1934 W Belmont Ave #1E
Chicago, IL 60657

There are 5 preschool classrooms and most of them are spacious and light-filled except for one. My child's classroom was in the south east corner of the basement in a room that was never actually meant to be used as a classroom. It was a literal storage room that was converted into a classroom with harsh lighting. It was probably a third of the size of the other classrooms, yet it had just as many students. The kids were packed in there with little room to move around and play. My child was hit and bullied by another student and the teachers were slow to respond. They never replied to emails so I was unsure if they were taking any steps to keep them apart. My child had a bathroom accident on the way home one day and through tears told me that she was afraid to tell her teacher when she had to use the bathroom because it wasn't the designated bathroom break time. I emailed and talked to the teacher about the incident, and weeks later the same thing happened again. My daughter again crying on the way home from school, still afraid to tell her teacher she needed to go to the bathroom. Her teacher always struck me as intimidating, never offering up a warm hello when we arrived at school. My daughter liked to bring a toy to drop off to show her teacher and not once did she respond with a "wow, that's great!" or "what's your doll's name?" or any kind of interest. She would tell my daughter flatly that the toy needed to be put in her backpack before she came into school. She never recognized that my child was trying to connect with her. The teacher sent me the results of a test with checkpoints that were gathered from August to November. According to the test, my daughter couldn't read or speak clearly. My daughter reads and speaks perfectly. She boldly orders her own food in restaurants and reads the menu herself. She has been reading since she was 3. When I asked about the test, her teacher admitted that she didn't actually test her for reading abilities and that she marked her as "doesn't speak clearly" because she is quiet in the classroom.This shocked me as my daughter has never been called quiet by anyone before and is typically characterized as bold, confident, even loud. She loves to talk to adults and people she's never met. She was quiet in her classroom because she was afraid of her teacher. We met with the principal twice and he wouldn’t move her to a different classroom. In January we transferred her to a new school where she thrived.

Principal Karafiol is fantastic. He impressed us on day one and continues to run an amazing neighborhood school. We had heard such negative things about LV but that turned out to be outdated lore. Lake View HS is an hidden gem! Our college freshman graduated in 2023 and our sophomore will graduate in 2026. Keep an eye on their STEM, art and athletics!