Cambridge Lakes Charter School

"My children have been at Cambridge Lakes Charter School since kindergarten and my oldest is now an 8th grader. This is an excellent school with teachers that are passionate about teaching. The curriculum is of the highest standards and all my children are excelling in all of the classes. My oldest will be heading to high school next school year and has been placed in all honor classes. It’s still a relatively new school and this year they plan on building a dedicated gymnasium. This school has been and will continue to be our #1 school of choice."

"This school is really bad. I was extremely happy when I could go to Hampshire Middle School, they got rid of the soccer field to build a bigger parking lot, the teachers don't care about classes or the students in them, don't have busses so the parents have to waste their time driving to the school and they have to waste money too because of gas prices, they don't have a gym, they don't have a cafeteria, and they don't have lockers so then kids would have to haul around 80-100 pound backpacks and everyone complained about their back being sore and agitated. Whenever I talk about this school with my friends we talk for about 30-40 minutes about all the problems of this school. Save your time and your child's education."

"This school is much better than the school I went to in Chicago. CPS schools lack funding and direction by staff and administrators. We had a gym that doubled up as an assembly area. The gym floor was not wood or rubber. It was a hard floor. We had no AC in summer. I had teachers in CPS that would degrade students for not knowing how to read and etc... What I dont understand is how can you compare this school vs.the schools of the city? I understand some schools are getting cleaned up in the city but this school does not have those problems. Lets focus in getting these kids taught then complaining about facilities. My daughter has grown leaps and bounds there at the school and the teachers get the credit. Keep in mind teaching does not stop at school but also starts at home with us parents with going over lesson plans and etc... Every school has its querks."

"My daughter attends this school and we are looking forward to another years with the school. The school is not perfect, but coming from Leggee in Huntley for Kindergarten, the school is gleaming. First of all, she doesnt have to ride a bus as the school is only half a mile from our home. I think that was the biggest initial pull for me as the busrides were a big reason for my daughters lack of focus and learning last school year. My daughters first grade class is diverse. She receives a great education and has a great teacher, Mrs. Moment, who I hear will continue to educate her class through second grade! A lot of families that have children who attend this school are very happy with it. They do have to bus the kids to the Community center around the corner for gym, but these a part of the process of a growing Charter School. I am very happy with the communication by my daughters teacher and enjoy the opportunities to connect with other families. It is a shame that more families here in Cambridge Lakes choose not to take advantage of a school here in the neighborhood, we absolutely love the time we get to ride our bikes to and from school. And on colder days the car rides arent bad at all, just hop in the car in sweatshirt and sweatpants."

"I am a dedicated, knowledgeable teacher of technology at Cambridge Lakes. I have taught in multiple schools over the past 30+ years. No school or school district is perfect or even close. We certainly have our issues, too, as can be followed on the D300 website. However, there are two things that I can say without hesitation about our school: the curriculum is rigorous in large part because of the work of the teachers, not because of resources available to us, and the teachers are phenomenal and hard working. I am sorry for whatever circumstances you have met or truly witnessed, but encouraging folks to "burn the place down" will not bring about a positive change. It will only bring about more hardship for everyone who works hard and believes in creating a high achievement learning environment for ALL students. Please be a voice of intelligence and reason."