Skinner Elementary School

111 South Throop Street

School District

Chicago Public Schools
Grade

PK, K-8
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:20
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 August 28, 2019

Awful. Bullying is a huge problem. Curriculum is all over the place and each teacher just uses what they are given with no training or development.
Submitted by parent on October 15, 2018

My experience at this school in terms of academics has been great. In other areas, not so much. The school is definitely overcrowded and arrival/dismissal is a nightmare. There are 37 kids in my child's third grade classroom. There is next to no supervision and zero order to the way kids enter and exit the building. My child was a transfer student this year and at her previous school, teachers would not dismiss a child unless they saw a parent or guardian and there were teachers outside the building with each classroom before and after school. At Skinner, it is just a free-for-all. My child is in the STAR after school program which handles this all much better than the school as a whole, but it honestly scares me that children are allowed to just leave. Communication from the school leaders is often very delayed and inefficient. Do not expect to hear of important announcements on time. The leadership and communication for the school is incredibly frustrating and it does not appear that current leadership is capable of handling so many students.
Submitted by other on January 08, 2016

My three year old received a slot in May 2015 a gladly accepted and placed my deposit. Unfortunately I never heard another word from them. I tried to email and call the principal several time and never received a call or email back. I was force to find a new school in September not an easy task. They are overcrowded and lack communication and transparency.
Submitted by parent on September 28, 2015

My son was accepted in the classical program. I took him out of his current school after receiving the ridiculous 24 hour notice that he was accepted and school had already started. We made the move and regretted it. Before school every morning, most of the kids congregate in the lunchroom. There is limited supervision, and it is very chaotic. His regular school day was fine, but his teacher was not very responsive to returning emails and made a point in the first class room meeting with parents to state she would not return emails with anything more than one sentence and not to expect a long winded reply from her. I went to the first PTO meeting, and found that the PTO group really didn’t want your opinion, they are perfectly happy with how things are handled already, such a waste of time. After school had finished, my son was signed up for the Chicago Park District program. There were a few times when he decided not to go and no one was the wiser. One two occasions I was told no one knew where my son was only to find he had either gone outside already or was walking the school investigating on his own. I felt the number of students was too overwhelming for the amount of supervisors at any given time. In my opinion, Skinner West is not worth all the hype.
Submitted by parent on May 24, 2015

My son goes to this school and is in second grade with Ms Katie Schwartz. He is very happy with her teaching and I see a lot of progress, she is a very good teacher. He also a good experience with Mr Merlin during his kindergarten. Excellent school!
Submitted by parent on April 29, 2015

My daughter got into the gifted program this upcoming fall (2015-16 school year). We have heard and read mostly good things about the school and was impressed at the open house, although they spent too much time letting the children perform and not enough time for the tour and questions from parents. I sent several emails to one administrator their to set up a meeting and answer my questions regarding enrollment - never got a response for 3 weeks. I sent an email to her teacher and didn't get a response for 2 days. So I called the school and told the lady in the office that we were dropping off the registration packet today and could she check with my daughter's teacher to see if she had 2-5 minutes to meet my daughter (my daughter is very excited to see her new school and meet her new teacher). Well, I was told that she couldn't meet her today because she has a teacher's meeting after school. Maybe I'm overacting but I thought she could meet with her for 2 minutes. I am very objective and perhaps things will improve but for now I'm rating the school 3 stars. I will write another review in the future.
Submitted by parent on March 24, 2015

We like Skinner, but my daughter's second grade classroom (neighborhood) now has 37 (yes, that's right, 37) students! Kudos to Ms. Katie Schwartz for her ability to keep her students focused and challenged, all the while maintaining order and calm.
Submitted by parent on March 24, 2015

We have been very happy with our experience at Skinner West Elementary School. Our daughter is in the classical program there. Before attending Skinner West she was bored and had started to dislike school. This has completely changed since attending Skinner West. She absolutely loves school! While we have a bit of a commute to school, it is well worth the drive. In my opinion, I believe that Skinner West has two main factors working for it: First, I am very impressed with the teachers. They appropriately challenge students and work with students to develop studying skills that are necessary to achieve success academically. Second, the students in her class are all high achievers. Finally, it is 'Cool' to be good at school. These two factors synergistically work together to create a culture that promotes intellectual growth and a health amount of academic competition. Another benefit of Skinner West is the after school star program. They organize a myriad of activities after school while still providing quiet study hall time so that students will finish HW before heading home. Over all - at least for our family - Skinner West is a complete gem!
Submitted by other on October 13, 2014

I am in the eighth grade of this school, and I have to say that our social studies teacher, Ms. Mellos, is really good. She gets every student's respect easily and their attention easily. I really admire her teaching. Another teacher, Mr. Batchelor, is very boring. I always end up staring at the clock in his algebra class. Algebra is such a fascinating subject, but he makes it boring. He needs to have a louder voice and be more interactive with his students. Although he is a new teacher at Skinner, I believe that he can still improve.
Submitted by parent on May 15, 2014

Learn Romano Butler Campus push the children to want to move high and do more in school and home I can see my baby growing right before my eye
Submitted by other on May 14, 2014

I attend this school, and I am very content except for one factor. My science teacher, Ms. Montenegro, is very lax and careless when it comes to teaching. She is very ignorant and seems like she does not have enough knowledge to teach. When she is being observed by Ms . Clark or Ms. Robinson, she puts on a fake act. She prepares power-points and require us to do experiments. She acts extra cheery and like she is a true scientist. When we leave, she asks each table to leave quietly. On a normal day, she simply screams "GET OUT!" I believe her teaching style and behavior should be changed immediately. On the other hand. my social studies teacher, Mr. Fitz, is exceptional. He is patient, open minded, and has lots of knowledge to share. I learn a lot from each of his lectures.
Submitted by other on May 12, 2014

Skinner West school is definitely a good school when your young. I loved it when I was younger but as I got older I started to quickly decrease on my love for this school. Some things are not like they use to be, and many of my classmates are not they use to be. You see now a lot of people are sad or depressed or just not as positive. I would kindly as I can say that maybe before you look into they school maybe some further investigation into the students and how everything is. It's a great school when your young, but as you abate through life the quality and the feel of the school may not be like it use too.
Submitted by other on April 09, 2014

Skinner West school is awesome. I am currently in 6th grade, and I made it into Whitney Young. I have been in Skinner since 2007. I have learned a lot there, and the teachers are awesome. The more you advance through the grade levels, the more awesome the teachers get.
Submitted by other on March 25, 2014

Skinner is a very smart school and I have totally learned so many things here but it is totally a bullying school. I currently am in 8th grade and there is so much drama in every grade literally including the first graders. Many of the staff can be very rude and are always disrespectful when I ask them simple questions like, "Is there a ice pack anywhere?" Which by the way there is no icepacks and no nurses in the school. There is just negative vibes as you get higher and higher in each grade. Also there is many fights and not strict rules and the worse punishment is you get some is some "yellow slip" that doesn't really give a big impression. It's a great elementary school but I do NOT think its a great middle school. I did learn a lot though!
Submitted by parent on December 07, 2013

My daughter just transferred to Skinner this fall and I am very impressed! For the first time in her school career, she is actually being challenged. Her teachers are caring, effective and professional. She has made many friends and her schoolmates welcomed her with open arms. I am thankful that my child has the opportunity to be attending Skinner West. I am hopeful that my son will soon be joining her. This is an excellent school!
Submitted by other on November 09, 2013

I graduated from here in June and got into Payton! The academics are challenging here which made my transition smooth at Payton. I loved the diversity and sports offered here. Teachers were great . I never seen any bullying take place so no vlue about what others said below. I met a lot of cool friends and people. I was in the classical program. I will always love Skinner West!
Submitted by other on November 02, 2013

I attended Skinner many moons ago, and I'm definately in agreement with the fact that things have changed since. I will say this, Skinner, to me, was by far the BEST school I attended. The teachers were great, and brought out what ever talent you had. Artistically, verbally, mentally. Whatever you were good at, they pushed you to be better Skinner is an exceptional school and any parent who is lucky enough to have a child attend, will see exactly what I'm talking about. As far as bullying goes, that's everywhere.....so teach your child right from wrong, so they don't follow what other children do. Teachers are with your children for a portion of the day. They can't do it all by themselves. It takes a village people. Be cautious of who your children are around. I'm POSITIVE that they are not picking up the bullying tendencies and bad language from the teachers!!!!!
Submitted by parent on August 30, 2013

Bullying is OUT OF CONTROL HERE!!! Teachers do nothing, year after year. This is an ongoing issue. My son has been hit, pinched, called names-the teacher tells him "not to tattle". Disgusting
Submitted by other on August 26, 2013

My name is Yasmin Jones and i go to Mark T Skinner West Elemetery School.I am in sixth grade .I just started school on August 26,2013 on Monday. I think others should know about this school is that it is a wonderful school.If your child doesn't understand something that the teacher is teaching your child's teacher will do something right away to get him to understand .I also like my principal Ms.Clark because every year we will watch a bullying video so we will learn to not start any bullying.And if we see bullying we are not suppose to get into the fight .We are suppose to tell a grownup or a teacher or whoever is in the hallway that is close by.What i like about this school is that if your child doesn't know something or isn't good in a subject you just have to let your child teacher know and she or he would do something to help your child inpprove.
Submitted by other on August 22, 2013

Skinner is a school that brings out the potentials in a child. It pushes children to reach above their limits. The teachers are highly committed Miss woerzoreck in 1st grade is an outstanding teacher. Although the homework given to the children which is mostly research based and voluminous tends to keep them up past their bedtime. There's daily homework and weekly homework as well. This is sometimes overwhelming for both parents and child. However, there's no doubt that the Skinner West is thorough. There's no room for timidity, a child needs to prove himself and defend his thoughts and opinions with facts. The issue of bullying is recurrent, the school needs to improve its ways of handling this issue so as to be seen to be fair to all concerned.