Evanston---would you send your kids to ETHS? (Chicago, Wilmette: crime, roughest)

[divakat]

I am talking more from a safety standpoint. A friend works right next to the high school and told me how bad it is around there. I think Evanston may be the perfect town for my family to buy our house in (looking at NW portion) but it is somewhat pricey. I love that it has a lot of charm, trees, near the lake, Northwestern campus, historic homes, walkable downtown with shopping, near Chicago and metra as well as el. If I have to send my two kids in 10 years to a private high schools, though, that may knock it off our list.

[nana053]

My kids attended ETHS some time ago. The area around the high school is pretty awful, but it doesn't prevent the school from being excellent, imo.

There are some gang problems, but they tend to occur outside the high school itself. There is a new safety director who seems very qualified. 10 years down the road though who knows what will be happening.

Interview: ETHS' New Director of Safety - Evanston, IL Patch

[chet everett]

Not to knock a guy with 32 years of police service too hard, but the overall impression the "Security Directory" gives is more of grandfatherly pension-collecting type than somebody that is totally on-top of the various kinds of threats to security that large high schools with a wide range of students really face...

I personally know some folks who work at ETHS and like other high schools that draw students from a very wide set of backgrounds there are both some concerns about kids that are chronic under-performers as well as some issues with kids that are not respectful of traditional rules / behaviors. That said it really is NOT overrun with violence as there is simply no tolerance for kids that do anything like fighting or menacing others.

Depending on what the rest of your requirements for a home are I certainly would not rule out Evanston, as it possible to for kids to move from ETHS to a very selective college however I certainly would look at how far your money goes in some surrounding area that do have even more uniform achievement.

[themag62]

I completely agree with Chet, and I also know people on the faculty at ETHS. We might be headed there for HS from the city, if the international baccalaureate program at our neighborhood HS is not sufficiently attractive enough to outweigh my fears about negative peer/school culture there for my rather sheltered private school kid.

[Doglover5]

Now, things may have changed there in the past few years, and if so, I'm not aware -- but yes, I would definitely send my kids there. Good, responsible kids should be able to do just fine there, I would think -- and more than just fine -- I imagine that there's something for everyone at ETHS and that there a lot of strong teachers and strong students. Unless one's child has a penchant for getting into a bit of trouble, I don't know why it would even be an issue. Your child would presumably make friends with interests similar to his own.

[divakat]

It's really the safety of the area where the school is located that is an issue. I don't want the spillover of the crime in the area to compromise the safety of the kids in the building. After all, they still have to pass through the neighborhood to get to the high school.

[themag62]

If it's any comfort to you, 100s upon 100s of kids from wealthy areas of Evanston pass through the area daily to get to the HS. They are fine. While the area is not the best, it does not even compare to the roughest areas of Chicago in terms of lack of safety.

[plates]

Originally Posted by divakat

I am talking more from a safety standpoint. A friend works right next to the high school and told me how bad it is around there. I think Evanston may be the perfect town for my family to buy our house in (looking at NW portion) but it is somewhat pricey. I love that it has a lot of charm, trees, near the lake, Northwestern campus, historic homes, walkable downtown with shopping, near Chicago and metra as well as el. If I have to send my two kids in 10 years to a private high schools, though, that may knock it off our list.

The actual high school I think is fine, but like others have said, I don't know about the area around it. I'm assuming that you would live in a wealthier part of Evanston so why not look a little further North to Wilmette or Northfield?

[kindrakindra]

Originally Posted by themag62

If it's any comfort to you, 100s upon 100s of kids from wealthy areas of Evanston pass through the area daily to get to the HS. They are fine. While the area is not the best, it does not even compare to the roughest areas of Chicago in terms of lack of safety.

This. I would much rather have my kids learn street smarts at a younger age than in college or thereafter.

[nana053]

The scariest incident that my dd had when she was in school there in the late 80s or early 90s was a police chase that actually went through the gym wing as the man they were chasing got in the back door. Those doors are no longer accessible - they only open from the inside during the school day. The school security changed a lot after that happened.

My dd was often at school quite late because she was a theater tech even then and they would do build or tear down late at night.

Note that in Winnetka, we had Laurie Dann who shot up an elementary school classroom back during those days. It can happen anywhere, but it does not happen very often. The url is for a movie based on her life, but the real thing was pretty scary and bizarre.

Murder of Innocence: Murder of Innocence based on Laurie Dann, Classroom Murder, Winnettka, Illinois