Canaryville

My son transferred here to Graham from southwest suburb school. My kindergartner has really blossomed since he became one of Mrs. Karnezis 's sunflowers. He loves going to school. Mrs. Karnezis fosters independence and encourages her sunflower students to engage in discussions and lessons. She is outgoing, and has a great personality that the children respond too. I was appalled at how my son's first kindergarten teacher interacted with the kiddos. My son was walking in eggshells around her. Kindergarten should be an amazing experience, and at Graham, my son has that. I went to Graham when I was in Elementary, and my family, Conners, have been in the Canaryville Neighborhood for generations. I love the sense of community and how Graham fosters choice and voice for their students. Thank you!

St. Gabriel is a wonderful, small faith-based school. As my oldest was approaching Kindergarten age I looked into some area CPS elementary schools and what I found was high ranking schools, but overcrowded classrooms, overwhelmed staff and more of a high school atmosphere shuffling kids from class to class, busy hallways and rushed students and teachers. I was a student at St. Gabriel but thought the tuition would be too high to send my children. I was pleasantly surprised when I registered my oldest son that St. Gabriel actually had one of the lowest tuitions for the private schools in it's area (actually with further research one of the lowest in Chicago!). They also offered multi-child discounts to families, financial aid for lower income families and several payment options that will work with your financial needs. Fast forward 8 years and now all 3 of my children are there and they love it. They have smaller classroom sizes, an amazing staff including a principal that is patient and passionate about the school and education in general. Although it is a faith-based school, they do not exclude children of any religion, all 3 of my children have students in their class that are of a different religion or have no religious affiliation. The school offers those student alternative roles when it celebrates religious days or events. We have a family-like atmosphere at St. Gabriel where the students are happy and thrive, we have an excellent sports program (check out our local newspaper Bridgeport News and you will frequently see our volleyball, basketball, etc. in it for winning 1st place in area leagues and tournaments). We have a large ratio of honor roll students 1 out of 3 students makes the B, A or Principal's honor roll! We hope to see more area people check out the school and become part of our Education, Faith and Tradition that has been successful for over 137 years!