Sunnyside Elementary School

5412 Saint Charles Road

School District

Berkeley 87
Grade

3-5
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:12
Type

public

School Map for Berkeley School District 87

GreatSchools Rating

The school rating calculation is based on four ratings: the Student Progress Rating or Academic Progress Rating, College Readiness Rating, Equity Rating, and Test Score Rating each designed to show different facets of school success. Learn more about GreatSchools Ratings

Reviews

Submitted by other on May 25, 2017

We have our son in kindergarten at Sunnyside and the experience has been great. The teacher communicates with us about our son's progress, the environment feels safe and fun, and there are plenty of opportunities for parents to visit kids in school. The teacher uses an app to keep us informed on our child's progress and the classroom activities and even shares photos with us. It's great! The principal Ms. Tortora constantly sends out voice messages to keep parent's updated and is very approachable and kind. The district is reorganizing the grades among the school buildings for the 2017-2018 school year which means our 1st grader will now need to go to Jefferson. We'll see how that goes.
Submitted by parent on April 17, 2017

My family is new to this area. We enrolled our twins into Kindergarten last November and they were welcomed with open arms by the principal and teachers. The communication with parents is very open and effective. My children are learning rapidly and they feel safe. I was considering enrolling my children in a private school but I have confidence that they will do well here at Sunnyside.
Submitted by parent on January 12, 2016

This school makes me hate that I purchased a home in this area. The whole process of transferring my child into the district and dealing with a non-responsive, less than patient 4th grade teacher has given me nothing but headaches the past 5 months. It seems the students are constantly being thrown material that surpasses their level of understanding just to say it was covered; however they are not mastering the material. A teacher even admitted that majority of the students aren't testing well on the mandated tests, and they are rigorous....well, shouldn't that raise some concerns about their approach??? Especially since it seems test scores in the school are on a continous decline based on the Illinois report card site. I spend my evenings re-teaching most work that comes home. I have expressed concerns with son's teacher about his lack of progress as he seems to have dramatically declined overall since attending this school, and he has been insisting that he hates the school and wants to go back to his old school. While I tried to be patient and give my son time to adjust, thinking he would get over it, I now hate the school, its nonchalant principal, and son's teacher who lacks patience with the children and does not respond to my questions or concerns. I have NEVER felt the need to send my child to private school, but I now feel it is a necessity, including never allowing my 2 younger sons to ever set foot in this place.
Submitted by parent on March 23, 2015

I am pleased with Ms. Tortora and Ms. Kohout. They are really trying to promote a positive attitude. They bullying is taken very serious and doesn't seem to be a major problem. The teachers really are fantastic and determined to help the kids. I gave it 3 stars because of SOME of the horrible parents.
Submitted by parent on June 22, 2014

I had to make a difficult decision in moving my 2 boys from private to public school. I wasn't happy with the school that they were in and wasn't sure about moving them to Sunnyside because of the overall score of the school. I stepped out on faith and transferred my boys at the beginning of the second quarter. It was the best decision I could have made. I thought my 5th grader was having some trouble that the private school didn't recognize and within the first month at Sunnyside his new teacher called recommending that my son see a reading specialist. The school had one on site. My 2nd grader continued to excel and adjusted well to the new environment. They both did. I am grateful for both of the teachers that they had during their first year. We'll see what the next school year bring.
Submitted by parent on May 21, 2014

My daughter will be finishing her first year of k and has had a wonderful experience. Her teacher was on top of things and communicated very well with me. They want the kids to excel, my daughter can already read same books. Most of the teachers hold a masters degree.
Submitted by parent on March 29, 2011

We had our child at this school. The teachers yell at the kids and have an oveall "I don't care attitude". The academics is poor! Teachers don't want the parents involvement, only at a surface level. There's more time spent on the rainbow club (new age indocrination). They are trying to push this inclusive, acceept everything attitude. The previous principal "Dr. Trotter" was really good, but when she left, it really went down. Many of the kids are really bade and disrupts the class for those who want to learn. There's also too much bullying!!!! More needs to be done about it. This could be a really good public school, but it has poor leadership, too many poor teachers and non-involved parents. I would not recommend sending your child here, especially if you are a Christian.