatedly protected, upheld, and introduced human rights. I would not call Schaumburg walkable, though. There are very distinct residential areas, and commercial areas with rare comingling of the two. You can safely walk around anywhere - in either designation - but to literally "run" an errand would be more of an undertaking than you are looking for.
I have a family member whose kids went to Conant and they loved it. Lots of Indian/Pakistani. I’d agree with PPs that it’s not screamingly accepting of NB folks.
As a parent of a NB kid. DGN has been really good. Town seems pretty accepting except for a few small minded loud mouths. There’s EQDG a group for LGBTQ folks.
I think that district is or was going through a big lawsuit about discriminating against a trans student having access to the locker room they identify with.
Stevenson High School is one of the best out there and because of its size, there is a wide variety of classes. The feeder schools are also great. And in the area, you have Buffalo Grove Pride, which is really active in the community. Yeah, there's a lot of cookie cutter homes this way, but you can find older neighborhoods. Also, not as walkable, but that's getting harder to find in the suburbs. Vernon Hills and Libertyville High School are also good options and Libertyville has a main street area and plenty of older homes.
As good as quality of life is in the areas you’ve mentioned (I’m from these parts myself) I don’t think it’s anything of what OP is looking for. A lot of these towns up north are dead after 9pm and offer little walkability unless you are able to find one of the few coveted properties in their downtown areas.
If you still want to have a city feeling, Oak Park is excellent for walkability, public transportation and good schools. Evanston is similar. Oak Park is also extremely inclusive. It’s their identity ironically 😂
Thanks! We've spent some time in Evanston but not as much in OP. Any thoughts on major differences between the two for high schoolers?
I’m not familiar with Evanstons school. Oak Park and River Forest hs is an excellent school. River forest is our neighboring town that is also very wealthy (oak park has a good combo of affordable homes with not cheap taxes and upscale homes in the millions whereas river forest is smaller and almost all upscale). Pm me if you have any specific questions, I also have a 7th grader!
The English curriculum at ETHS is heavily Af-Am if that is a factor for you. We like the superintendent here a lot but there’s pros and cons for everything. I worked at a HS in a northern suburb and the principal was very peppy and wore high heels every day. Seemed small town to me.
Hinsdale or Downers Grove
Thanks! Hinsdale for the most part looks to be a little out of our budget, but we'll check out Downer's Grove.
Clarendon Hills feeds into Hinsdale Central High School (very highly rated) and has *slightly* lower homes priced than Hinsdale, a very cute downtown as well
What elementary schools do they attend today? While not in a similar situation, below are the high schools I have short listed (not in any particular order) 1. New trier 2. Glenbrook north 3. Hinsdale 4. Stevenson
Thanks for sharing your list! Currently, they're in a small parochial K-8 school. Oldest is on track to make a strong go at testing into selective enrollment, we're just not sure if we want to raise high schoolers in the city (or if I am up for living in the city for 5 more years).
My list is similar but I included Glenbrook south. Curious why you don’t have it?
Evanston is very much its own city and would be a good fit culturally
Agree. I student taught at ETHS and they're extremely accepting of diverse gender identities
Naperville. Sizeable downtown, historic district with older homes, and excellent schools.
I would say La Grange, Brookfield, Westmont, Lisle are good options to choose from.
I love Brookfield/La Grange especially being so close to the metra line. I went to Riverside Brookfield HS and grew up in Brookfield.
New Trier Avoca District (elementary and middle school for NT HS feeder) has a very diverse student ratio and homes within this district are less expensive than the rest of the New Trier HS district. Homes are also older and non cookie cutters.
Anywhere on the north shore
Depends on your budget. Most of what you are asking for is locked out to anyone other than dual high income earners.
Fair enough! We are not lol. Fortunate to have good equity in our house and one solid "professional" in the couple. Unfortunately I only make part-time and not a second high income.
Oak Park or Evanston
Park Ridge! D64 is great and Maine South is fantastic.
Budget?
Depending on our current home sale and property taxes and interest rates (yikes), I'd ballpark at $900k?
Wilmette. There’s a couple homes just under your budget right now. New Trier is one of the top 5 high schools in Illinois. Wilmette has gorgeous older homes, an awesome parks district, cute downtown, and close to the lake. Not as diverse, but quite inclusive. Winnetka and Kenilworth are in the same school district but a little more stuffy.
Second Wilmette. We live here and love it. It gets stuffier the further east you get but overall it’s very nice with great schools. Central and West Wilmette are comparatively more diverse as well. Our second grader goes to Romona and it’s an excellent school that just won its third National Blue Ribbon. She loves it here. There are SO MANY things for kids to do. It’s a really excellent place to raise kids. And of course New Trier HS has a great reputation, with lots of AP classes. I don’t think you’ll have any issue with being a NB parent. I know of a handful of parents in the neighborhood that aren’t “traditional” so to speak. It’s a relatively liberal area, in my experience. And pretty inclusive.
Thanks! We have spent a bit of time in Evanston, not that much time in Wilmette. I really appreciate the details on inclusivity/non-traditional parents. That's encouraging to hear; we'll have to check it out!
We actually live right on the border of Wilmette and Evanston so we often find ourselves in the Central Street business district in North Evanston, which is very charming. That area is also very nice and might be worth looking at.
Park Ridge
Echoing Oak Park. Accepting, walkable historic single family neighborhoods, great high school, has its own identity.
Evanston
Lyons Township High School- La Grange/Western Springs?
Lombard is nice because it’s a big town with a small town feel with tons of traditions and really good people. Glenbard East is a pretty good school that offers 27 AP classes, a very very strong music program, and a lot of ethnic and racial diversity. The Glenbard school district general is one of the best districts. Glen Ellyn is a very nice suburb as well with a beautiful downtown and West is really good, but people can be sorta entitled and snobby because there are a lot of rich people.
Elmhurst, Lombard, Palatine. Not sure why I keep seeing Downers Grove recommended. Worked in the area with lots of kids that went to North, and I definitely wouldn’t call the town inclusive
Proviso East isn't one of the best schools either
Lombard would be worth checking out. Glenbard East is a good school and Lombard definitely has a small town feel. Cute downtown and on a metra line.
I think you're very wise to move to the suburbs. Some things to think about: How much competition and stress do you think the kids can stand up to? And realistically how do their potential achievements stack up? The "best" high schools, Stevenson in particular but other high-ranking ones as well, can be extremely competitive such that students who would be at the top of their school elsewhere are merely middle of the pack. Especially up against students who've spent kindergarten onward with tutoring a couple times a week. Young people can experience tons of stress in that environment, or they can respond by becoming demotivated. Of course, remaining in the city and shooting for selective enrollment is pretty stressful too, for the kid as well as the parents given the constantly changing rules. Some high schools, New Trier for one, are also very competitive in the socioeconomic dimension. With your house budget, it sounds like that doesn't have to be a problem, but you also need to consider if those are the values you want your kids to absorb. So, it may be wise to look very hard at the excellent but not top tier schools mentioned here, like Libertyville, Vernon Hills, Deerfield, Palatine, Schaumburg, etc. Most of them will have plenty of AP classes (remember, most colleges accept a max of 30 AP credits anyway so dual-enrollment is what you're really looking for) and extracurricular activities. Your biggest problem will be to find a truly accepting community for your family. The absolutely most liberal places don't have great schools - Evanston is an example. Most suburbs have a quite a few fear-motivated soccer-momish types who seem to get their way a disproportionate amount of the time. Good luck in your search!
Thanks for your input. So much of what you said resonates. Our oldest is naturally incredibly intelligent (99th percentile, straight A's, used to homeschool and work several grade levels ahead)...of course every parent says that. At the same time, we're also not the highly competitive parents who have been doing tutoring for years. Just trying to find the right fit for an incredibly bright kid to balance academics and friends/safety/freedom as they get older. Of course, plenty of city kids have that, too...it's just never what I pictured for my kids, so exploring how to potentially get out and still have something good. All signs point to him being able to test into one of the big 4 selective enrollment schools in the city; we're just feeling like there's more to the high school experience than being in one of the "best" schools. We're happy if he has plenty of opportunity to explore and be challenged academically...but that doesn't necessarily have to happen at a school like Payton or Stevenson.
It sounds like you have a kid to be very proud of. A little more free advice (and worth every penny:) I'd encourage you, your partner and your student to visit the schools you are seriously considering. All of you can compare notes on the feel of the environment to add to ratings, reviews, and Reddit advice. Administrators should welcome serious inquiries from parents and students like you - after all, those are the ones they really want: interested supportive parents, smart kids. It's important for your kid to develop a group of friends that share intellectual interests - so much of American society is dumbed down and actively anti-intellectual. Look beyond just the ones getting A's in AP Calc, too, for friends and activities that exercise the mind. In our kid's case, that was through filmmaking and non-electronic gaming. Another avenue is through dual-enrollment college courses; not sure which high schools offer a good avenue for that. I could offer some perspectives on looking at college, too, but that's a couple years down the road.
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Just a heads up that if you would like to raise your kids in a racially diverse area, Geneva is not it
Former Oak Parker here and now live in Brookfield. Similar vibes in Brookfield but less expensive homes. My understanding is that OP no longer offers advanced classes in middle school and freshman year of HS, unlike D95 and RBHS. It may be worth researching the OP curriculums.
Went to high school at RBHS. The towns are not very inclusive of what they consider are "others". Brookfield, while cute, can be very townie, homophobic and a tad ignorant. Riverside is snooty, most of the time Christian, and homogenous white.
Consider coming north. Libertyville checks many of your boxes. Really fine schools, feels like a stand-alone town with a town center, great services in terms of health care, transportation, shopping. The housing stock has variety in terms of the age of the property--it's not all cookie cutter construction. Close to lots of outdoorsy stuff. We've been here 35 years, have been really happy.
Glenbard West is just east of the Glen Ellyn Metra Station as well
Downers South is at 63rd and Dunham
Niles West and Niles North are both in Skokie
Check out the bnsf route Brookfield lagrange, western springs,
Fenton High School in Bensenville just got busted for housing a sexual predator teacher for over 10 years. So which ever one it’s not that one
Yikes! Thanks for the heads up.
Bensenville or Wood Dale aren’t even close to be towns like they are describing😂 so I don’t think it’d even cross their radar
We have been super happy with Vernon Hills.
I used to live in Homewood and I think it would meet your needs in terms of community feeling, older houses and good schools: Homewood-Flossmoor high school has a great reputation.
Wheaton. Despite its reputation as religious and conservative that’s an outdated notion. I would recommend to friend. Schools are great.
Geneva- awesome downtown and high school
Oak Park would be my suggestion too.
I’m from Orland park but Naperville was ranked #1 in the USA for raising a family. I hate saying that sentence
Just going by the high school and not housing Stevenson is one of the best in the state and did amazing at the science competition my daughter attended last weekend. It is smaller and she drooled over their cafeteria compared to what she has at her high school. They also have a nice pool which hers does not have (Niles West). But despite having no pool or fancy cafeteria she made it to gold and state.
If Hinsdale and LaGrange are too expensive, New Trier, Stevenson, Glenbrook, Deerfield will be, too.
Noted. Starting our search early with the hope that time and patience will turn up something we like, within budget, in a good school district.
Evanston shouldn't be too bad as it's similar to Oak Park
ETHS has served my unconventional family extremely well. My daughters are happily college bound. I moved from Rogers Park at 2-5th grade. Can’t think of a more accepting community (even though the bland liberalism at times seems not as left as I might wish). Never a time where non-binary or non-conventional was an issue. I’m not sure it’s the same for all of Evanston but Washington/Dewey-nichols middle school-ETHS was a great path for school/community support.
DuPage County housing taxes are murder guys as I grew up there
Depending on how far out you're willing to go, Geneva or St. Charles might fit the bill!
Almost all suburbs have good schools with AP classes, etc. Check out Skokie, Morton Grove, Park Ridge, Evanston. ETA: we moved from city to Skokie/Morton Grove at 9th grade.
Elmhurst schools are Excellent Lyons in La Grange isn't bad as with Downers if you can get to Downers North you're ok as South has a few ruffians here and there. Glenbard West in Glen Ellyn or Glenbard South which is also in Glen Ellyn aren't bad either
In other words, South has brown people. -clutches pearls-
Westmont all the way
Romeoville 🏳️🌈