Oak Park -- full day kindergarten??? (Chicago: house, schools, income)

[luvcheetos]

I've been looking at the OP school website. It looks like Mann elementary has half day kindergarten, but what about the others? Are they full day or half day?? I've read that Mann is a good school. How do the others compare? Are you ok with any or is Mann really better? I assume its socioeconomic mix may explain its high test scores (statistically, kids from higher income homes tend to score better as a group).

Any thoughts?

We're beginning a house search on OP and I don't want to unnecessarily limit myself to the Mann district. Oh, for what it's worth, our older child scores high on IQ tests, so we'd also be interested in which school, if any, is better for so-called gifted kids.

[Hatchetman]

none of the Oak Park schools offer half-day Kindergarten anymore. Mann went full time just this year. Mann gets higher scores because the average income level is higher.

[kindrakindra]

I would definitely not limit your search to Mann only. Mann has the highest test scores (Mann has high scores for all of Chicagoland too) because it has the least diversity. Schools with great gifted programs include Hatch, Beye and Whittier. Because Whittier has the multi-age classroom, children can be in kindergarten and doing second grade math and reading. Let me know if you have more questions.

[luvcheetos]

Thanks so much for your thoughts! It's very helpful.

[mclairch]

whittier has multi-age classroom but the children are separated by age group for math and i don't know of any child who has been put in a higher age group for math (even though some definitely could've benefited from that)

[kindrakindra]

Interesting M. I just talked to Carol Young (Whittier's principal) about how kids can move up, she said it's done all the time and one of many benefits of the multi-age class.

Are you happy with Whittier otherwise?