Hi T..
I have three children; one 16, one 14 and one 5. We have gone to both public and private schools and have excellent experienes with both. For the public, we live in West Rogers Park and my older two went to Hawthorne Scholastic Academy in Lakeview. Overall, we had a fantastic experience there. The education was excellent. I love the diversity of the students. And you can't beat the price! For us, the cons were dealing with the massive beauracracy if there was any issue. A few of the teachers were a bit old school (not as Barney as I like them to be). The drive for me was a huge drag and it is a bit tough for playdates when everyone is scattered. My oldest son now goes to Northside College Prep which is close by and an excellent school. My daughter is a freshman at Whitney Young in the west loop. They both take public transporation, as do all the kids. I love the huge diversity of children that they meet and the outstanding education they receive.
My little one goes to a neighborhood Lutheran school. I could have him in one of two outstanding magnet schools, but honestly, after so many years, I'm kind of sick of the drive. The benefits are very small class sizes, incredible flexibility and zero beauracracy. The education is very good, though I don't know if it's as good as the magnets. That said, after three kids, I can say that as long as it doesn't preclude him from going to a good high school, which this one does not, then that is fine with me. I like that his school friends are near by, however, there is such a small class size, there are not a lot of friends to choose from. He plays great with one other boy in his class, though long term, they don't have a whole lot in common. THe other two boys are really wild and he doesn't have much in common with them, either. And the rest of the class is all girls! Very girl heavy this year.
I would be very happy if I had a good neighborhood school, but our local is truly horrendous. THe one thing I would suggest considering is how great does the school need to be? The outstanding magnet schools have some of the parents thinking every school needs to be the equivalent of Harvard. Decatur is a gifted school that is also near my house and it has great test scores, but I wouldn't send my child there because it is way too rigid. It's all about maintaining the scores. Is it a positive and safe environment? Do a reasonable number of the graduating kids go on to the good selective enrollment high schools? Even if you don't want your children to go to public high school, you will know that the education is good enough to get them there.
I hope this helps!
M.