Thoughts on New Trier... (schools, teachers, population)

[Chummy Waters]

That's what lists are all about, making people cringe, especially lists that rely on judgement. "Top 100 songs of all time", "Best 100 Cars of all time", "50 Top Cities to Live In". C'mon, they put them out there to get a rise out of you and for you to debate.

[thePR]

Originally Posted by nana053

Whoa, Newsweek just came out with its new list

America's Best High Schools: The List - Newsweek

A Dallas magnet school came in first which surprises me. Northside Prep is the best Illinois can do at #70 and New Trier is down at 851 out of 1000 schools. I have no idea how relevant the rankings are, but ETHS is not even on the list.

That list means almost s***. It's practically a Forbes list.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by thePR

That list means almost s***. It's practically a Forbes list.

The list does include factors for assessing the relative performance of folks of differing economic status, in fact that is one of its potential strengths.

Sadly the Newsweeks revised methodolgy then goes off the rails. Instead of accounting for the kids SUCCESS on AP / IB tests it merely catalogs what PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS take the tests. It is a foolish WASTE to force kids that are underprepared to take tests that are EXTREMELY difficult and then use THAT as an example of "how hard they TRY" -- in life some things DO deserve credit for merely being attempted but tests like AP are designed to assess specific competence. It would be like taking people that have never practiced holding their breath out in the open ocean and giving them a rock. A whole bunch will probably DROWN, many will be discouraged, one or two might have some previously undiscovered 'natural talent'' but REALLY is it worth it???

[chikid]

Originally Posted by chet everett

New Trier has far more students, far more course offerings, far wider range / better success is sports, is NOT a selective admissions schools, is NOT located inside Chicago, has been around FAR FAR longer...


If you want to "debate" the various choices between making a decision to live in the area served by New Trier vs living inside CPS on the CHANCE your children could gain admission to Payton or Northside why don't you start a thread on that. It could be interesting...

What is your prob? Someone said that New Trier was the best public school in the state academically and I was merely saying that I believed Northside holds that title. Sheesh! Don't put words in my mouth or start arguments where there are none to be found.

[Rlest8]

Originally Posted by nana053

Whoa, Newsweek just came out with its new list

America's Best High Schools: The List - Newsweek

A Dallas magnet school came in first which surprises me. Northside Prep is the best Illinois can do at #70 and New Trier is down at 851 out of 1000 schools. I have no idea how relevant the rankings are, but ETHS is not even on the list.

America's Best High Schools - Newsweek (http://www.newsweek.com/content/newsweek/feature/2011/americas-best-high-schools.html - broken link)

New Trier is ranked 139th. Your link is from 2010. The methodology has changed since then.

Back to the OP's original questions and some comments here-kids are kids and there will be jerks anywhere. We certainly have not found a higher percentage in the NT community.

[rgb123]

oh there is definitley a higher percentage in the NT community. It's an entitlement thing. and a 'we are the best' mentality. It's not a really good mix for teenagers.

[LakeShoreSoxGo]

The only problem with New Trier is the drugs. Lot's of kids with a lot of money who want to party (and I'm not just talking weed here).

[Dncr]

I've had the New Trier debate at least 100 times in the past couple of months...

Anyway, New Trier is fantastic school, but it isn't the Holy Grail of education that many would make it out to be. While New Trier does report extremely high scores on standardized test, and places students into many excellent Colleges and Universities, many schools in the area, as well as the rest of the Metro, do as well.

As a student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, I can't even begin to tell you how many people I meet from New Trier. I graduated from District 219 in Skokie, made up of two high school deemed much "worse" than New Trier, despite being less than five miles away. Would I say that the students from New Trier were more prepared for U of I then I was? No. Most High Schools in Suburban Chicago will more than equip your children for success upon graduation. The difference is, their parents paid probably double in property taxes for four years of education.

[edsg25]

i don't think this should be the greatest of considerations, and definitely not a deal breaker, but it really is necessary to note that the Winnetka campus is hardly state of the art and its age shows in many ways.

particularly hard hit would include a subject like science where space limitations from another era make it difficult to create the best learning environment. PE also has extremely outdated facilities.

the New Trier bond issue to rebuild a number of the oldest sections of the building failed last year (that, to me, is one of the real clues on how bad the economy is; another would be a trip up or down Sheridan Road and see the endless "for sale" signs. Scary!)

The Northfield campus was always a better faccility from the old days of NTE and NTW. Of course, it cost a fortune to bring it back to life again for its second incarnation.

The fact that it is a smaller building than Winnetka and is not dripping in tradition or the Winnetka address prevented it from becoming the Soph/Jr/Sr building.

[efb]

OK. I think we all agree that academically, New Trier can compete. Top high school or top 25%, both are good.

My main worry is the drug culture. My daughter does not want to go to NT as she is afraid of the drug scene. Why is it allowed to continue? Is there no way they can crack down on it?

Seems a shame not to go to your local school because it is over run with drugs.

Can anyone confirm whether this is perception or reality? If it is reality, how difficult a time would kids have refusing to join in that particular aspect of life at New Trier....?

Thanks for any recent input!