2771 Ridge Rd
Highland Park, IL 60035

The school is brand new and smart choices have been made to keep the building and equipment nice for the long run. The school hosts a dual-language Spanish-English program where kids from 2 elementary schools have started in the program since Kindergarten. The school is well organized and the staff is friendly and motivated.

We couldn’t be happier with our experience at Wayne Thomas Elementary School. The teachers are truly excellent — dedicated, passionate, and consistently going above and beyond to support each child's learning and development. Our children have thrived both academically and socially, and we credit so much of that to the incredible staff and supportive environment.The parent community and PTO are equally impressive. Families are engaged and actively involved, creating a strong sense of connection and shared purpose. There are so many meaningful volunteer opportunities throughout the year, which makes it easy to get involved and stay connected to what’s happening in the classroom and around the school.It’s no surprise that the school received an Exemplary rating in Illinois — it’s a reflection of the outstanding leadership, dedicated teachers, and collaborative spirit that defines this school. We feel truly fortunate to be part of such a wonderful and diverse learning community and would highly recommend it to any family looking for a nurturing, high-quality educational environment.

This school loves to tell parents how highly rated they are, but in the end they just love to talk. They set up the building like a mini college campus causing irritation and confusion. Need a text book for a class, head to the bookstore only to pay $250 for one class, $200 for another, $160 for another all in addition to the digital text book costs that they charge. Bullying is an issue that they don't care about. Safety is simply theater where they have dogs roaming the halls looking for weapons and random searches. When students as for help from a teacher, many teachers brush the kids aside and tell them to see the tutor while they tell parents they are there for the kids. Special Ed is a joke where they dictate to parents what they will do. Admin is overpaid and underworked. Highly disappointed and do not recommend.

I can't blame the school itself for having such horrible students, but oh my it is horrendous. The type of children who attend this school act as if they are straight out of a cliquey movie. Most teachers are good, but there are plenty that are incapable of teaching. Shoutout Chris Kean and Julia Kapelnikova for being fantastic teachers who actually know how to teach! Lindsey Choy on the other-hand, loves to give out busy work that does not help learning in any way. I had her for US History last year, and it was a painful experience.