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Hello! We have 2 kids, a son who will be entering 2nd grade in the Fall 2022 while our daughter will be entering KG. Our son is already at Bronzeville Classical. Our daughter just got offered a spot at NTA RGC. The commute isn’t bad for either school, and our preference would be for them to be together.
Any thoughts on whether we should strategize towards them both getting into one or the other of these schools? We’ve been at Bronzeville Classical just this year, my son’s 1st grade year, and it’s been fine. We don’t have a sense of loyalty there or think it’s so amazing that we can’t leave. But it’s hard to compare to NTA without having any personal experience there.
I’d love to hear what others think – thank you!
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We were at NTA in 2018-19 so I cannot speak beyond that year [I know they have a new principal now]. We went on to take a SEES seat closer to home, to get siblings together but otherwise would have stayed.
Pros of NTA:
– academics and teachers in the RGC were great, I was amazed at what my child learned, it really was 2 years ahead
– Sense of community was amazing. they make a point to know every child. we felt very safe and cared for in any situation. pride in the school was amazing. i have never seen so many people who truly love their school
– they mix RGC with neighborhood program at lunch and specials and aftercare. my child enjoyed meeting the neighborhood kids and got along
– facilities are great. large gym, wide hallways, on site clinic. lots of space, easy drop off and pickup, outdoor space including garden and a running track
– before and aftercare through JCC and park district
– staff and principal was super responsive to any concerns, really went above and beyond more than any other CPS I have experienced
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Wondering if you ended up at NTA? We just got an offer for the RGC at NTA and I dont see much online about it. Wondering if anyone has feedback.
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Would love to know if you hear or learn anything about the NTC RGC. My daughter also has an offer for K and I’ve been trying to get more info!
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Did you decide to accept your offer? Any thoughts on NTA? I missed the first open house Apr 22 but will try and make it this Wed the 30th to check out the school. My child is 3rd on the WL for 1st grade. If we do get an offer, I want to make sure we have done our research!
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I said this in a different thread, so reposting here:
My kid started later and I have heard that the communication from teachers really falls off starting in 3rd grade. The K-2nd grade teachers are very good about communication, from what I’ve heard. In my experience, the third grade communication is very limited but 4th is better, so YMMV.Good: good teachers, strong sense of community, on-site swim team, on-site pool, good principal, friendly staff, great facilities. They also place a ton of students in academic centers. Given the potentially problematic situation where the RGC program is “housed” in a neighborhood school and the programs pull from different demographics, NTA handles that with care. Kids are mixed RCG/neighborhood for essentials and for homerooms but do academic work separately. This helps it feel less like a school within a school, but it doesn’t solve all of the problems. The school is racially conscious and much of their classwork, special projects, school assemblies, etc are all focused on the Black American experience. If this is going to be a problem for you, it is not the school for you.
Bad: No language, and no real fine arts (there are obviously art/music classes as part of the normal rotation, but it’s not a strong emphasis). As I mentioned, the communication falls off in 3rd grade.
Ugly: Nothing’s really horrible, but there has been some churn among the teachers and my kid has had at least one teacher a year they dislike. Drop off and pick up can be chaotic.
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Thank you for that info! Hoping there is movement for 1st grade
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Have a 6th grader at NTA in the SEES program.
Early years were great (K-2). I truly think our kids had some of the best teachers possible and the school community was wonderful. Mrs Both set the tone for the SEES program and it carried thru.
COVID was obviously a challenge for all. Not going to pin it on the school or teachers.
Middle years had some great teachers too but communication was starting to slip. Also the enrichment classes like art/music evaporated.
5th is where the wheels started to fall off as many disruptive kids weren’t disciplined. Teacher quality also dropped.
6th grade has been an absolute disaster with teachers who don’t show up and when they do, don’t offer much instruction. It got to the point that the one teacher who every kid loved quit partway thru the year.
Fortunate our kid is going to an AC next year. I would say NTA is fantastic for the early elementary years but keep an eye out for how the late elementary years evolve
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