5221 N Newcastle Ave
Chicago, IL 60656

When I went years ago to this school, my experience wasn't very good, given that not only would the kids be mean at times, but some of the teachers could be mean for no apparent reason, even if you didn't do anything. I will say that you will run into some genuinely kind teachers, especially some of the teacher's aides. Granted, I don't know if the school still teaches useful stuff or activism, but what I will say is that after they got a new principal sometime after the last one ended up getting promoted to a higher position in the school district, things in the school started to go downhill every year. Even with the new principal, I heard they started to teach activism in some classes, which is not a good sign in my eyes. But otherwise, this school is middle of the road. I generally wouldn't recommend taking your kids to this school unless it is your only option.

While my experience was a bit better at high school than at grammar school, some of the things that I encountered gave me some weird vibes. One of them is that almost every time you go into the bathroom, you smell something weird, someone is doing drugs, or the bathrooms are filthier than at home. Not to mention, some weird things have happened in school, such as someone spraying liquid fart in the hallway (which is just gross), and there would be fights students would have with others over something little. That aside, they have teachers who are willing to teach, but at the same time, you will have teachers who are lazy but willing to help. Some of the policies they put into place regarding having to get a tardy slip to get into class, even if you were a few seconds late was a bit unnecessary, not to mention you would need a specific hallpass if you needed to use the bathroom (not to mention there would be times where the bathrooms were closed). I also realized that this school isn't a college prep school anymore, since more often than not, a student from Taft would graduate and go on to college, and they would struggle a lot, since the school doesn't really prepare kids for college.But otherwise, this is just your average suburban high school. You certainly can still have good experiences, though you have to be careful who you surround yourself with, as things can make a turn for the worse if you don't. Unless this is the only school you can attend, you have better options.