17821 Ridgewood Ave
Lansing, IL 60438

TF South has been in decline for years and it's just getting worse. The superintendent is out of touch. As long as things look good externally (building, office spaces, etc), he's okay with hiding the truth. The truth is, this school is far behind and is not succeeding. The average ACT score is under 20. In terms of technology, TFS is 15 years behind. Students did not have access to computers from the entire first semester of this school year. While surrounding school districts are 1-1 or 2-1 with technology, teachers are lucky if they can get an iPad cart with all of the iPads working or access to a computer lab. The school building has weak WiFi access, making the incorporation of technology even more difficult. Secondly, there are no consequences for chronic absences, truancies, and poor behavior. It's having a negative impact on academics. The amount of incidents that have occurred over the last few years is ridiculous. From unruly students, social media bullying, and even threats of school shootings, there are still no consequences to deter such negative behavior. The result? The kids rule the school and they know it. Teachers can't teach and building administrators have their hands tied. No discipline and poor parenting is creating a storm of failure. Most of the unruly students don't even live in the school district. This leads to my final point...I don't understand why the Lansing community is not up-in-arms with the school district for allowing so many students from CPS and District 205 to attend TF South. Your tax dollars are going to students who are lying to get in the district and then are bringing down test scores and causing an increase in poor behavior. I'd imagine this is also brining down property value.If the community does not take a stand against this superintendent and the complacent school board, TF South will continue its decline and will become another Thornridge, Thornwood, Thornton, etc.

We had 2 kids spend all 6 yrs in coolidge and are currently in high school. All with exemplary grades. The teachers and staff at times can be challenging but thats what I would want for my kids, to be able to adapt. Every teacher was quick to respond to all questions and concerns we had when it seemed our kids had challenges or not grasping a concept. All you have to do is be involved enough to see that your kids need a hand, the staff is willing to help and will also let you know when you attend the parent teacher conferences. We currently have a 1st grade at cooldge and it's the same both teachers so far are exhibiting the same characteristics of the rest. We are very fortunate to have this public school be the one in our area. Not to mention the school was completely rebuilt since our last 2 were there. It's about 2 yrs old.

My child attended this school for 3yrs (2019-2022). Keeping in mind that nothing and no one is perfect, the experience was great. The only reason why I gave 5 stars is because they have some absolutely wonderful male teachers here and it really balances out the energy of the school. Its really hard dealing with hormonal women all the time, so the male energy was very refreshing. Shout out to Mr. Moran, Mr. Dovich, Mr. Faughn, Mr. Diebel, Mr. G etc.6th grade- This year went pretty good. The female ELA teacher left a lot to be desired and wasn’t very effective, but the other teachers were fantastic. We had major issues with some teachers being lazy and not updating grades timely. Parents would look in PowerSchool and their child would have a “A” all quarter. Then at the very end of the quarter teachers would start inputting all of these month old grades and drop the grade down significantly. However, they greatly improved on inputting grades timely. Also, the administration was VERY responsive to my concerns.7th grade- This was the year of remote learning and the district and school administration did a PHENOMENAL job during virtual learning. The communication was clear and consistent. They were very responsive to my concerns. Hands down they had the BEST remote learning plan. One female teacher decided to go on a power trip and try to change school policy, but other than that there were very minimal issues this year. This was the best year EVER!8th grade- In person learning resumed this year and it was a bit of a challenge. There were constant fights and police activity at the school. This prompted the administration to consistently send out threatening emails about behavior. It appeared that the school administration was taking a reactive approach to student issues, instead of being proactive and stopping issues before they got out of hand. They allowed bullying incidents and problems between students to fester until it turned into full blown violence. Also, the administration was not very responsive this year, so some of my concerns went ignored. They wouldn’t respond to emails and had full voicemail boxes, which is unacceptable and unprofessional. On a lighter note, the graduation was AMAZING. They did a FANTASTIC job with the planning and I’m so very grateful for that.Overall, I’m happy with the experience.My advice is to ALWAYS put your concerns in writing because if it’s not addressed you have a record. Good luck!

My son started attending this school four months Ago because he has been behind in his speech. He is now able to talk using full sentences and shocks me on a daily bases with all the new words he uses. His class has 10 students and 1 teacher and 2 aids, mrs dravesin wonderful, there are monthly field trips, dinner for parents to discuss hot topics, and lots of events that take place at the school like musicians and festivals ect. I have been beyond impressed with the services offered and how successful my child has been here. He received early intervention for over a year and I have seen more progress in the past four months then in that year. Highly recommended and will be sad to see him transition out of this school.