Forrestal Elementary School

2833 E Washington

School District

North Chicago 187
Grade

K-3
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:12
Type

public

School Map for North Chicago School District 187

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 February 22, 2022

The teachers and principal at this school don't seem to care about the children at all. When asked questions they'd rather give dirty looks and change the subject instead of answering the actual question. They flat out refuse to listen to parents concerns. The district itself has gotten so bad that there's a group of 200+ parents reaching out to get parent reviews and experiences with the teachers and principals to take to the super intendent and above if needed. Every experience we have had with this school in the last few years has been terrible and our children are suffering even though we've reached out over and over again begging for help or guidance, especially since one of them has a learning disability that the school doesn't seem to care about. We're doing whatever we can to get our kids out of this school asap but I fear that we'll be stuck here another year and I can't think of anything worse for our kids.
Submitted by parent on January 26, 2022

The school generally does not care about children’s academic advancement. It seems that they only care about getting them through until they move onto their next school and then making it someone else’s problem. The teachers are overwhelmed and under-communicative, the principal refuses to get involved in almost any situation. They make it a habit to shut down any talk of IEP even when the child desperately needs it, and their solution is “I guess you should get a tutor.” Staff frequently walk around arguing loudly, yelling, and even swearing on occasion. There have been very few of the staff who have actually made any attempt to help students. If I could give a lower rating, I would. This has been the worst school that any of my three children have ever been to and if we could leave earlier, we would.
Submitted by parent on July 28, 2020

I loved Forrestal. Great teachers and a great staff and principal. They care about the students.
Submitted by parent on July 27, 2020

It.should be way above a 1. It was such a good school
Submitted by parent on July 24, 2018

I would rate this school a 5 star out of 5 stars.
Submitted by other on January 06, 2017

The principal is wonderful! The school atmosphere has a great vibe. The teachers have a passion for the success of the students. The principal makes sure she has a great relationship with each student by greeting each one everyday with positive manner, a smile, and hug.
Submitted by other on January 05, 2017

I occasionally work at this school with the organization I work for and can truly say this is a wonderful program .
Submitted by parent on November 16, 2016

This is one of the better schools in the area. I went here as a child and my children went here as well. Great staff great teachers overall great community!
Submitted by parent on October 04, 2016

I am a parent with three children in the school district. When I moved here I was told only negative things about the schools and so I was a bit apprehensive, but I decided to give the schools an opportunity. I am so pleased that I made this decision. My daughter, who attends Forrestal, is so excited to come to school everyday. Her teacher is awesome! She interacts and is so motivated. She makes the class fun. My daughter is advanced for her age. She's 8 and reads at a 7th grade level and her teacher is able to find material that is still interesting to her. The office staff is so nice and friendly. The principal is wonderful with the kids. She tells them that she's so happy to see them every morning. The environment is friendly and safe. The school currently serves from kinder to 2nd grade. I'd recommend it to anyone!
Submitted by teacher on September 20, 2016

I have been teaching in North Chicago for 16 years. I am new to Forrestal and so excited about the changes that I see happening. The kids come to school excited to learn and the teachers are working hard to stay current with new trends and meet the needs of all of our students.
Submitted by parent on September 20, 2016

My child is growing and striving more and more each day. The staff has been a wonderful source of support and is a wealth of knowledge about resources for our family.
Submitted by parent on January 20, 2016

Teachers and staff are helpful. Yes a few teachers are a bit harder on the students when it comes to work and the students taking ownership on mistakes. But for the most part my child loves going to school and comes home talking about different teachers and how they've helped.
Submitted by parent on December 30, 2015

Truthfully we were scared to put our son in this school because of all the negative comments made about them. Now that he is going there we are absolutely impressed with Forrestal Elementary! When we first got stationed in Great Lakes we had the mindset that we were going to put our son in private school (St John's Libertyville) it was the worst decision that we made. Our son has ADHD and was kicked out of that school and told they could not help us. It pretty much came down to him being kicked out or other parents would remove their children because they were scared of how our kindergartener acted. We were in the process of getting him seen by a behavioral therapist and everything else we needed to do. After he was kicked out we decided to homeschool. That plan didn't work out to well with my work hours and a new baby on the way. We then decided to enroll him in 1st grade at Forrestal elementary. Ms. Mitchell and the staff there have been a blessing. He is getting the help that he needs to guide him to be successful! We absolutely love this school and would recommend Forrestal Elementary to everyone!
Submitted by parent on June 16, 2015

This place is the worst. Teachers yell at kids, put them down and the worst part is that building has no AC. I don't even know how the teachers can work in those conditions and the poor kids are sweating in the summer. North Chicago has the worst school system in the U.S.
Submitted by other on May 29, 2015

A long time ago I was enrolled to this school for 3 good long years and I say it's a nice school with some terrible teachers. My reading teacher has quite a terrible personality. One time I brought gaming cards to school and showed it to all my friends, one of my friends wouldn't stop asking to borrow one between class, so I quickly took it out and said to choose which one. One kid in my class saw me and told my reading teacher about it. She walk up to me and said to give it to her. I handed it to her and she walk across the room and threw it away. I couldnt do anything then because I didnt know what to do, I was too young to think of anything, I tried to take it back from the trash can but my teacher saw me and threw it away again.As I grow older I found out that it was my property, my OWN money and shouldn't be taken away and to be thrown at. It wasn't hers to begin with. I've thought about sueing the school but I thought I will lose. now I'm here telling that I would not recommend to going this private school.I'm sorry for this long story, but I have to say what's wrong about this school.
Submitted by parent on February 01, 2015

This is my daughter's second year at this school. She had great experiences there and her teacher for the past 2 years is great. She keeps the parents informed daily via email and my daughter is doing well there. Dr. Brooks, the Principal, is great, personable and professional.
Submitted by parent on May 20, 2014

I am a parent of one former student of Forrestal . I love this school and the teachers and the Principal Ms Brooks. The principal is outstanding as we'll and provides great leadership to the school. My daughter had great teachers for kindergarten Ms Hardy and Ms May. Get involved,and work with your child teacher and your child.
Submitted by other on April 05, 2014

I am a parent of one former student of Forrestal. Based on the school rating and reviews, I was hesitant to send my son to the school. However, I couldn't have been more wrong! My son had great teachers for kindergarten and first grade (both Ms. T's), and he was taught a curriculum above grade level. The key is to make sure your child is well prepared for the school year. Large class sizes and low resources make it difficult for children to keep up if they are not already familiar with the material. My son now attends the charter school along with another former classmate, and they are the top students in the class. Do not leave everything up to the school. Get involved, and work with your child in addition to the classroom instruction.
Submitted by parent on December 16, 2013

Look elsewhere for housing! Forrestal Elementary School is a horrible place to send your children! We arrived at Thanksgiving and were immediately told that there was no room for our daughter to attend Kindergarten, there was no waiting list and that I needed to contact them periodically to see if a spot had opened up. Extremely unhelpful and unprofessional! She attended 1st Grade and the first 3 months of 2nd. We had enough of the school and the area and chose to move up to Kenosha (highly recommended) in order to find a better school. My only regret was that we didn't move earlier! The Navy is failing all of it's families that get stationed at Great Lakes. Having this school as part of the Housing Area is unacceptable! I hope for the sake of our Military community, this gets brought to the attention of someone that can do something to change this!
Submitted by parent on November 05, 2013

Getting better... Wish they didn't change the schedule to start school so early, but that seemed to be a choice from the district not principal. As well as the cut backs to music and other programs - its district and their budget issues. And now with their garbage of wanting to split the school which would make my child go to a school that's a lot worse! It's the district that has a lot of issues!!! As far the 2013-2014 school year for Forrestal - I've noticed improvement. I think a lot of it has to do with both the teacher and the parent involvement though. Last year I was there often, became familiar with the staff. It helped us become more comfortable with the school, esp. since my kid didn't want to go. I wasn't too pleased last year with a few things, academical level was too low for my child, and few issues that came up that I felt was ignored, but eventually corrected. It was a struggle to get my child to want to go. This year however, my child has some great teachers this year. Kid is finally enjoying school this year - except for the 7:50 tardies. (Not looking forward to how bad that will be with snow - but that's a different issue!) Next year - will see what happens!!