Park Ridge or Evanston?

We moved to Evanston last summer and are in the Willard school district. One of the top elementary schools in all of IL. So so happy we are here and don't have to fight the CPS rat race!

Hi S.

I agree with what you said about both towns. The only school connection that I have is only that my neighbor is a reading specialist in Park Ridge for an elementary public school.

I LOVE my town.... Arlington Heights!! (for so many reasons that I don't have time to go into detail with since I am just doing a quick mamapedia check today.)

Oh... there's a website called greatschools but I don't know if it ends with .com, .net or .org. Anyway... parents have commented on so many schools on this website and I think you can see standardized test scores, too. (Just remember that a school can be a GREAT school but not necessarily have a great score from the parents who commented. (sometimes all it takes is just a few extra picky parents to bring a score down!)
Take care and good luck deciding which town/school district is right for you. Remember that there are sometimes more than one district within a town that residents/your children are assigned to based on boundary lines.
~J.

We thought about moving to Park Ridge, but the planes coming and going low overhead (and the associated noise) discouraged us. We moved to Wheaton a little over a year ago and I really like it here. I wish we had found a house in Glen Ellyn instead, as we tend to use their library, dance/yoga studios, and go grocery shopping at Trader Joe's there.
Although we are homeschooling (health issues, not school issues,) the year in Wheaton schools were GREAT- absolutely zero complaints, and that is compared to the very pricey college prep school we used before! I have also heard great things about Glen Ellyn schools. I'm sure there are lots of great things for kids in both places you mentioned, but there is Cosley Zoo here, Willowbrook in G.E, lots of great grocery stores (WF, TJ's, and coming soon, Mariano's, as well as Nutrition Network in Winfield,) and DuPage Children's Museum. Northside Park is also pretty fantastic for sledding, playground, walking track, and tennis + summer camps and pool. Wheaton actually has 2 pretty great outdoor pools.

Someone suggested Glenview and I'd have to agree. The school systems are above the other two, (D30 ranked #1 in the county) and it is also diverse. You can also access both the 94 and 294 easily on either side. I'd rank Park Ridge second, but you'd be looking at Chicago-sized lots and then there is the plane issue. The schools, however, (specifically Washington, Carpenter and Lincoln) are excellent. As for diversity, the students are mainly caucasian (over 90%). Evanston is good too, but if you look closely at test scores, you will see caucasian students score an average 100% and African Americans 60% (yes, within the same school bringing their rating down to a 6). I've done quite a bit of research as to why this is and came across an article about how whites are excelling while blacks and Hispanics are at the reading levels of 30 years ago, but that's a whole other issue. Also take a close look at the high schools your child would be attending (for example, Glenview has a small unincorporated section where students attend Maine East, not GBS which is a deal breaker for some). If you want more info on both areas and schools city-data.com and greatschools.net are good resources.

Best of luck.

I grew up in Park Ridge. They have great schools there. It is also very safe. It is close to the city - we used to take the El into the city all the time (the train is right there, too), and it it close to the airport and the expressways to go anywhere else in the Chicago area. I don't remember the airplanes being a big deal, but maybe I was just used to them.

I like Evanston, too. I like the city feel and the diversity. However, from Evanston it is easy to get into the city, but not anywhere else. A good friend of mine used to live there and it was always a hassle to go visit her. One word of advice about Evanston...pick you neighborhood carefully. My friend lived in an "up and coming" neighborhood - which meant she had drug dealers living on her block. They did not have kids so it was not as big of an issue.

Good luck. I don't think you can lose with either one (or many of the other great suburbs). You should go spend an afternoon in some of the suburbs you are thinking about and check out what they have to offer - shops, recreation, etc.

S.,

I'm surprised you haven't heard about the Evanston public schools -- they are great! I come from 2 generations of Evanston-public-school-educated folks, and we all went on to well-regarded liberal-arts colleges out East. The last of our family graduated about 5 years ago, but to the best of my knowledge, the schools are still highly regarded.

Nothing beats Evanston (besides living in the city) for walkability, the Lake, and access to public transit!

Best,
R.

You should look into Glenview! We love it here and the schools, park district and athletic programs are great. We looked into Evanston when we first moved to Il, and a friend who graduated from Evanston HS discouraged us. I don't know much about their other schools, but the HS is right in the middle of a not so nice looking area.

What about Mt. Prospect area? I've heard very good things about the public schools in that area.

P.S. Our family has considered moving to this area repeatedly because we have family there, so I would love to know what you decide. Also, if you know anything about other cities in the area (like Elk Grove, Arlington Heights, etc.) please PM me!

I went to high school in Park Ridge 15 years ago. The schools are great, its safe, but even in the greatest school you will find drugs. I knew of a lot of kids that were doing drugs, so its about what kind of choices the kids make - no matter where you are!

I would move to Evanston in a heartbeat if the taxes weren't so unusually high due to the University. We live in Chicago but go to Evanston at least 3 times a week for kids programming. All of the families that we've met are so friendly and great. Many if them let me know, however, that not all of the elementary schools are equally good so you would need to choose your neighborhood wisely. I often hear that Willard, Kingsley, Lincolnwood and Orrington are the elementary schools of choice.

I also agree with the posts about recommending Glenview- great schools.

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