Lake Bluff Elementary School

Very disappointed with the IEP process including the principal and director of curriculum. Disorganized data, poor judgement, and dishonesty created a lot of uncertainty for me and had I not been divorced I would have pulled all my kids from their program. Despite having some qualified teachers, the school lacks any qualified special-ed presence and is quick to send kids off to NSSED for evaluation and relocation to a co-op. Being in special-ed myself I have some experience with this and the only word that comes to mind is unprofessional. With a couple kids in the system still, it is my hope that this school will change admin and hopefully have a more effective approach to all their special-ed kids with the goal being inclusion and retention rather than sending the kids off to another location when their resources are tapped. LBES relies heavily upon NSSED, problem being NSSED only has so many people to go around. Having a qualified sped department would greatly improve this school in many aspects from interior training to student retention and success.

The person who claimed LBES was not a good school for academically advanced students is either way out of date or is holding a personal grudge about something. This school and its staff are incredibly responsive to academically advanced students. There are quarterly meetings between parents and Enrichment programming staff, along with ongoing communication from teachers, curriculum coordinators, and the principal. Student need at both special education and accelerated education levels is constantly being monitored and new channels of instruction are being instituted in the classrooms in order to capture students with a wide variety of learning styles. The use of technology at LBES enhances the school day. Mrs. St Claire, the principal, is an absolute gem, and she strikes that perfect balance between being professionally astute and personally invested in the students. We've had two teachers here so far and both far exceeded our expectations for communication and support. The art, physical education, social work, and especially music programs at LBES are incredibly well developed. We could not be happier that we send our son to LBES and feel he is getting a private academy-level education here.

Our child loves this school. We came from private school to LBES and have not regretted it. We've seen a big leap with math and reading, our teacher and principal are very responsive, and we love the community aspect of the school.

Fun, kind, neat, clean, and bully free! I feel that all schools should be this way!