Ray Elementary School, Chicago | Fees, Rankings, Address, Admission, Vacancies, Reviews & More

I am so lucky to teach at Ray School! This is my 16th year in CPS and I have never had a bad year at Ray. Principal Thole and Mrs. Neely are supportive, knowledgeable and compassionate to staff, students and families. The encourage innovation and work tirelessly to make Ray a school where everyone grows and learns! The teachers continually learn new techniques and methods for teaching, working to meet the needs of each student. Many are here hours before school and hours after, meeting with parents, planning lessons, grading papers and tutoring students.
In the last two years, Ray has built extensive partnerships with organizations around the city, providing students with the opportunities that make learning fun and exciting! We have won various awards for everything from Healthy Schools to Arts Integration! We have or very recently had partnerships with Pilot Light Chefs, the Lincoln Park Zoo, Everyday Math and and the University of Chicago, the Gardeneers, the Hyde Park Art Center, the Neighborhood School Program, Openlands, the Chicago Children’s Choir, Revival Theater Group and the Hyde Park School of Dance!
The parents are supportive, do amazing amounts of volunteer and fundraising work and show a tremendous commitment to this neighborhood school. They organize and run fundraisers and community events all year, raising tens of thousands of dollars to help our students learn and grow.
It is truly a neighborhood gem and a great place to learn!

Ray is by far the worst school in the Hyde Park area. Thole and Neely are terrible adminstrators. Neely runs Ray and Thole allows her too. The staff is scared of Neely, she is a bully, the only decent staff members that Ray has is Mrs. Rogers, Ms. Sheridan. I truly appreciate them. The dean of students is a puppet for Neely and my goodness the main office staff is terrible. VERY rude and they to are puppets and Neely holds the strings. I would NOT recommend Ray to anyone EVER. UNLESS they clean house and FIRE everyone with the exception of Rogers and Sheridan. I graduated from Ray in the 90’s and Ms. Lobbins and Ms. Fields where a dynamic assistant principal and principal. It was structure and they cared about the children NOT THOLE AND SURLEY NOT NEELY……… AND TO THINK THOLE WAS HAND PICKED BY LSC. Goes to show you our children are not first PRIORITY.. BE MINDFUL WHEN PICKING A SCHOOL FOR YOUR CHILD…..

I have been teaching at Ray School for 20 years now. I would not want to go anywhere else!! I love the staff and community we serve. We have an amazing student body and committed parents! The administration is top notch! We had a rough spot a few years ago after Ms. Fields left us (she was a tough act to follow!), but now teaching morale is very high and students seem happy and safe. If you live in the neighborhood boundaries, you are very fortunate to have such an amazing school at your disposal.