Metropolitan Schoolhouse

1415 N. Dayton

Chicago, IL 60642

3 Reviews

School District
Grade

K-12
Type

private

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Reviews

Submitted by parent on December 21, 2024

Our son moved to Metro to start 4th grade & is now a proud Metro 6th grader who thinks his school is "amazing" and asks to go back if he is home for more than a regular weekend. He was at a wonderful Catholic school through third grade, where he loved his teachers. While the kids were all very kind to him, he didn't have any "real" friends his own age and the classes were just too big at 20 for the personal attention he needed to make his way through the curriculum. Tutors every day after school made the academics less of an issue, but he needed to learn to make friends. Our son as diagnoses of autism, ADHD and a math learning disability. He is very verbal and empathetic, and behavior was never an issue so he was going to fall through the cracks in a conventional school if we didn't make a move. After our family's social worker said that she doesn't worry about academics with kids like him, but she does worry a lot about how they will learn to navigate social interactions, we knew Metro was perfect. When we met with the director, she knew they could help him. The director & social worker at Metro are very in tune with which kids they can support in their community.All kids have 3 hours/week (at least) of interactive, formal social-emotional learning & the faculty are all specially trained to provide support for all social interaction throughout the week, so the kids are practicing what they are learning all the time. The academics have been a game changer - it is an individualized curriculum designed to meet the kids where they are and move them along academically both individually & together with their classmates. No one feels different. Our son likes math now, where before Metro it brought him to tears. He is also willing to take risks in experiences (they offer so many ways for the kids to stretch themselves) because he knows he is safe and that his friends will be there! Experiences outside of his routine used to be so stressful for him.The kids I have seen who have a tougher time at Metro generally have parents who aren't in tune with the issues their child faces every day at a neurotypical school. The faculty are magical in how they communicate expectations. In Metro we have found a community of faculty, kids and parents who are warm and interested in supporting their children, the school, and each other. We are so excited for what our son's future holds, to watch him choose a college and academic path, and to grow his friendships!
Submitted by parent on December 20, 2024

My son moved to Metro 3 years ago. He has ADHD and Developmental Coordination Disorder. We moved him from a very good public school because his academic and social emotional needs were not being met and he was losing confidence in himself. Since moving to Metro he has regained his confidence! The teachers are very supportive, give him the individual attention he needs, and provide him with deeply engaging lessons. They take a more experiential approach than a traditional school and prioritize addressing the whole child. He is thriving in this environment and now describes himself as a person who loves to learn. One of the things we love about Metro is the awesome field trips they take. He has been to Nevada, Texas and Michigan on overnight trips and this year they are going to Mount Rainier! I was so nervous to send him on the Nevada trip as it would be his first time away from home, but the teachers assured me that he was ready. They were right, he had an amazing time! He looks forward to the overnight trips each year. They also really get out and explore the city, often taking public transit--an important life skill. Art museums, the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, The Harold Washington Library, the Money Museum and even the car wash next door to the school have all been recent field trips My son is bright (as are all Metro's students) and really wants to do well in school. He can sometimes be anxious about getting all his work done. When this happens the school social worker, works with him to develop a plan for completing all of his work. This has been a game changer for him. Once he has that plan in place his no longer feels overwhelmed and can get everything done. I really appreciate that the school addresses his anxiety and then empowers him to come up with a solid plan for how to proceed. They are teaching him a coping skill that he can use in life going forward in any educational or work environment. Our family is very happy with the education he is receiving!
Submitted by parent on December 19, 2024

My daughter graduated from Meto in June 2024. The school was not worth $42K a year. I waited until the end of the first semester of college to post this review to see if I still thought it was a waste of money. It was. My daughter has dyscalculia and we wanted a school that could help her to be prepared to be an engineering major in college. She was at grade level and getting A's and B's at a school that was true college prep. There were reasons we left where she was, but if I knew how weak Metro's academics were, we would not have enrolled at Metro.Metro is a therapeutic school for children with behavioral issues, not a school for students with learning differences. If your child needs a therapeutic school, consider it, because I do feel the teachers are there for the right reasons, but do not expect your child to be ready for college. Math: The first math teacher was wonderful; she covered the first three chapters in geometry before she left. However, she left for maternity leave in October never to return. If she had stayed, it would have been fine. The remaining teacher, did not know how to work with students with dyscalculia, so she only finished five chapters total of Geometry by June. With the help of a private tutor, she had to finish the year with no help from the school during summer school.Algebra 2. Senior year a different math teacher Then without consulting me, he decided to cut most of the chapters out of her math course for the year. I only found out about this at the beginning of May when he bragged during a parent-teacher conference about what he did thinking this would make me happy. No, she needed to be ready for engineering level college math. No an easy B. College: Was she prepared? No. Math: She dropped math after a few weeks, because she was completely unprepared and lost. She will have to do summer school. This is going to be a major uphill challenge for her in college because Metro failed her where she needed it most. Writing. Most of the assignments at Metro were fill-in-the-blank worksheets with work easier than she did in middle school and what she did her first two years of high school. Luckily, her college English teacher has taken her under her wing, seeing how smart she is and realizing her writing skills were not ready for college and is teaching her what she should have learned in high school. I do think it is a safe environment and the students seem happy.