DGS is a mediocre high school at best. I am rating based on my child's experience. We had to fight…read moreto get her an IEP and the experience was so emotionally draining I felt the Special Educational Department (SPED) were unsupportive, rude and demoralizing. Alyssa Gundersen was incompetent, unprofessional and nasty. SPED teachers seem more interested in coaching than teaching! Very cliquey. Must be an advocate for your child because this school will just placate them until graduation, meaning they just move your child along as an assembly line hoping you cause no trouble so they can earn their huge pension without actually working!

I saw that DGS disabled reviews on Google and you can see why. I'm a former student from a long…read moretime a go. Problems are still the same: Staff turns a blind eye to bullies, and their student support for students who are having issues outside of school is non-existent. Back when I was there there was a student death, including by suicide, every year. I heard it's worse now. I recently had to contact their admissions office to get a copy of my diploma after getting accepted to a post grad program at a school outside the US. The guy responsible for getting the diploma sent, whatever his title was, seemed perpetually mad from the first contact with him, never returned voicemails, cut me off while in conversations with him, and made the process as difficult as possible to get what I needed. It was so bad that I called Downers Grove North to see if they might be able to assist somehow since I had taken summer classes at DGN at once point; they were very professional and friendly there. I explained the situation and they contacted the admissions guy at DGS, upon which he became more compliant, albeit reluctantly. Nothing has changed at DGS. The teachers, the way they ran the classes, and material were pretty good as I can remember. But as far as outside of class or dealing with admissions or with other staff, nothing has changed. Teachers now getting in trouble for sexual harassment, busing students in from Cabrini Green back in the day, gym teachers flirting with students - The school management still maintains a rough and tough atmosphere that many of the students and parents never cared for. It would be nice if the city opened another school under new management instead of approving massive additions to this place and wasting taxpayer money. Do the students and parents a favor and phase this school out, or at minimum, downsize it.

Great option for Preschool to 12! I have 3 kids here and their teachers are caring, kind, and…read moreimpactful when it comes to increasing my kids test scores! It's a great choice if you are looking for a safe place for your kids!

This review is only their gym. I've been playing coed volleyball here with the Alumni's from this…read moreschool for many years. We rent the gym when we play after the students practices. The gym is a full basketball court that can hold 1 volleyball net. For spectators, there's room on the stage or they would go upstairs in the seating area. I'm guessing it can hold about 50-100 people... They recently refinished the gym floor so it looks nice and shiny. An average size parking lot that sometimes they allow public spectators whose kids are playing in the baseball fields next door to park if there's no more street parking. It's a typical private school, not really updated building/classrooms. It's better than driving into the city at another grade school gym and fight the traffic just to play volleyball.

St. Francis is a wonderful school and I am happy to send my kids to school here. It's very strong…read moreacademically, with two Blue Ribbon designations within the past decade, and it's a welcoming, loving community. I especially appreciate the school's dedication to service -- a school-wide service day with all of the kids PreK4 through 8th Grade going off to volunteer is so unique and positive. The new principal who started this year also is fantastic. If you're considering Catholic schools in the area, SFX is a top choice. I'd encourage anyone who's interested in learning more about SFX to talk to current parents (rather than relying on some of the old reviews here) and reach out to the school for information and a tour.

We are so lucky to have this school as a part of our community. The family that is Saint Francis…read moreXavier is remarkable. I personally attended SFX and now have the privilege of sending my children there as well. It is apparent that the teachers and staff care about the families beyond academics. SFX is a family- they have a strong curriculum and build on it through the years as well as a strong base in faith and moral teachings. With such amazing schools in the area it is very competitive academically with a bonus of Catholic teachings.

Teachers really care about your kid and not just if they are in honors or AP courses. They engage…read moreand teach. The administration so far has been outstanding and has worked with our student especially Chris Grosrenaud who is an amazing counselor. We look forward to the next four years with our youngest who starts in 2026. Really couldn't be happier with any public school our children have attended Des including private schools.

Both campuses are great. The staff care about the students. All of my sons teachers were amazing…read more They have a lot of stuff for tut students to pick from. The classes they offer can help the students with the education during and after high school.

Beautiful school my child loves it teachers are great and sports games are fun to watch. BE THERE…read moreBE LOUD GO NAZ

Fantastic School, can't wait for the rest of my time here, deserves more than 3.5 stars. Several of…read moremy sibling went here, and I would love for my children to go here one day

Other than academics, the school was not good. I do not miss this school at all. Starting off with…read morethe staff, they were a hit or a miss. Judy Bretl (Consumers Education) was not that good of a teacher. She would get mad if you asked her a question about a recipe we making, (for example, a friend asked her if there was already water in the kettle, she responded with "you should have been paying attention" when she was just double checking.) She would waste a lot of class time talking some how connecting what we're doing to her grandchildren, and also threw a marker at my friend once. Just going through staff more. Good - Mr. Little (7th Grade Social Studies), Mrs. Mixon (7th Grade English, literally an angel), Mrs. Lovarato (8th Grade English), Mrs. Grove (6th Grade Science), Mrs. Horeni (The Social Worker) Bad - Mrs. Snodgrass (6th Grade Math), Mrs. Focken (7th Grade Math, which we will also get into later.), Mrs. Bretl (Consumers Ed), Mrs. Hayes (8th Grade English). With Sarah Focken, She was the worst teaching wise. She wasn't always the nicest, she couldn't teach math for the life of her, and she just wasn't a good teacher. Our entire grade failed 3 tests over the entire year, what does that say about her teaching. With Shannon Hayes, She had the biggest grudge against me. She tried lying to my mother (who very quickly caught her in it), She yelled at me several times for no reason, and she absolutely hated me. She was probably the worst teacher I had of my 3 years there. With Gina Horeni, She was THE ABSOLUTE BEST. She helped my friends with mental help so much, she helped me personally with my own problems. She was literally an angel and probably one of the best workers In that school. Actual school wise, it was so small. There was probably around 100 kids were grade. The school was kind of run down and just overall not a good school. Academic wise may be different but environmentally I do not want to associate with the school. It sucks my face and all my friends are now stuck on their wall with all the classes.