Beard Elementary School

This school is OK. The teachers are great, at least the ones I've encountered. I have a 1st grader and 8th grader about to start the school year. They have been there for a few years. Ones of the issues I have is with the special education program that's offered. I don't feel students are getting the true help they need. IEPs say one thing and test results show another thing. My oldest one is starting 8th grade but has the reading level of a 2nd- 3rd grader. Even with outside resources and help from home, my son still has a hard time comprehending any work given to him. All of last year they said his progress was increasing but I have a feeling he's just being pushed through grade by grade. The school was good to my kindergartener. She did great progress. The lunch provided is okay, it's nutritional. The school is very involved with the community. I do see a lot of parents participation at school functions. The parking is TERRIBLE. A lot of parents do not care for the safety of students and drive carelessly. There have been a few close calls where I was hit while walking with my child. Be VERY aware and cautious of that. The school usually sends out emails to parents to remind them to be courteous but it goes to deaf ears. The school is currently under construction to fix the pick up/drop off situation. Overall, this school is OK. Beware if your child has an IEP.

Let kids get bullied, let kids say racial slurs, don’t do anything about any of these things. If i were going to send my kid to any cps, this would be my last opiton.

Oriole park is a Great school with dedicated teachers!! P

We love Smyser. Whole family has been here for about 8 years and 6 kids, 3 graduated and went on to Taft, Lincoln Park. Teachers are awesome and super kind and full of knowledge and passion for their craft. Staff are great and really committed to the kids. Go Eagles!

The school is situated in a quiet, pleasant neighborhood on the north side of Chicago. We were referred by friends and decided to give it a try. While the environment initially seemed promising, we found the 4th grade teacher to be ill-suited for an elementary classroom. In our experience, she lacked the temperament and sensitivity necessary for working with young students.Her teaching style was reminiscent of outdated disciplinary methods often associated with older Catholic school systems—overly harsh, rigid, and, at times, unkind. While modern Catholic schools now implement Virtus training to promote appropriate and respectful interactions with students, we felt this teacher operated outside those boundaries, occasionally crossing into behavior we considered inappropriate and potentially harmful.Ultimately, we made the difficult decision to withdraw from the school in search of an environment more aligned with contemporary educational values and respectful teaching practices.