Ogden Elementary School

24 West Walton Street

School District

Chicago Public Schools
Grade

PK, K-8
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:8
Type

public

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 parent on April 19, 2022

Extremely dedicated staff and teachers. I volunteer and have met wonderful parents that help their community provide a great education for their kids.
Submitted by parent on April 10, 2022

Ogden probably was a very good school before the merger, and the shift from education to indoctrination began. The merger brought all sorts of additional problems for the school, including blending students from very different backgrounds. In a more structured environment, this should have been great, but as CPS has done away with tiered classrooms, classes proceed at the pace of the slowest learners in the class, and that speed may be further hindered by behavior issues that the school doesn't deal with. As a consequence, Ogden is no longer a place for learning, only for indoctrination and bullying. Parents who write about current experiences being great are either too blinded by their own politics, or just don't care about their kids' education. We believe deeply in public education, but after a horrible year online due to Covid, we pulled our children and put them in private school, which focuses almost exclusively on social development and academic learning.
Submitted by parent on February 11, 2022

All 3 of my children have attended Ogden since kindergarten and have had great experiences. I also volunteer at the school, so I get to see the inner workings of classrooms and have gotten to know teachers and staff over the years. If you want a great city school experience, with the diversity Chicago land suburbs do not offer, I highly recommend it. The education is high quality and your children will be friends with kids from all walks of life. My kids are strong students, so I worried they were not being challenged. I had her test and she got into what is considered to be one of the best elementary schools in all of CPS and the state of Illinois. I won’t say which bc I don’t want to bash the school, but if you know CPS elementary schools, it’s not hard to guess.Unfortunately, I wish I had not. She says the academics are almost the same with math being the only exception. She also says the kids are not as nice. I think it’s the result of being a competitive and insular community. I am sure some parents love the school, but with the great experience we had at Ogden this prestigious test in school falls short for us.If you have the opportunity to send your child/ren to Ogden, I recommend you give it a try. Please don’t assume private or test in is are better than your neighborhood school. Looking at the negative reviews, I wonder if these parents took the time to get involved. I know not everyone has the time to volunteer or the resources to donate, all of which Ogden needs due to the mediocre funding and support CPS provides, but I will say over the years I have witnessed Ogden educators have to defend themselves against some pretty unreasonable parents. But everyone has a right to their own opinion, and I do not know everyone’s story.This is not to say the school is perfect. As a longtime parent of multiple kids at Ogden, I have seen issues arise as they would at any school. But I have also seen kids flourish, educators improve and parents learn to partner with the community in making things right not just for their own kids but the community as a whole. Being part of a neighborhood school allows you to understand how interconnected we are and the important role public schools play in a free society. It’s been a wonderful journey for us. I encourage you to take a tour of the school, talk to Ogden parents (both fans and foes of the school) and make the best decision for your family.
Submitted by parent on September 16, 2021

Sadly, Ogden was caught up in a political storm, largely driven by administrators trying to further their careers. A once good school became worthless. Everything now is about the teachers and administrators and their careers/paychecks. No focus on education for anyone. No one asking about how to drive lastly results in any demographic. We pulled out kids before they could return to in person bullying and discrimination. Online teachers spent all their time with students who had no support at home. Everything our kids learned was from my wife, and to a lesser extent from me. We had them in online private school until we moved to a suburb that was more homogeneous, so there was less likelihood of living through another school revolution. Reading, writing, arithmetic. What does the following have to do with education 1st and 3nd graders: sex ed starting in 1st grade, free condoms starting in 5th, constant distortion of American History, discussing race so that our eldest left online class crying, asking why are we bad because we are white, and so ... Now we understand why PS really is about babysitting not teaching. Try to find a way out for your kids if you can.
Submitted by parent on January 13, 2020

Excellent prior to 2011 and all downhill thereafter resulting in our family moving for a better, drama free education.
Submitted by parent on August 09, 2019

The worst experience of my life. In fact, if my child misbehaves at all, I tell him he is going back to Ogden and he becomes terrified.
Submitted by parent on August 08, 2019

This school gets a lot of hype because it has money and a newish building and it's IB. But IB is expanding in the States and not doing its model to fidelity, so I'd take the IB part with a grain of salt - more about making money for IB. If I could move, I would but...we're stuck so we'll have to make the best of it.
Submitted by parent on June 13, 2019

amazing experience, all teachers and staff were incredible. great programs
Submitted by parent on June 06, 2019

Overall, the school is absolutely amazing ! It’s a dream school. Super diverse, organized, and great teachers. It’s a good supportive family environment. A small group of parents keeps mess going and ruins it for the bigger group.
Submitted by parent on April 27, 2019

The teachers can be great - but they are not supported by administration. And administration is abusive to families who try to advocate for their kids.
Submitted by parent on May 21, 2018

This school needs more attention on how the admins are running the school. New systems are highly recommended but they need to be more considerate with their teachers and parent opinion and work together.
Submitted by parent on April 24, 2018

NOTE: This site has misleading information about Ogden. It is a K-12 IB World school, not just K-8. Any student who graduates 8th grade at Ogden Elementary School is automatically eligible to continue on 9-12 at Ogden International High School (which does not have its own Great Schools page). THEY ARE PARTS OF THE SAME SCHOOL. I cannot say enough nice things about Ogden. We have one child who has attended Ogden for the last three years, and now a rising Kindergarten student who will start in the Fall. We are thrilled to have a K-12 IB World school. Ogden has a 1+ rating with CPS, which is the highest possible rating in the CPS system. Ogden is one of the most diverse schools in the CPS system. The families come from all over the world, which is wonderful.We have found the teachers and Administration to be incredibly responsive, communicative and professional. It's a shame that some other parents have not felt that way, but the overwhelming attitude among the parents we know is that they have a great relationship with everyone who works at the school.Ogden = Awesome.
Submitted by parent on September 16, 2017

I went out to look at other schools and quickly transferred out of Ogden. So many issues going on there, unstable leadership, poor math test scores, the parents fighting amongst each other about merging with a low income school. Not a good situation. Maybe it will improve in 5 years.
Submitted by parent on August 23, 2017

Wonderful school. Outstanding leadership. Awesome parent involvement. They have a weekly award incentive for classroom with the best attendance. Every Friday afternoon the winning classroom gets a 3 minute dance party with a song that is broadcast throughout the school! The teachers genuinely care and maintain constant communication with parents throughout school year. Many parents are so giving of there time to volunteer daily. Incredible caring leadership from principal and vice. principal.
Submitted by parent on February 25, 2016

We love this school, and especially the IB program, my daughter in KG started reading only 4 months after attending this school, with minimal effort done by us at home. Very deep and large parents involvement. Teachers are doing their best with the ratio they have in place.
Submitted by other on June 03, 2015

Communication between teachers and parents is far above average at Ogden's East Campus. Students are highly challenged and have opportunities to succeed on many different levels. Parents are very involved with of needs of their child as well as within the classroom. Many volunteer their time to help teachers and other children whenever possible. Administration is supportive and addresses issues and/ or needs of students, teachers, and parents quickly. Children are learning and growing in a world class environment!
Submitted by parent on May 22, 2015

Teachers are average but the admin/management is unsatisfactory. Issues that were brought up months ago are still outstanding.
Submitted by parent on May 19, 2015

I have 2 kids that attend, a 1st Grader & a 3rd Grader.... Great School. Great Teachers. Great Parents. Great Community. 2014 "BLUE RIBBON AWARD SCHOOL"!!!!
Submitted by other on November 09, 2013

My grandchildren go to this school and they love it. The best school in the Chicago public schools.
Submitted by parent on November 07, 2013

This morning, another mom forwarded the link to this site. I am beyond words that any parent would post negative comments about any teacher WITHOUT first sharing her concerns with that teacher. We have many teachers in our family who work so hard every day. Concerning this teacher at Ogden, we know Ms. L. Our son with special needs had her a few years ago for math, she took it upon herself to teach him to add using tally marks. She did more for our son than the special ed teacher assigned to modify the lessons. Tenured? How about experienced and kind? Is she right out of college and 22 years old, no. Does she know how to work with EVERY student? Yes!! And we have been involved with the school's events but have never made a big donation. How crass? Stick to your concerns, talk to the teacher first and stop the name calling. I hope Ms. L does not see your post. She deserves better. Thank you!