High schools/middle schools in Lincolnshire, Northbrook, Deerfield and Buffalo Grove (Chicago: home, school districts)

[CommutingToLoop]

I just posted a thread on commuting from these suburbs but thought I should post my school/family questions separately. I'm planning to move to a northern Chicago suburb and am considering Deerfield, Northbrook, Lincolnshire or Buffalo Grove, both for commuting reasons and because I've read good things about Stevenson, Deerfield and Glenbrook North High Schools.

Of course, there seem to be many good school choices in this general area. But can anyone give me advice regarding differences between the middle schools and high schools in these suburbs? I'm looking for schools that are good academically but also welcoming to newcomers and friendly, socially. Anything you can tell me about schools in these areas would be appreciated.

Also, why do the taxes vary so much? There seem to be big differences not just between Lake and Cook Counties but also between suburbs in Lake County. Do you get what you pay for when living in, say, Buffalo Grove (which seemed to have the highest taxes of the areas I compared)?

Thanks for your help!

[ahava]

I'm not really sure what you mean by the differences between the middle and high schools, but the three high schools you've picked have very high test scores and so do the middle schools that feed to them (the only exception is a few of the middle schools that feed to Stevenson, but those are in the Mundelein/Vernon Hills area, probably not where you're looking).

The taxes vary because there are different taxing bodies in each place. Also, Buffalo Grove doesn't have as much commercial tax base as the other towns do, so that's probably one reason why their residential taxes are higher. They do have tons of activities for families, but I think Deerfield and Northbrook do too. Here are some links to give you an idea of what the different towns offer for families:
Buffalo Grove Park District
BGRA Baseball
Schwaben Soccer
Deerfield Park District
Deerfield Youth Baseball
Deerfield Library Home Page
Northbrook Park District
Northbrook Library
Lincolnshire Parks and Recreation (http://www.village.lincolnshire.il.us/services/parks/index.php - broken link)
Lincolnshire Swim Club
Vernon Area Public Library

[CommutingToLoop]

Thanks for the feedback, Kirstenleigh. I guess I'm not clear about the differences between schools because I'm not sure what to ask - just wondering if there's something else I should consider. What you said about Buffalo Grove taxes makes sense.

[reppin_the_847]

They should all be strong high school districts (academically) as most of the North Shore high school districts tend to be. If anything, they may vary a little bit demographically (more racially and less socioeconomically), but, they're all strong. Stevenson HS (which Buffalo Grove & Lincolnshire fall under), is a gigantic high school which brings in students from many different towns in a huge district. Stevenson and New Trier High School down in Winnetka constantly duke it out for being the top public school in the state of Illinois and in the Chicagoland area. Glenbrook North & Deerfield HS will be smaller than Stevenson, but I'm sure will still be quite strong. All these districts will have strong representations from the Jewish populations, Asian populations (I think Koreans, and also Chinese), probably some Eastern European representation at Stevenson & Deerfield (Russian especially), some WASP's (although surprisingly they may not seem like the majority like they would up in Lake Forest or in Libertyville).....and then your other groups as well.

Originally Posted by CommutingToLoop

I just posted a thread on commuting from these suburbs but thought I should post my school/family questions separately. I'm planning to move to a northern Chicago suburb and am considering Deerfield, Northbrook, Lincolnshire or Buffalo Grove, both for commuting reasons and because I've read good things about Stevenson, Deerfield and Glenbrook North High Schools.

Of course, there seem to be many good school choices in this general area. But can anyone give me advice regarding differences between the middle schools and high schools in these suburbs? I'm looking for schools that are good academically but also welcoming to newcomers and friendly, socially. Anything you can tell me about schools in these areas would be appreciated.

Also, why do the taxes vary so much? There seem to be big differences not just between Lake and Cook Counties but also between suburbs in Lake County. Do you get what you pay for when living in, say, Buffalo Grove (which seemed to have the highest taxes of the areas I compared)?

Thanks for your help!

[ahava]

Originally Posted by reppin_the_847

Stevenson and New Trier High School down in Winnetka constantly duke it out for being the top public school in the state of Illinois and in the Chicagoland area. Glenbrook North & Deerfield HS will be smaller than Stevenson, but I'm sure will still be quite strong. All these districts will have strong representations from the Jewish populations, Asian populations (I think Koreans, and also Chinese), probably some Eastern European representation at Stevenson & Deerfield (Russian especially), some WASP's (although surprisingly they may not seem like the majority like they would up in Lake Forest or in Libertyville).....and then your other groups as well.

These are accurate observations, I just want to make a few comments. Statistically, Deerfield is right up there with Stevenson and New Trier, but is less vocal about it. Stevenson and Glenbrook South are the schools with high Russian populations - they're basically priced out of Deerfield and Northbrook (unincorporated Deerfield being the obvious exception - it's in Stevenson's district).