Thurgood Marshall Elementary School

I want to be clear that I am assessing the new Washington Dual Language Academy that started this school year 2014-2015. I have to admit I was extremely skeptical to enroll my daughters in this school given the District's reputation, but given the focus on dual language acquisition and competency I felt it was a calculated risk worth taking. Also, given this was a new program I believed that if there were enough committed parents and teachers all working toward the same goal, this school could be different. I'm pleased to say that from my experience this year it was MUCH better than I expected. Of course, the enrollment experience could have been better planned and executed but I didn't want that to impact negatively on my experience with the school as they were not at fault for the District's disorganization. We transferred in from Oak Park River Forest school district known for strong academic performances year after year. After experiencing OPRF (as a minority) I would strongly recommend this program for non-Spanish speaking students as well as already bilingual students. My daughters came into the program knowing very little Spanish given we don't speak it at all at home and it was not a strong emphasis (although offered as a course) in OPRF, but at Washing Dual Language they were in the perfect environment to learn it and have done well in their acquisition as well as literacy in both English and Spanish (both on grade level and above for each language). They also did not suffer in their development of the required core subject materials, it was just a bonus to also learn it in Spanish. I'm hopeful that the upcoming years will improve further as long as the community can see the value in the bilingualism of students and parents engage with the school in their individual child's journey. Let's continue to raise the standard for our community school and their overall performance.

This school all about religion but owe my family $5,000 dollars they won’t respond to any emails and etc

If you are looking for a good Christian school this is where to go, no only does it have some great teachers who will challenge you to do your best, but it will also be great to make friends because everyone there is supportive.

I am thrilled that we decided to send our children here for preschool this year. The school is small, diverse, and welcoming. We have had an awesome experience with every part of the process.

Meca Elementary School My child has been enrolled since PK. The teachers are AMAZING at what they do. They are really gifted in teaching the children. The administration at this school is TERRIBLE. They do not communicate well with each other here; they have attitudes when you ask them a question. I have had to remind them to post payments on my account due to them not keeping track of my payments. The younger ladies in the office don t know anything about what s going on and do not give messages to teachers or the principal as asked. I have had to show proof that I made payments because they have not documented it. They charge you $40 for a gym fee and they don t even take the kids to the facility consistently. The lunch they have is the worst. They also do not have updated technology inside the clasrooms nor do they offer computer classes for the lower grades as I was told in the enrollment process. I am currently in the process of seeking a new school for my child. They classroom environment is great but to have to go through all the extra problems is not worth the money you have to pay.