Harte Elementary School

This school is definitely going in the right direction. For the most part the administration and faculty are great and generally care about their students. The main drawback is that there isn't a strong parental involvement with the school.

Bret Harte is a new school experience for me. I am anxious to see the progress my child makes in the special Ed pre-k program. Teachers are really nice. Teacher aides could be alil nicer and office staff is simply wonderful.

We are very excited that our daughter will be starting Kindergarten at Harte this fall. I disagree with the poster below who stated that the schools in the area worth exploring are selective enrollment, private, or out of the district. We chose to send our daughter to Harte despite multiple offers to selective enrollment and magnet schools because we love walking to our great neighborhood school. Our daughter attended the wonderful pre-K program at the school for the past two years, and we couldn't have been happier with it. There is a strong administrative team that is responsive to parents' ideas and concerns. As a volunteer, I have worked with teachers at every grade level who are dedicated and knowledgeable. The pre-K and K teachers are both National Board Certified teachers and incredibly gifted and caring. There are some things to work on at Harte, but I don't think a perfect school exists in CPS-or anywhere! They are working to build stronger parental involvement and to gain more support from the community, for example. However, this neighborhood school is a hidden gem in CPS and we are so excited to be a part of it. The amazing new playground doesn't hurt either:)

Last year was my child's first xperience with CPS. This school came recommeneded by a friend, but I later learned from neighbors that this is not the school to put my daughter in. It's difficult being in an area where you only have a few schools to choose from and those that are worth exploring are selective enrollment, out of the district, or private. So i gave this school a chance and I personally don't feel like the teachers truly care about the students. I don't have a bad child but she struggles in math and I made the school aware of that in the beginning of the school year. Nothing was done to assist in bringing her to speed in math. There were instances where assignements were misplaced, and I was never informed that they were missing. Instead I was told that she is at the age (11) where she needs to help responsible. Are you serious? Held responsible for her own education at age 11, I was at that point done. I then found out at open house 3rd qtr mind you that the school didn't have contact information for me so nearly an entire school year went by before I found out that weekly phone blasts, and e-mails are sent out to the parents. This info was provided at registration!