I am looking for comments/recommendations for public elementary schools in the Bucktown/Wicker park area. My son is only 2 but we are hoping to buy a house this spring in that area that we hope to be in for a long time. Any feedback about the public schools would be greatly appreciated. I am also curious if the schools are magnet (if you have to test to get into them) or neighborhood schools. Thanks!
LaSalle II Magnet
Pulaski Fine Arts
Columbus Elementary(we are here for pre-k...love it!)
Burr Elementary
Lasalle has an open house coming up...Their registration due date for 2010 is 12/18(I believe most of them are in December)
These are all good CPS schools. PM me if you want more info on the Lasalle open house...I have the info somewhere in my email!
Good luck!
Good timing on your question. There is a Bucktown Community Meeting this Tuesday. SEE BELOW.
The 411 on Public Schools in Chicago, and Presentations from the Leadership of Bucktown's 5 Great Schools!
Burr . CICS Bucktown . Drummond . Pulaski . St Mary's
Have a child approaching school age? Don't want to buy a minivan and move to the suburbs? You do have choices, and Bucktown has several excellent elementary schools that are worth consideration. You can spend dozens of hours doing the research yourself, or you can join us at the 5th Annual BCO Education Forum and get all the information you need in one night.
We start the first hour with a presentation by a representative of Chicago Public Schools covering Magnet Schools, Attendance Boundaries, Lotteries, Siblings, Gifted Programs. Immediately followed by presentations by the leadership from each and every Bucktown elementary school - Burr, Drummond Montessori, Chicago International Charter School - Bucktown, Pulaski Fine Art, and St. Mary of the Angels.
The second hour will be open for one-on-one questioning. On hand will be Principals, Teachers and Parent Representatives from each school. Get a feel for what the school is about from the Principals and Teachers. Ask parents how they like the school. All in one place - one night.
If you have a young child, you will not spend a better two hours this year!
Hi M.,
I have 2 sons at Drummond Montessori Magnet school at Cortland and Honore. One is in the 2nd grade and one is in the PreK. I think they're accepting applications now. Because it is a magnet school, it is a lottery as to whether you'll be accepted, so definitely apply to any and all schools that you are interested in! The PreK program is a full day from 9am until 2:45 with a nap for the preK kids. Your son will need to be 3 as of next September 1st to be eligible and pretty well potty-trained. We've been at the school for 3 years now and love the Montessori curriculum. The classes are multi-age, meaning the 3, 4 and 5 year-olds are together, then the 6, 7 and 8 year-olds, etc. within each classroom. The kids really seem to like that aspect and definitely take pride in mentoring the younger ones in their class. The school just replaced a lot of asphalt with green lawn and garden which will offer classes the chance to participate in gardening projects. If you have any specific questions about the school, feel free to email me directly! Good luck in your search!
One of the schools in the area is a Montessori school. I don't remember which one.
I used to live in the neighborhood near Pulaski school. It was ok, except the teachers were more fluent in Spanish than English. I want my child to learn Spanish, but not improper English. They showed me a calendar for the Pre school.. one side English.. the other side of the paper was in Spanish. The English side was full of misspelled words and improper grammar. That's not exactly impressive to me. We moved to La Grange. I loved my house in Bucktown and living in the city.. but you can not beat the size of my backyard or the quality of the public schools in La Grange.
Hi M.!
You should go to the Chicago Public Schools website, because they have school listings according to the area you live in.
All the Best!
