William H. Ray Elementary School

Just wanted to give kudos to Ray’s current administration. Principal Megan Thole and Assistant Principal Gayle Harris-​Neely are a super duo! They have brought the teachers and staff together, welcomed parents and leveraged their desire to help, and always put the students first. Always.
My 8 year old son has been at Ray since he was 3. He has always loved the school and his teachers have been so great. I am helping through a newly established partnerships committee and have seen new robotics, coding, dance, and philosophy classes offered to kids after school. Pilot Light brought top-​notch Chicago chefs to teach the 3^rd graders science/​social studies through cooking. The school is fun and engaging, and although there are always things to work on, I am happy that my family is part of it.

After a struggle with poor interrim principals etc. in the past two years, Ray is now again the fantastic school that it used to be when my oldest daughter first went to Ray kindergarten in 2009. Our children, now in 1^st, 4^th, and 5^th grade, all love going to school, an accomplishment of great teachers that work in a stimulating environment. We owe this to our new principal, Megan Thole, who restored all the things that the children, and the parents, appreciated so much about Ray, including: *) diverse curriculum that is NOT teach-​to-​the-​test based, *) appreciation of physical activity during recess and PE and play-​based education in younger grades, *) differentiated learing (walk to math, walk to reading), *) spanish, *) involvement of University of Chicago volunteers (tutors etc.), *) childrens’ choir, and *) many many more great things…

Both of my kids went here, and it was a great school – excellent teachers, engaged and motivated parents, and an atmosphere that was really centered on the students. For several years I helped to coordinate the chess club at Ray, and the support from the administration was great. Like many families in Hyde Park, my wife and I moved into the Ray district because we wanted our kids to go there. I’m glad we did. Academically excellent.

My child attended this school for one year and it was one year too much! The school has nothing but chaos, oversized classrooms (35) and some teachers who could care less about the students. My child’s teacher was full of racism and showed no respect to many kids in the class. The Administration were over there heads with teacher and union issues. during a meeting I had with a teacher to discuss the physical handling of my child, the teacher indicated if I didn’t like it, then I should put my child in a private school. That is exactly what I did and that was the best advice that so called teacher could have given me.
It is very sad that my child was exposed to such unprofessional behavior and endured many painful situations at Ray. I can only hope with the new Mayor and CPS president, changes will take place soon. However, I can’t blame the Mayor for putting his kids in a private school. I can tell you it is night and day difference, no comparison between public and private schools.

My kids teachers are great. Wthout them, I probably wouldn’t like the school at all. One of my kids loves then school, the other hates it. Some of the other teachers and assistants are downright rude and teach the kids that its ok to be disrespectful to other people if you are a grown up. This is not something I teach my kids so I often find myself trying to explain other grown ups behaviors to my kids. There will be a new principal next year and we are hoping that ‘out with the old, in with the new’ means the school will improve. If it does not improve, we will likely move.

A full-​day preschool in Hyde Park close to the University of Chicago. It is open from 8am to 6pm every day during the school year. Teachers are Illinois State Certified with ongoing high quality professional development in the latest and best practices in early childhood.