As posted in Chicago Magazine‘s Fall 2012 Issue, Best Public Schools, check out your child’s school or the schools in your neighborhood to see how they rank (& how they received their ranking). As a homeowner (and eventual seller), it’s important to understand the schools’ performances in your neighborhood or area. It could mean the difference between a lower or higher sales prices and also help you manage pricing expectations. Obviously the schools performance isn’t the only measure for a listing price, but its a healthy one to consider. Listing price factors vary and could be any number of things, including (but certainly not limited to) location, size, curb appeal, floorplan layout, condition of property, finishes, design, age, amenities, parking, # of comparable homes on the market, comparable sold properties closed within the last 3-6 months, condo vs. single family vs. townhome, proximity to transporatation, restaurants, shopping and more.
As a buyer, it’s also very important to understand how the schools perform in any neighborhood you’re considering. It could help to direct your search and narrow down the areas of consideration. If you’re looking to buy or sell, check out the CPS School Locator for boundaries of neighborhood schools of interest. When you narrow down to a certain few schools, I’ll be happy to locate homes within that area to get you started on your home search. How exciting!
However, not all schools have set attendance boundary lines. Many listed below can be lottery schools, meaning that the students attending these schools do not live within the attendance boundary of the school. According to the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) website, all children in Chicago have a CPS neighborhood school they can attend. But, given the learning objectives or focuses for your child, you can elect to send your child to another school via the lottery process. To learn more about the process, go to cps.edu.
Chicago Magazine ranking
s comes from data on the state report cards for the 2010-2011 academic year and factors in various elements, such as student-to-teacher ratios, graduation rates, test scores, spending per student and more. Schools are ranked by different Chicago area regions: Chicago, Cook County, Dupage County, Lake County and other suburbs.
The Top 15 Chicago elementary schools listed are:
Skinner North Classical School
Skinner West Elementary School
Andrew Jackson Language Academy
The Top 15 Chicago high schools listed are:
DeVry Advantage Academy High School
Von Steuben Metropolitan Science Center
Lindblom Math and Science Academy
Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences
Chicago Virtual Charter School
Photos provided courtesy of the Creative Commons License.
