5331 8th Ave
Countryside, IL 60525

10/10. We absolutely love Seventh Avenue School. It is easily the best kept secret in La Grange.

I was a student at this school. It was awful. I want to speak out on the abuse this school put me through.To start, this school is very unsafe. There are bullies galore, and yet the counselors, the principals do nothing about it. My two years here I faced relentless bullying from students and yet anytime anyone spoke up about it, they were immediately silenced by the staff alike and treated horribly for even speaking on what they were facing. All of the time, the principals favored the bullies, and often times were all buddy buddy with them in the hallways, showing their true colors.It got to the point that I was terrified to even go to school. With no one there to support me, how was I supposed to go there? Yet they did nothing to help, only to hurt. They made multiple wrong calls that have negatively affected my mental health. Ever since I went to that school, I have been diagnosed with PTSD. That school has done things to me I will not name, but I will warn about.Recently, finally flipping through my yearbook, I come to find they didn’t even add the senior quotes I wanted to the yearbook. I’m not even mad, just terribly hurt. I feel like this was their final stab in the back to me to say farewell. Nothing good has ever come out of my experience with this school. They added a random quote from Princess and the Frog (even though I love Tiana, still.) that wasn’t what I chose. They managed to suppress my voice once again before I left. It just hurts my heart.Not only did they cause me stress, but they did my mama and father too. How shallow must a school be to harm and disrupt a whole family? It caused arguments and anger in my household that really was just fear. We were all terrified by this horrible middle school. Terrified that they would do something terrible again, just like they always had. So we fought. And it was all thanks to them.If you are going to Gurrie, be warned: Do not trust any of the social workers or principals. (It is most likely just one principal now.) There are a few teachers who will be safe to talk to, who won’t hurt you. If you are facing any mental problems, DO NOT TELL ANY SOCIAL WORKER. I don’t want you going through what I went through. I don’t want this school putting anyone through what I went through again. Tell your parents or a close friend. Do not expect anything good from the social workers.Be safe. One day you’ll look back and go, “Man, that sucked.”. But you have to get through it.

2 of my 3 children have graduated from LT and 1 will start there soon. The ones who have gone to LT have found it to be challenging, supportive, full of caring teachers and staff, and a HUGE number of classes to choose from. They have gone on to be successful in college and ultimately that's what the goal is: to be successful in what comes AFTER high school. Lyons Township HS provided my kids with the tools to be successful after leaving, and one of my kids actually said that he seemed better prepared for college than some of his current classmates at his university.