Seeking Mom's Opinions on Elementary Schools in Arlington Hts

Hi!
I'm so jealous! Arlington Hts is a great place to live! They remodeled the whole downtown area a few years (maybe more) ago - and its just so family focused - yet the train is right there to go into the city!

Both of my nieces, now in high school, went to Olive & loved it! They are both bright & talented young women! I highly recommend it as well!

Any School in Arlington Hts. is a great school. The district is the best in the state. In fact any school in the northwest suburbs is good. I went to the highschool in arlington hts., Hersey. Good schools with lots of extracurricular activites and programs. Couldn't get any better in IL

Does anybody know about dryden elementary school in arlington heights? How is the school?

There are no bad schools in Arlington Heights. They are all fabulous. I know kids who go to Olive and the parents rave about it. Parents also rave about Westgate. We live on the North end, near Poe school, which is also excellent, and Riley, in Northgate also is a great school. Kids from Arlington Heights get into all the best colleges. My neighbors all have kids who went to Northwestern, U of Chicago, Stanford, Princeton, and on and on. The schools are the reason the property values in Arlington Hts stay up when they're going down everywhere else.

Ask your real estate agent for the website that ranks schools. Maybe someone on here knows of it. As you probably know, there are often times good and great schools within any school district. Many times it is reflected in the prices of houses.

I have a son who will be in 2nd grade at Olive Mary Stitt next year. This was our first year there and it has been absolutely amazing! The teachers are great, the school is great! It's like a family enviroment, parents get involved with everything. They have sponser families.....which is a previous Olive family who is there to mentor new incoming families. There is an ice cream social at the beginning of the year. It really is great, I don't think you can go wrong with any Arlington Heights school, but I can definitely give you the input on Olive. Good Luck and welcome to Arlington Heights. If you have any other questions about Olive feel free to shoot me an email @ ____@____.com
J.

I agree, you can't really go wrong in Arlington Heights. Welcome to the area this summer!

T.

Ivy Hill is a fabulous school and a WONDERFUL neighborhood. I grew up there and of course think it's superior!! We lived on a culdesac and there wasn't much traffic so it was safe to play out front-even in the street and probably still is. Dist 25 is one of the best in the area! My aunt teaches there (forgot which school--anyone out there know Mrs. Holland??) Thomas is the Jr. high and Buffalo Grove for the HS. You can't go wrong anywhere in 25 though.

http://www.ahsd25.k12.il.us/schools/ivy_hill/index.php

Here's one site w/homes: http://www.ivyhillhomes.com/
(the house on burke is gorgeous, it's a friend of my parents. and the house on Cherry should be really nice too-I used to babysit there I think-but Cherry is a culdesac (the other side of the street is where I grew up) )

Here's a school rating site: http://www.greatschools.net/city/Arlington_Heights/IL#fro... They show Dryden as first, Ivy Hill as second.

One great thing about Ivy Hill, is although you are in the midst of a big suburb, it still feels small town, then you leave the subdivision, go around the corner and there is fabulous shopping right there, a bunch of major grocery stores and small ones too, Trader Joe's, Garden Fresh, Int'l Market, Jewel, Dominick's and just down the street from Target, then the other way is a Walmart. It's a great area to live in.
ok, off my Ivy Hill soapbox now....

Arlington has one of the best school districts in the state. Any of the schools would be a fine choice. My husband and his sister grew up here and attended Westgate and received a great education. In fact he attend private school thru 2nd grade and when he transferred to Westgate he was a grade behind and received extra attention to help him catch up. We plan on sending our child to Westgate also, when the time comes. Good luck on your home search, if you need any help my husband and I are licensed Realtors!

You are a very lucky person! I work in the Arlington Heights School District (Westgate School) as a reading specialist, and without being biased, it is a very good district. Any of the elementary schools are wonderful. They are actually very well-matched. Not one stands out as being better than another. I would suggest just looking for a house in an area that you love and know that your children will be well taken care of no matter what school they end up going to. You can also check out our website with information on every school at www.ahsd25.k12.il.us Happy house hunting - there are so many to choose from!

MM, I think what is most important is to decide where you are going to live. There are a couple of areas of AH that are infested with gangs, and I don't mean just the schools, I mean the neighborhoods. They look nice from the outside but when I was looking to invest in real estate there I came across some really damaged and seedy property on the inside. Found out that they were drug sellers.

There are also some beautiful areas. One of my family members live on this block: 400 Whitehall Dr.
M.

Hi,
Please forgive me if this is duplicate. I have two boys at
Olive Mary Stitt, finishing 1st and 4th grades. We love the
school...great teachers, services, community. Recently there
have been some changes that have been disappointing to many
who are part of the school, such as the elimination of the
multi-age program--but overall, I firmly believe (and yes, I
am biased)that it is still the best school in district 25. Plus, the neighborhood is great. We can walk to school, downtown, library, etc. It feels like a town, not a "suburb".
The park district is fabulous, as well.
Please feel free to contact me at ____@____.com. I'd be
happy to answer your questions, and would gladly welcome you
to the neighborhood when you do move.
Good luck!!

Olive Mary Stitt is an excellent school. Arlington Heights District 25 is a top-notch school district (you can't go wrong with any of the schools in the District) and I'd say Olive is one of the best. From what I hear, this is one of the most sought after schools among new teachers and administrators. We moved to the Olive area a couple of years ago after attending another school in Arlington Heights (Westgate) which was also very good.

I grew up in Arlington Heights and attended a Catholic school here. I am amazed at how many more resources the public schools have here than the private ones do. When I say resources I mean, excellent staff most of which are tenured teachers, a friendly and progressive principal and assistant principal, a wonderful library with newer computer equipment, programs designed to encourage teamwork among classmates and even across age groups, an active PTA and sense of volunteerism among parents. If your child has any special issues, there are dedicated staff resources at the school to handle speech, Occupational therapy, remedial reading, gifted programs, shyness issues, etc. I never thought any of my children would require the use of any special staff resources but my son ended up being selected for reading help. He went from reading at the median for all 2nd graders to the 74th percentile-in just 5 months. I cannot say enough about how great Olive is.

If you do end up in Olive, you will be assigned a mentor family who can answer any questions about the school for you. We took advantage of this program when we moved here, and now we're a mentor family for this year's new arrivals. Hope to see you next year!