My son got in to the first class of the Options program at Coonley, and now that he's about to…read moregraduate, I have to give them credit for helping him get into the Selective Enrollment HS of his choice. If you're fortunate enough to test into the Options program here, or be in the Neighborhood program, consider them seriously as a good place to entrust your kid's intellectual growth.

I moved back into this neighborhood 5 years ago. My son is now in 7th. He has challenging LD's with…read morean IEP. Coonley has done the best of their ability to help my Son and listen to my suggestions. I appreciate their help :)

We feel so lucky that we discovered Baker. When we walked into Baker for an open house, we…read moreimmediately sensed the warmth of the staff and parent community. Our family is a two-mom transracial adoptive family. We were blown away with how comfortable we felt. Baker truly welcomes everyone. The hands-on learning experiences meet the needs of each individual child which has led our son to love school both academically and socially. Baker teachers and staff are flexible, compassionate, engaging, creative leaders in the field of education. Furthermore, Baker has resources that many private schools do without. There is a full-time learning specialist, social worker, and a nurse. We needed a school that would accept and embrace our son's food allergies. Baker goes above and beyond to make each student feel safe and important. Coming from a family full of educators, we realize that while no school is perfect Baker is a true gem!

Baker nurtures that spark for learning…read more We started at Baker last year. When district 65 wouldn't allow us to switch our assigned school, we realized just how curious we were to explore other options outside of district 65. We noted what we valued most in our kids schooling experience & as we heard really good things from others and read about Baker ourselves, it seemed to tick all the boxes... but on the website. And any website can say whatever it wants to say, but was there proof? Concrete proof of all the amazing claims? And tuition almost prevented us from taking a tour at all. But we had to just go see for ourselves. Once we toured, we were so excited and we just knew. The school is adorned with student creations and with self portraits and It's colorful! it's vibrant, it's lively. It's welcoming!! The energy is just good. Once we saw the classrooms, I knew I wanted my kids to go here. I wanted this to be their daily experience. The rooms have movement, they're (again) vibrant & lively. You WANT to learn in this space. I had toured our district school prior and I remember feeling anxious and so put off by how sterile and uniform and bland my sons kindergarten room was going to be. Like he's never going to sit still and shut up. And I don't want that for him. I knew if he wasn't stimulated enough & not challenged enough, he was going to act out. That his blossoming brilliance & sensitivity we see, would turn into goofiness & misbehavior. And my daughter would just be squashed & silenced by that method of teaching and atmosphere. That environment was going to kill the spark for learning for them. It would dim who they are. Environment MATTERS. The academic material is received so much better in a joyous, stimulating & nurturing environment. That is Baker. In our district school, I wondered... where's playfulness and joy and various charts and expression and tools for learning and learning through discovery and PLAY?? Baker is that. Baker values that. We value that! We have been at baker for a school year and a half now. During these extraordinarily fundamental years... the ones that shape their experience & relationship with schooling and academics for years to come , the years that shape confidence and self awareness and help establish their voice... these are the years I want them learning by exploring, by seeing and feeling and truly experiencing what they are learning vs the way I did ( and the most of us did) which was through our ability to regurgitate the material. The resources are outstanding. Our teachers have been extraordinary so far. My children are being nurtured. They're being taught well and excelling in all areas. They're overcoming challenges as well as being challenged. They are seen for who they are. They're thriving! And I see proof of that every single day. Baker is a community. I'm watching my kids cultivate community. Baker fosters that. I am proud to have my children at Baker. And I'm proud to share of my time, gifts and talents with Baker to help our school continue to grow, . I am proud to be as involved as I am. I'm invested! And genuinely interested in doing so. Despite running a small local business and having a family and all the time constraints and responsibilities like everyone else, l make time because this school matters to me. Because it matters to my husband. Because this school matters to my children. We are so fortunate to receive a scholarship to attend. So fortunate to be here. I always wanted to feel genuinely confident in our kids school and where they were going to be spending so so much of their time and who with. I love this school. I love the people who make up Bakers teachers and staff. As parents we are acknowledged and heard. As parents, we notice so many other parents genuinely involved in school. Invested in more ways than one. Again, community. A strong ever growing & involved community. I don't know what middle school is like or any of the other grades. However, I can confidently speak on our personal experience with lower school. And we have been thrilled. No school is perfect. Not even this one. But this one is really really good for our family right now. And we're so happy to be a part of it

My 3 year old son is flourishing. The teachers are amazing. They care so much and are super…read morededicated to the kids/students. You walk in the school and Ms. D is sitting there to welcome you. She knows everything and will help you in any way possible. Her smile will make your day. The principle is beyond awesome. He will greet you every morning at the door and he cares so much about every child you just feel it. He makes the school feel safe, fun, powerful and most of all a community. Jahn is a GREAT school. They love and care about all kids and your child will excel here.

My daughter is now in her second year at Jahn and I am so happy with the direction the school is…read moreheaded! This is a diverse and welcoming school which is sometimes had to find. The class sizes are small, there are currently 14 students in her 1st grade class. They, meaning the faculty, staff and administration treat the children like family. There are several parent groups to join to help the school too, these include a strong LSC, a PAC (Parent Advisory Committee), and Friends of Jahn (the fundraising arm of the school). They offer Spanish at all grade levels, art, music, and have their own gym, lunch room and auditorium. The new administration, principal M. Herring and assistant principal G. Gonzalez are ALWAYS there, literally they never go home! I love the HUSKIES and if you are looking for a great school for your child I suggest you check it out!

We just left Prairieland due to a move to the suburbs but the whole time wished we could keep it…read morepart of our 21-month-old daughter's life! She had been at Prairieland since the age of 3 months and even as a real little one was always giddy and thrilled to arrive at daycare, which always comforted me and provided the confidence I needed to continue building my career outside the home. Prairieland is very professionally managed and I've always felt good about the teachers caring for my daughter. The Bumblebee (infant) Room was a little small and high traffic near the cribs -- I never felt like my baby got the full length or quantity of naps she truly needed according to Dr. Weissbluth :) but by the time she was in the Meadowlark (toddler) Room this felt less of a concern. The inadequate sleep could be a phenomenon of daycare in general, however, and Prairieland does many other things right. My husband and I weren't necessarily looking for a Montessori program from the start, but we've become supporters of the concept as we see our baby girl's curiosity, independence, and helpfulness take shape at such an early age.

I found the school online and trusted my intuition for sending my 18 month old to day care the 1st…read moretime! The first thing that got me intrigued is the fact that the school facility is designed completely open to the street and everyone are welcome to see the kido's in action. In my mind is a great sign for how open the school is and its definitely interesting for the kido's to see what's happening outside. I have been extremely impressed by the care and the love that the Prairieland team giving to my son. He absolutely love going there and we didn't event had any issue in the beginning like separation anxiety or adjustment to new sleeping arrangements during nap time. Would highly recommend this school!

We have been at Newport since our daughter was 12 weeks old...and she's nearly 4 now. It's a…read morefantastic school. This is our second child, and our older son had gone to two different daycares, so we knew exactly what we were looking for when we toured Newport. My daughter is learning all sorts of things, but more importantly to us, she's making friends, learning how to resolve conflict, learning to take turns and share, and we're confident she'll be set up for success in kindergarten. She looks forward to school each day. When she was younger, she went through some health issues that required some extra steps in caring for her. Newport was absolutely lovely during this difficult time. The teachers, staff, and in particular John the owner worked with us so that she could still attend school. We've become part of the community, doing play dates with her school friends outside of school, meeting other parents and families. Her teachers know her, and we can always talk to them about challenging "growing up" things like potty training and nap transitions, and I feel like we tackle them together. There may be wait lists...but honestly that's the situation with daycares in the city. It's definitely worth adding Newport to the list of daycares to tour and consider!

We pulled our kid from the toddler room at Newport Children's Academy in January after only a few…read moremonths. I'm writing this review so that you know what we wish we had known before we enrolled: this daycare relies on physical restraints to "teach" the toddlers how to behave. In the toddler room, they have "learning time" for 20 minutes each morning and during that time they arrange little toddler chairs in a half circle and a teacher sits at the front of the class and gives a lesson. The chairs have a seat belt-like strap and they strap the kids into the chairs so that they stay seated while the teacher is talking. When they first sent me a picture of my kid strapped into a chair, my mom instinct went on red alert. Why would they use physical restraints on toddlers? And why would they lecture at toddlers like they are in an elementary school classroom? It all seemed so wrong.  I talked to the lead teacher, who was very understanding but said the decision was the director's. When I talked to the director, John Sears, he said they use the straps to teach the kids boundaries because otherwise they wouldn't stay in the chairs. Of course they wouldn't, I said, toddlers don't sit still for more than a few minutes. And I said they weren't being taught how to sit and pay attention if they are being physically held into place and have no choice but to sit. We went back and forth for a bit and then his argument shifted away from boundaries and he homed in on safety. He said the kids could fall off the chairs. The chairs are toddler-sized and very close to the ground. This is hardly a safety issue. Even if there is a risk that the kids would climb on the chairs, the way to handle that risk is to watch them carefully, not to use restraints. (Full transparency: the lead teacher told me that "learning time" lasts 20 minutes. The director insisted it wasn't that long. Only 10 minutes, he said. I believed the lead teacher who was in the room everyday and in charge of the room's daily activities. But, even if the director was right, 10 minutes is still way too long to expect one-year-olds to sit still. Also, at our request, they stopped strapping our kid to the chair. But they still made her sit in place when all the other kids were strapped into their chairs. One of the teachers said it was "a requirement of this school" that she sit still.) Strapping the kids to their chairs wasn't a technique only used during the 20 minute learning time in the morning. For every activity that was done at a table (coloring, sensory activities, puzzles, eating) the kids were buckled in. That meant multiple times a day the kids were restrained. Sometimes when I arrived to pick up my kid in the evening, all of the toddlers would be strapped into their chairs for no apparent reason. One time I arrived and they were all strapped into chairs singing "The Wheels on the Bus." Why in the world do toddlers have to sit still in chairs to sing? Another time they were all strapped into chairs and doing nothing. I asked what was going on and one of the teachers said they had been playing with stickers. There were no stickers to be seen. The kids were made to sit buckled into chairs with nothing to do while the teachers cleaned up. I described the learning time to my kid's pediatrician and showed her a picture that Newport had sent me. She was dumbfounded. She said she had never heard of anyone trying to teach one-year-olds that way and said it demonstrated a misunderstanding of how young children learn. They learn through play, she said, and their attention spans are 2-3 minutes. She strongly suggested I find a new daycare.  I talked to a lot of other people about this too. I asked other parents and found no one whose daycare did anything similar. I also talked to other pediatricians and child psychiatrists that I work with who said the same thing my own pediatrician did - it is not developmentally appropriate to expect toddlers to sit and pay attention that long and the use of physical restraints to facilitate "learning" is not an accepted practice. We couldn't shake the feeling that doing something as developmentally inappropriate as strapping kids into chairs was indicative of the fact that they just didn't understand or respect child development. We couldn't trust a place that relied on physical restraint as a teaching tool.

We've been sending our son to Mosaic since around 6 months old and he has grown to love his…read moreteachers and friends that he's made in his time there so far. At drop off he is always ready to get inside to play and we love the updates we get along the way with pictures and news on what he's up to. We appreciate the safety approach that the whole staff has used throughout our time sending our son here. There have been some common daycare viruses that we've run into along the way, but all the staff has been very transparent and informative which helped us understand how to handle things which has been helpful as first time parents. At drop off and pickup it's evident how much our son loves spending time with his friends and teachers (especially Ms Laura)

We have entrusted the care of our 2 toddlers with Mosaic (Chicago site) for almost 2 years now and…read morewe could not be happier with that decision. During this time we have seen our boys grow and learn in a safe and nurturing environment. From the teachers to the administration I am confident that my children are safe, well cared for and loved everyday. This was one of the toughest decision we had to make as parents and after hours of searching and tours I am so pleased with our decision to send our boys to Mosaic. I have also been really impressed with the safety precautions that they have taken during this pandemic; as essential workers we've had to send our kids to Mosaic throughout the pandemic and I have appreciated their transparency and communication every step of the way. I highly recommend Mosaic to anyone looking for a safe, nurturing and fun environment for their children!

My child is still at the gisc. So far I am not happy with the outcome of my child's education,…read morebased on the price. My child claimed to witness: Favoritism Uncleanliness Ai usage And the lack of privacy

My child attended this school for several years, and unfortunately, their overall experience was…read morevery disappointing. Based on what they shared with me throughout their time at the GISC, I did not feel that the school provided the supportive learning environment I had hoped for. One of the biggest concerns was the apparent favoritism shown by some teachers. My child often felt that younger students were treated much more favorably, while older students were expected to take on extra responsibilities and received far less support or recognition. Some teachers were also very condescending and spoke to students in ways that made them feel unintelligent rather than encouraged to learn. I was also disappointed to hear that several teachers did not seem fully engaged in teaching. My child frequently mentioned lessons that lacked meaningful instruction, with some teachers relying heavily on AI to create a lesson instead of providing personalized teaching. it was also concerning to learn that certain teachers discussed their personal political views with students, even when it was unrelated to the lesson. School should be a place where students can focus on learning without feeling exposed to a teacher's personal opinions on unrelated topics. Another concern was the excessive monitoring on school-issued Chromebooks through GoGuardian. While I understand the importance of keeping students safe online, the level of monitoring described by my child felt unnecessarily intrusive and left them feeling as though they had very little privacy. The school environment itself also raised concerns. My child reported seeing a couple of roaches in the building, which made me question the cleanliness and overall maintenance of the school. Many of the school's policies also seemed to focus more on restricting students than solving the underlying problems. For example, there was already a schedule limiting which grades could use the soccer field. When my child's grade began playing volleyball on days they could not use the soccer field, a younger student kicked their ball away. Rather than addressing the behavior of the student involved, the school responded by creating another schedule restricting access to the volleyball court. Situations like this made my child feel that problems were handled by adding more rules instead of addressing the actual issue. Every single school has room for improvement, but I hope this one takes more time to listen to students and families, provides stronger instruction in the classroom, treats students more fairly regardless of grade level, and creates solutions that address problems instead of simply adding restrictions. Unfortunately, based on my child's experience, I cannot recommend this school.

I got a decent education for 2 years I was at A.H.S. Even…read morebeing a Latin King the teachers made the effort and showed me that there's more to life than Chicago! I say that as a proud Chicagoan!

Son is an IB sophomore and we are so pleased about the caring and supportive teachers,…read moreadministration, staff and other parents involved with Amundsen. Our expectations have been exceeded on every front. This is a fantastic neighborhood school and opportunities abound for kids to pursue academics, athletics and clubs in a warm and welcoming environment with lots of options.