This is an amazing school in the heart of Chicago. The new building opened about a year and half…read moreago and it is really state of the art. The building may be new but this school has a lot of history in the city. There is a beautiful green space on the roof of the school. It is great to go up here and enjoy the urban jungle which is our city. There is also a fun play area for the students including nets overhead...we would not want a basketball going over the side and hitting someone in the head 3 stories below. Ouch!!! The staff here is great. They truly care about the students. The IB program here is also really great too. I wish I could go back to grade school and attend here. I also love the front office and the security guards too. Everyone here is so friendly and it makes the experience of school fun. I also must throw out some congrats to Kenneth Staral the school principal. He cares so much about education and the well being of all of the students. If it was not for him, I am sure that this school would not be this successful. He is a blessing for putting together such a great education plan for the students. In the warmer months, there is a guy that lives in the high rise, over the school on Oak, that will play his bag pipes on the top floor of his balcony. At first, I thought I was in some movie with hidden cameras but then realized this guy was up there practicing. So if you are ever walking around the school and you hear the music just look up and you will see this guy. I do get a tear in my eye when he starts playing "Danny Boy"! My little one will start to dance...he has even waved at us from 20 stories above. Fun Fact: The school is named after the first mayor of Chicago. Mr Ogden was involved in real estate, he also was involved with canals too. In fact, his company cut out the canal that made Goose Island in Chicago. He later moved on to the railroads and was president of Union Pacific. He built a railroad to Wisconsin to bring grain to Chicago and also a railroad out West too. He was on the cutting edge of progress and growing our nation. The parents, students, faculty and staff make the learning experience here at Ogden great and I look forward to many more years here.

When I was a kid, I had aced the Iowa Test of Basic Skills. Did you know you could ace them?…read moreNeither did I. What I mean by that is that I scored a straight 99th percentile on every single one of my Iowa Tests and got a strange invitation in the mail. The invitation was from pre-International Baccalaureate Program to take an exam and potentially join Abraham Lincoln Elementary or William B. Ogden Elementary. Little did I know, this little invitation would change the rest of my life. At the exam, I met a friend that had moved away in third grade and we laughed wondering why we were both here. We both talked and said that Ogden School sounded better than Lincoln Elementary School, so that is what we decided. After taking their exam, I also had an interview. I was informed that I had scored the fifth best in the city and that I could pick Ogden or Lincoln. Seeing as my friend and I agreed on Odgen, Ogden it was. I missed my first day of school because the school bus did not show up until 9 in the morning, but by then I had already walked back to Volta Elementary as I did not know what to do. Over the years the bus was pretty consistent, except for the day that I missed it and decided to take the train downtown to school. Being eleven years old, sometimes you just don't know where you're going. I got off the train and started walking and then realized that I had no idea where I was. I walked into a police station and yelled, "Help, I need help!" After explaining that I was lost and late for school two cops drove me six blocks to school and apologized for swearing like pirates. I arrived to the playground in the back of a cop car and the kids thought that I had been arrested! With regard to the curriculum, it was a bar up from the Gifted Program that I had been in Volta Elementary and the adjustments took awhile because whereas before I was able to dominate, I struggled with the new social situation and had to take extra time to regain my bearings. By 7th grade, I was doing well in school again and liked French class the best since it was the most interesting. I still speak French today, which serves as a testament of the merits of Ogden's rigorous curriculum. At Ogden, you also learn to deal with kids coming from the deep south side and kids who live right around the corner on the Gold Coast. The pre-IB Program at Ogden set me up well for my future IB entry exams at Lincoln Park High School. The French curriculum is a must have for kids who will want to be speaking French in the future and is a cheaper alternative than sending kids out for private lessons. I also learned the ability to respect and tolerate the diversity of races and socioeconomic statuses of the various Chicagoans that will be found at this school. If you ever wonder who William B. Ogden was, he was the first mayor of Chicago. He worked extensively with land developers and reached the epic agreement that guarantees the land on our lakefront as public parks now and forever. Well forever until the city decides to lease it out for the next quick buck.

As a teacher myself, choosing the right school for my children was incredibly important, and I…read morecannot commend how well St. Vincent Ferrer School has shaped my daughter intellectually, socially, and spiritually. Over the past four years, I have watched her truly blossom into a well-rounded student. The deep sense of community here is remarkable, it truly feels like an extended family. This connection is beautifully on display during school traditions like the All-School Olympics Challenge and our annual Fun Run, where older students step in to guide and mentor the younger students through different obstacles. Seeing that culture of leadership and kindness in action solidified why parents choose this community. We are so thrilled with our experience that my son will be starting at St. Vincent Ferrer in the fall, and we are excited for him to thrive in this warm, loving environment.

I would caution any family considering St. Vincent Ferrer to think carefully before enrolling…read more I have been a parishioner since I was 13 years old and received my Confirmation here, and my children have attended for the past five years. Because of that long history, I expected a strong, supportive, and safe environment for families. Unfortunately, my experience has not reflected that expectation. Concerns raised as a parent were not taken seriously, and I did not feel that issues involving student well-being and bullying were addressed with appropriate urgency or accountability. As a result, I did not feel confident that my concerns about my children's emotional well-being were being properly supported or prioritized. Based on my experience, I would encourage parents to ask very direct questions about how bullying and student concerns are handled before making a decision to enroll.

I attended this school from 6th to 12th grade. The majority of the time I experienced daily…read moreinappropriate remarks from some very ghetto kids from 2001 to 2007. The sexual vulgarity that came out of their mouths was so frequent I started walking from one class to another with headphones. Then I was told by security I was not allowed to wear headphones. At the time, we only had 2 security guards who regularly circulated. One was almost bed ridden due to physical ailments and had to roll around in an a special chair. The other was hearing impaired so he couldn't hear any of the sexual obscenities the boys were shouting. I would not recommend this school for that reason.

Very questionable school. Lots of very interesting faculty. I've had some very bad experiences with…read morethe faculty. Students are overall pretty nice. Some of the parents are also problematic.

I had 3 children graduate from Fenwick high school between 2014 and 2019. It was a great…read moreexperience for each of them. They each found their own unique experiences (music, film, hockey, cross country, etc) to satisfy their curiosities and provide a network of friends. My youngest son is closer to his Fenwick friends today than he is to his fraternity brothers and college roommates. My daughter transferred in from a picnic high school between sophomore and junior years and found the smaller, more accepting community she needed during those formative years. The faculty, families and priests are amazing. We miss our Fenwick days.

Class of 1983: Education was top tier. Very prepared for college. Sports opportunities excellent…read more Used college level English and chemistry books, resulted in success in engineering school in college. My 4 years of Spanish helped me to work later on a primarily Spanish speaking engineering project, and helped me ultimately marry a Mexican national who spoke no English when we met. Still an excellent school!

This School Has the best Music Department Ever! When I came…read morehere I had an instant connection with the teachers. Especially The band teachers. They will fool around to keep the class fun but will be strict depending on the students. During the course of my attendance the school got rating 1 for music because of how well they guided the students

The bullying in this school was insane when I attended around 2015 and when I reported it I got…read moretreated like a snitch even by some of the teachers/staff because professionalism doesn't exist to most of the people who work here. There were some students that threw balled up papers at me and my teacher ignored it every day it happened. I even got sent to a hospital by force out of spite for talking back to one of my teachers after she told me I wasn't smart enough to hangout with my friends after school and told me to go straight home. There was even an employee of this school who kept trying to find excuses to touch me by asking me to do things with him when he had me alone in his office. If you care about your kids safety and mental wellbeing I would avoid sending them to this school. Don't let the size fool you, the quality of the educators is trash. Most of the time they just hand out work packets and sit at the desk playing on the computer. Be smart and choose another high school because your child will likely drop out or get sent to an alternative school due to the toxic environment here.

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.

Well I am a parent a parent involved at northwest I love how people that are not involved in our…read moreschool can comment on northwest middle please I invite you to see the progress that our school has made. As for our principal why do you think our parents voted and pushed to renue her contract she is the back bone of our community and has got rid of the gangs that plagued our schools. As for parent involvement we took over 780 petitions in support of our principal and our school. Now mind you thair are in the neighborhood of 840 students in our school even though cps took our art teacher the parents volentered thair own time to keep the arts program going so please don't speak for our community .come and see for your self thank you julio cintron a proud northwest middle school parent.