Ray williams is A HORRIBLE SCHOOL, and this is why. As a student at ray i feel very picked on, and…read morebullied always being the first one to get into trouble when MULTIPLE kids have done worse than me. this is very unacceptable, the teacher and staff are so rude, FOR NO REASON AT ALL! students are bullied every day for there own likings, we barely learn anything at this school and the afterschool programs are even worse, its like they dont try and then the security is very noisy when its not there business or time to even be there. they don't do there job in protecting the students from being picked on they mainly take it as a joke. Or laughs and giggles. If u want to send your child here get ready for the amount of money you will be paying to the school. It's fundraisers with every single fun activity. the staff are like puppets being controlled by the principal and assistant principal. SO DO NOT SEND UR CHILD HERE!!!!

Just wanted to give kudos to Ray's current administration. Principal Megan Thole and Assistant…read morePrincipal Gayle Harris-Neely are a super duo! They have brought the teachers and staff together, welcomed parents and leveraged their desire to help, and always put the students first. Always. My 8 year old son has been at Ray since he was 3. He has always loved the school and his teachers have been so great. I am helping through a newly established partnerships committee and have seen new robotics, coding, dance, and philosophy classes offered to kids after school. Pilot Light brought top-notch Chicago chefs to teach the 3rd graders science/social studies through cooking. The school is fun and engaging, and although there are always things to work on, I am happy that my family is part of it.

We sent our sons there from P3 through 8th grade. The school was a great place for my two Black…read moreboys and they both really thrived there. I really appreciated that the school met them where they were at and built from there. I can say that of nearly every teacher they had during their 11 years at Ancona. The community is very engaged and feels like a small village in a big city. The results have been great as both of my sons have done great in HS, socially and academically, building on the foundation Ancona gave them.

My granddaughter attends this school. This is her first year. We had the opportunity to attend her…read moreChristmas program, which was very organized and well done. we also like the way they stress independent thinking.

I love studying here. The great history of the school is such an inspiration, every day I come into…read morethe school and get excited to learn, what all these exciting teachers have to say. Life is good at U-High, and everyday I love life here!

From the owner: Founded by the renowned educator John Dewey in 1896 and located in Hyde Park, the University of…read moreChicago Laboratory Schools are among the nation\ u2019s best.Being part of the University of Chicago means that the importance of intellectual lifeof thought and explorationinfuses everything we do across all aspects of our curriculum. Families who choose Lab care deeply about curiosity, inquiry, and creativity. All are attracted to a diverse community and an environment that creates and nurtures the habits of expansive thinking and complex problem-solving.Life after Labprepared for success in college and beyond Virtually all Lab alumni go on to graduate from a four-year college. They gain acceptance to outstanding colleges around Chicago and the country: from the University of Chicago, University of IllinoisUrbana Champaign, Northwestern, and DePaul, to Harvard, Emory, University of Southern California, and many more. And Lab grads find each other wherever they gotheir Lab relationships last for years after graduation, turning into unexpected opportunities over and over as they pursue any number of different fields: medicine, law, education, banking, finance, theater, and the creative arts.

Paul Vallas was head of Chicago Public Schools when a new principal at the school had our mural…read morepainted over with white paint during the summer before the schoolyear started. It had taken almost a year of planning to finally create the mural which took up the entire (approximate) 20 foot wall in the first floor hallway & had been funded through a grant written by one of the teachers at the school. The students at the school, Wm. Carter Elementary School located in one of Chicago's underserved communities, had contained S/heroes which the students selected to be in it including Dr. King, Malcolm X, Rosa Parks, Frederick Douglas & many others along with images of our enslaved ancestors during the Middle Passage. The mural had been designed with the help of the late Dr. Margaret Burroughs, founder of the DuSable Museum & a former graduate & frequent visitor at the school. It had also been created with hands-on guidance from Urban Gateways students who worked side- by-side with students & community members that actually painted the mural during designated school hours thus what took months to create was destroyed within a few hours & what was to be an artistic legacy for future students & faculty became a painful memory. When school resumed in Sept. 1999, the teachers & students were devastated when realizing the mural had been whitewashed! The schoolyear continued to get worse with some younger students urinating on themselves when this new principal started a policy that ALL student washroom doors had to be locked during morning reading times & yet, even with complaints written to our district office & to central office, the situation remained which eventually resulted in lowering student achievement via standardized test scores. Did Paul Vallas know what was going on? Perhaps not but he should have however, in my opinion, he relegated absolute authority to heads of crucial departments with little to no oversight on his part. I do not know if similar scenarios occurred citywide which may have resulted in lower test scores but I do know firsthand about some of the discord at Carter School while Vallas was CEO. It was only sometime after he left that standardized guidelines & mandatory shadowing/rules/trainings were instituted for new principals with little to no previous experience. I shudder to think what may happen if he ends up winning the election. Would he continue to give his appointees complete control with no accountability or oversight? (pic: a small part of the mural that was destroyed)

My child came home with marks on her neck. She was choked at Carter school of Excellence. When I…read morebrought this to the dean and administrations attention they tried to downplay the incident. I had to request for an incident report which should have been offered to me. The incident report was filled with lies and did not include what my daughter literally said happened. Which was she was choked and a substitute teacher sat back and did nothing to stop it. Child abuse and neglect is rampant here. Of course I removed my child from this environment. Do not send your child here. Anything flies and they will cover it up with lies. Carmel Perkins and Mauricia Estes need to step down as well as the "dean".

My son is a first grader at Black Branch and I must say, so far I'm impressed! I absolutely LOVE…read morethe small class size and the ability to monitor your child's performance via ClassDojo app. Definitely a great school to start with! I'll update more throughout the school year

The school over-delivers on its promises. According to the website, there are services that…read moreCambridge provides, but never delivers on its promises. The afterschool program is suppose to have engaging activites like puppetry, gym time, arts and crafts. There is no budget for the program. The teacher has to purchase materials from her own pocket. Students become so frustrated with the lack of engagement. The school promises an individualized learning plan, Spanish, drama and art. Spanish was never offered. I never saw an individized learning plan. The students do lots of worksheets throughout the day. The school also engages in practices that are not listed in the handbook. They charged parents with infractions for their students not wearing the entire uniform. Yet, this "monetary infraction" was never stated in the handbook.

Honest review of Cambridge. This review is to provide you with info I wish I had when making my…read moreenrollment decision. There is both "good" and "not so good" at that school. There are some serious issues that I hope improves. But as a parent, do your research, ask prying questions, talk to current parents if you can. Teachers/Curriculum Great, our kids are challenged and growing educationally. Many of the teachers have a real passion for these children. Their hearts are in it and it shows! Culture Absolutely love the Christian component. You'll see kids praying at the start of class as well as weekly chapel with singing and praising Facilities/Staff Administration is lacking. School is largely unstaffed other than teachers. Many times I've shown up to school to pick kids up and have found them running through the hallways unsupervised. (Teachers go home at 3:30 sharp!) I know of at least one child that was seriously injured and knocked unconscious while playing unsupervised. Not secure/safe. The door has a buzzer and intercom but there is no way to verify who is entering the school. Press the intercom, they ask "who is it" and you can say almost anything, they will buzz you in. Not safe. A camera system should be added to the school, Amazon sells them for very cheap Gym Unheated in the winter time, uncooled in the summer time. VERY uncomfortable and there are no plans to correct the climate. Parents have voiced concerns about this for years but have been largely ignored by administration. In the summer time, the kids are walked to a nearby park (sometimes through an alley!!) where they were approached by dogs. Thankfully no one was injured Leadership (or lack thereof) There is no strong leadership presence at the school. Due to several scandals involving the current headmaster and inappropriate relationships with parents/staff, the board of the school is looking to replace him. Before the scandals, he seemed disconnected from the day 2 day anyway. Some days he's approachable, other days not so. It's unfortunate, because we're all paying for a private education and should feel comfortable in approaching leadership with questions and concerns. Even when concerns are shared, there is rarely any serious follow up, we don't even get an acknowledgement of "I have received your feedback" Just dead silence No lunch served You have to provide your own lunch - but there's no refrigerator for storage and no microwave for re-heating food. (Huh?!) This isn't 1984 Communication Issues Mid-year, rumors were spread regarding a large tuition increase. Parents sought out headmaster to find out if it was true. He avoided the topic and didn't address it for almost a month, forcing parents into the school's imposed re-enrollment deadline without information needed to make a re-enrollment decision. Then the headmaster held a meeting where he condescended and sniped at the parents, dodged questions, then ultimately confirmed the tuition increase. Apparently, the school is running a deep deficit. The "Cambridge Board" (consisting of the headmaster's dad, brother and cousin) were brought in to discuss tuition and integrity issues with school leadership and plans for the future. Tons of empty promises were given by the board, with no follow through or delivery Mass Exodus of current parents In talking with several parents in passing, communication issues, scandals, a disengaged headmaster who smiles on Mondays, condescends on Tuesdays, ignores parents on Wednesdays...is a bit too much. Many committed parents who have been at Cambridge for multiple years, have refused to reenroll their kids at Cambridge. Some parents have taken their kids out of school mid-year due to so many issues. The kindergarten class lost at least 4 students throughout the year Aftercare/Ambassador's club This is nothing more than a babysitting service where kids run around the gym, watch movies and sometimes do their homework. Many times, the homework is incorrect as the aftercare staff doesn't seemed equipped to help the children adequately. Overall, be careful of what's promised. Like the rest of the parents, you'll be told of all the grand things that will be offered to your child. Some of it will be delivered, but based on my experience, much of it won't.... Be careful, go in with your eyes wide open

Well, I wonder how "Rement T." could write all of these without knowing all the facts. Personal…read moregrude i say. Racist also. Always focusing on the African people. I'll have you know that the the teachers work very hard and always do their best! Ms. Wright does her best for her school, and would fire anyone who is incompetent enough to do the job! She cares for the well-being and the school, the students, and the teachers! She and the teachers always pushes the students to strive to be the best! And if they struggle along, they would do their best to help them! The teachers and students become friends and they understand each other more! The air conditioning may hav broken a few times, but they always tried their best to fix it! They give cold drinks to the studets and teachers when this happens! Rement T/ talks as if they know the esscese of the school and it's fondation. From they eyes of people who have actually grew up in the school, or even worked long enough, his/her review is completely biased. Precious Morgan does do her job! She teaches the kids how to play sports, and encourages their growth in sports! She helps them with homework. Rement T, from hisother articles, he seem like a racist to Africans. From his pictures, I have not seen him around, nor many others. So here are a few opnions: 1] this is not his real picture. 2] Rement T. is a student of the school disguising themself as a 'worker'. 3] Rement T just has a grudge, but I can obviously say he has a narrow vision on what is front of him. He is cynical, due to that he talks about the bad points in mainly all of his artcles. In a way, he is a scared little cihild unable to accept the way society is and wants a utopia, which is impossible. John C. Haines is one of the best schools around. John C. Haines is not the reason of the educational system crumbling, but it is people like Rement T. that tries to bring down society itself down, making people doubt about stuff that do not even needed to be doubted. If he thinks something is wrong with the school or anything, they should fix it himself and not rant about how bad he thinks it is!

Well this "Rement T." is clearly mistaken!!! HE DOESN'T KNOW THE FIRST THING ABOUT THIS SCHOOL!!!…read moreHe must have lied because this school has some of the best teachers around. They care about their students and are willing to help them after school if necessary. Some students actually LIKE their teachers and not because the teachers don't give them homework or what not but because the students and teachers could become friends and like what they learn cause the teachers make it relate to their own lives. The principle is very strict and awsome principle. Also the engineers do, do something!! when the AC would break down they work hard on getting it back up. Plus It's not that the principle is too cheap to change the AC but it's that it would cost a lot of money that might not be in the budget. Rement T.'s comment about the black teachers are simply racist. They actually DESERVED the job. Every student that has graduated from this school always comes back to visit their old teachers. They work hard to get us to be the best we can and taught us well enough to be ready for highschool. Also how dare he talks about park district at Haines like that. The workers there are extraordinary. They help the kids with their homework and play with them. Ms. Precious Morgan DOES work, she is like all the other workers at Park District. She would helps kids with their homework and play with them. She does not "dissapear"when there are trips. This person shouldn't be talking about this school or Precious Morgan like that when he knows so little about it. I doubt he actually worked there since i haven't even seen him there before.

Unfortunately, this school has gone downhill significantly. It feels like many of the good teachers…read morehave left, and the overall quality and professionalism have declined. Communication is a major issue -- emails often go unanswered, messages left with the main office don't get returned.

I spent the second half of my grade school years here, before it was called an Academy. Back in…read morethe day it was just John H. Vanderpoel (poel pronounced pool) elementary school, which served grades K-8. No middle school back then, and grade school to high school was a big jump. No buses then, either. We walked to school. In the dead of winter, we walked. It wasn't far for me, though, about 5 blocks down quiet streets lined with huge trees. We lived next-door to my grandparents, who had lived in Beverly since before my mother was born, so I'm thinking my mom went to Vanderpoel, too, but I can't remember for sure. But I do remember the school, a 3-story old brick building that included swings on the playground. I remember my teachers, I remember the gym that doubled as an auditorium, I remember my classmates. The school was named after John H. Vanderpoel (in 1910?) as was Vanderpoel Ave., the street behind the school. John Vanderpoel, born in 1857 in the Netherlands, was an influential artist and taught at the Art Institute of Chicago for 20 years beginning in 1880. Georgia O'Keeffe was one of his students. She praised him as a teacher. Vanderpoel's book, "The Human Figure", was published in 1907. BOY could he draw in pencil & charcoal. Until 1929, his works were housed in the school, then moved to nearby Ridge Park Field House & displayed in the art gallery named after him. Vanderpoel School is indeed part of Beverly's rich history & I loved it there. I loved my neighborhood, my friends, my school, and the simplicity of growing up back in the day (not saying how long ago but it was....long ago). I still have many of my grade school papers & projects. Wow, so different from the work kids do today. Example: a geography project for a state (or country?) that exported cotton. In addition to a written essay, I glued a hunk of cotton to one of the pages. I got an "E" for excellent, no "A" back then at this school. My favorite class: art. I also took kiddie art classes at the Art Institute & then majored in Fine Art in college. I went on to have an art gallery in a Chicago suburb. I'm guessing Mr. Vanderpoel would like that. I'm guessing I would have liked Mr. Vanderpoel.

Our family loves Akiba-Schechter. Our kids have been a part of Akiba from preschool through…read moreelementary and are about to enter middle school. The preschool is warm, creative and a lot of fun. There is almost no turnover in the preschool faculty, who (quickly) become extended family to your children and you. The elementary/middle faculty are likewise excellent. We chose Akiba because we wanted a secular education that would prepare our kids for any high school, immerse them in a second language from 1st grade (Hebrew), and provide a thorough education in Judaic studies. No easy task, but Akiba excels on all fronts. Kids learn in small, multi-aged groups, and learning is infused with Jewish values. And our modern lunar-themed playground gives students the well-deserved chance to let loose.

We have been very pleased with our children's teachers over the past 3 years. Some of them are…read morejust absolutely amazing! It is a very warm and loving family environment. We have only experienced the pre-school so I can not comment regarding the grade school levels. I would recommend Akiba.