304 Whytegate Ct
Lake Forest, IL 60045

For context of my review, I am a recent alum that is now in college. It has great academic opportunities: various AP courses in various subjects, college prep advisors, etc. However, the school culture is also competitive. There is a feeling of "if you aren't taking several AP classes, you aren't smart". Comparing classes, grades, and college choices with peers is normal and in some cases harmful. Stevenson is pretty safe, only a few incidents that I know of when I was a student. The advisors are not great, so I would suggest students to look at what path they want to take (ex: not all colleges need 4 years of science, but might need 4 years of social studies). I think that I was well prepared for college, several of my classes that I took freshman year I found easier than the courses I took at Stevenson. The good thing about Stevenson being so large is that there are lots of clubs and ways to get involved socially. There are also various cultural clubs and events for those who want to take part. I look back fondly at my time at Stevenson, but know that extreme competitiveness socially, academically, and in sports is normal here.

My son attends this school and thoroughly enjoys it. He comes home and talks about the interesting things learned, the latest project he is working on, and what events and field trips are going to be happening. He enjoys the orchestra, and they’ve played two wonderful concerts at Stevenson High School. He enjoys the teachers, the challenges, and the students, who are generally kind, good kids. In our experience, this is a wonderful school with very caring teachers and staff. We’re lucky to have them support and educate our child in so many wonderful ways.

We are a new family who moved from New York to Illinois in October last year. When I was choosing a school, I requested to visit the school before deciding on which school district we should live. However, the school administrator basically say that there is no school visit allowed. I found this strange as we have moved to different places before and allowed to visit the school to make a decision. At the end, I decided to go to DJW because of the good statistics, but unfortunately, again and again I am disappointed with the school policy or the care we have received. First, as a new student, there is no orientation for the parents on the academics at the school. I was not told of the different pathways and where my daughter is placed. The interaction between teachers and my daughter is uneventful, none of the teacher aspires her to do better, except for meeting expectation. They claim that the have excellent music education, the band is barely performing half of the ability of my daughter elementary school in NY. Sure, they are excellent in math and readings, but this is not because of the school or teacher ability. A lot of competitive parents send their kids for extra lesson outside the school. When my daughter emailed teachers, she get no response. When she tried to advocates for herself, she got treated like an elementary school student. I wonder if the statistics is a truly reflection of the school or just parents engagement.

An exceptionally good school. Teachers are very committed and immersed in day to day teaching.