Maple

My child has been at Holmes for K-3. We've had a positive experience there all around. She has made many good friends. I appreciate that the school has a good mix of students, both SES and racially. She has enjoyed all of her teachers (we are still friendly with all of them) and learned a lot. Homework has been reasonable. Common core has been adopted which results in homework that is sometimes repetitive as they try to hone in the underlying mechanisms of math, etc. The PTO is active and sponsors several events (fair, pancake breakfast, International dinner).

I have my youngest entering 8th grade next year, so have five collective years of experience with this school starting in 2021. While not every teacher is exceptional, I have been very impressed with the professionalism, dedication and quality of the teaching staff. Middle school is traditionally tough for kids and educators and we're talking about a time span where fully grown men and women (at least physically) attend alongside kids that could pass for third graders. One of my kids has moderate special needs and is exceptionally supported by a team of teachers, counselors, social workers -- it's amazing the individual attention he receives to help him succeed, and he has. The art programs (notably music and drama) regularly receive national awards. That doesn't happen at middle-of-the-road schools.My kids have not personally experienced bullying or violence and I know that's been a concern for some. Also, I think some parents are dissatisfied with the way this conflict is managed. Oak Park is very economically, racially and socially diverse, and I think some of this is unavoidable. There are far more homogenous student bodies if you want to look to further western burbs, but I think the richness of experience far outweighs the risk. Go to Wikipedia and look at the amazing list of notable alumni that have come from the high school. OPRFHS is considered a very strong school, but it is not at the very top - but you'd be hard pressed to find a more impressive list of graduates across a broad spectrum of achievement. There's something else going on here besides just straight academics and that's why I'm proud to send my kids to these schools.

made me go to school in -25 degree Fahrenheit wind chill.