Frances Xavier Warde School

We have a 1st and 4th grader on campus and have had such a wonderful experience with Ogden over the past 5 years. On campus principal, Dr. Kelly is an amazing leader and so enthusiastic. The teachers and support staff are outstanding. No one should hesitate to send your child to Ogden. Especially if this is your neighborhood school. I don’t understand the negative reviews. My kids love it here and we do too.

Great community and preparation for high school

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.

Ours has been a CCS family for 13+ years and has been able to see firsthand how successful the CCS community is at engaging 4-5 years old and helping them grow into confident, capable, and empathetic young adults. In early childhood, the children are nurtured and made to feel safe as they begin their educational journey. In lower school, they are encouraged to be independent, advocate for themselves, and learn how they fit in the community and in the world. In middle school, they are given the tools to think critically, challenged academically, and are guided in the high school selection process, so that they are able to choose a school that is a good fit for them. My oldest is off to college in the fall, my middle child is a freshman in high school, and my youngest is in 3rd grade. They are all thriving. My kids are all very different people and somehow CCS was the perfect fit for each of them. Each of my kids benefited from the challenging academic curriculum but also had the space and support that allowed them to explore their interests and find their unique voices. The entire community at CCS is caring and focuses on bringing out the best in each child academically and emotionally and I am so grateful that our family landed in such a wonderful place.

There is not enough emphasis on education. It's all social emotional. For example, the preschoolers some of which are 5 years old are learning just 1 letter a week. The e-learning during pandemic was terrible. School was completely not prepared. We had 10 min a day 4 days a week of teacher time in groups of 3. For a schools that boasts such small classroom sizes, it was a complete and utter disappointment. It does however have a great location and a wonderful art teacher.