Bennett Day School

This school has serious issues with instructional consistency and administrative accountability.A teacher’s return was described to families as a “fresh start,” yet within a very short time there were multiple unplanned absences with no advance communication. This caused repeated disruptions and instability in the classroom, directly affecting students’ learning.This does not appear to be an isolated incident. Similar disruptions have occurred before, suggesting an ongoing pattern that has not been adequately addressed. When the same problems continue to impact students year after year, it reflects a failure of oversight and leadership.Children should not lose valuable instructional time due to unresolved staffing and management issues. Based on our experience, it is difficult to recommend this school to families who value consistency, transparency, and accountability in education.

Our experience at Chicago Grammar School has been excellent. After a rough Kinder experience at a large school, we started looking for a smaller school for our son. He joined CGS at Grade 1. CGS’s close-knit environment did wonders for him. He came out of his shell, went from being overly shy and timid to a confident 2nd grader (soon to be 5th grader in Fall 2020). It has been so cool to see him grow and flourish and we are thankful to have found CGS, via word of mouth in our case. It is Chicago's hidden gem. Our favorite part of the school is how effectively they support students who need differentiated learning. The teachers are amazing when it comes to working with me whenever differentiation is needed. I love that all teachers (regardless of grade) are on the school app, so I can quickly find the teacher and send them a text via the app. Speaking of the app, I personally am a big fan of the school being app-based. The entire school is on the app - teachers, parents and admin – everyone is reachable. Homework, grades, one-on-one teacher/student/parent feedback, school announcements...all in one place. It has been the most productive way to communicate that I've seen to date. It brings a neighborhood feel to the school, which private, city-wide schools usually lack in my opinion. We visited 3 small-medium sized private schools, applied to 2, got accepted to both, but it was the visit portion to CGS that cemented the decision for us. If you’re looking for a warm and nurturing, but smaller elementary school environment for your child, CGS is a school a parent must visit before making a final decision because your child will be spending a very big portion of their life’s hours in this elementary school environment.

Our son has had a full academic career at Intercultural Montessori Language School spanning pre-K through 8th grade. The strong cohesion between the school's dual language and Montessori programs makes for an exclusive education. Ms. Xiang sets expectations high with her leadership in the Chinese Program! It has been a joy to watch our son grow from simply reciting his numbers and colors in Mandarin to developing a command over the language, both in written form and contextually. Exposing him to one of the most different languages at the age of 3-years, when his brain was hard wired for language reception in an environment that fosters peer and group collaboration, allowed a simple mean of communication to blossom into an integrated love, respect and objectivity for the complexity of cultures that shapes his outlook of the world today. His schooling is light years beyond the obligatory 2-year foreign language high school requirement that I grew up with and not something our single-language family could have offered him otherwise. We greatly value the outcome of his full 11-year immersion education. The school has a strong English reading and writing program as well. I've been impressed with the diversity of our son's writing skills, something that will serve him well as an adult in any profession. Math was an academic weak spot during our time there requiring supplemental support outside of school however, speaking to some of the newer families, that inconsistency is being effectively addressed. You can opt out of the standardized tests the school offers (NWEA MAP). That said, we found them a practical device for measuring strengths and weaknesses and helpful learning experience for him when preparing for the high school entrance exams. Praises for the way Intercultural handled the Covid 2020 shut down! The children were sent home on a Friday in March and by Monday morning, they were fully virtual. Come September, classes were back in-person with social distancing measures in place and a strong Covid protocol on how to handle a community outbreak without shutting down the entire school. Intercultural didn't miss a beat the benefits of a small school with strong leadership!Our family had a comfortable experience with the administration. Any issues were addressed quickly and respectivelyNo school is perfect and you will have to advocate for your child along the way, but I whole-heartedly believe that Intercultural is one of Chicago's distinct gems!