18019 Lorenz 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.

Our two older kids went to Coolidge back in 2009-2011 and the school administration and teachers were very supportive and had great communication.Fast forward our youngest 2 are currently 5th & 3rd graders at Coolidge and have gone there since kindergarten. Every teacher has been great with communication and making sure our girls are successful. The administration has been very supportive as well and there are always family activities happening throughout the year to get the community involved and our daughters love going to them. Education is a partnership between families and schools and if you are actively involved your kids will have a greater experience. The newer building is very nice and I am sure the kindergarten teachers were just as excited and impressed to have two bathrooms and a water fountain in their classrooms! If you have an issue speak up respectfully to the teachers and administrators and you will get the positive results you are looking for. Our two oldest are African American and our two youngest are biracial. Our current 5th grader got to play on the girls basketball team and she is in band. The band director is amazing and she loves going to band due to his enthusiasm and love of music the he transpires to the kids.There are after school programs to help struggling students as well as afterschool enrichment programs. There are other clubs and activities after school that students can participate in. Our current 5th grader was a mentor in 4th grade to a younger struggling student so the school tries to get a positive peer role model for the kids that are struggling academically and or behaviorally. Our daughter really enjoyed that opportunity.

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.