Wilmette Transportation, Schools, and Parks:

With a population close to 28,000, Wilmette is able to offer a wide array of services and recreational activities to its residents. It is one of the finest towns north of Chicago. Almost everything you could want is here in Wilmette.

Getting There:
The Village has 3 forms of transportation into Chicago including the bus, the El and the Metra. By train, it takes 29 minutes on a local train to get downtown. Trains leave as early as 5:42am and arrive as late as 1:04am. The train station is in the heart of downtown and the El station is near 4th and Linden. The El station is the end of the line for the system and is a very popular way for Cubs fans to get to Wrigley field. For more about train schedules, got to www.metrarail.com and for information on the El and bus schedules, you can go to http://www.transitchicago.com.

Public Schools:
One of the reasons Wilmette is such a popular place to live is its schools. There are four public elementary schools and two middle schools in the Wilmette School district #39. These include Central School which is east of Green Bay and serves all of the families living in east Wilmette. Kenilworth Gradens children attend Harper School. Between the Harper School district and the Central school district is McKenzie School. And finally is Romona School located in west Wilmette serving those western Wilmette families along with a few east Glenview families. All of these elementary schools feed into Highcrest Middle School and Wilmette Junior High School. There is a second school district in Wilmette besides District 39 called Avoca School District 37. This district has one elementary school, Avoca West Elementary School, and one middle school, Marie Murphy School.  Avoca West is actually in Glenview and has children from Glenview, Wilmette, Northfield and unincorporated Winnetka.  Marie Murphy kids recently took 5th in the country for the Science Olympiad. Consistently all of these schools knock the cover off the ball when it comes to test scores. Education in Wilmette and all of the North Shore is extraordinary.

New Trier High School:
Once the children graduate from 8th grade, they move on to New Trier West. This is a school solely for the 9th grade. It is the first time that all of the communities that feed into New Trier are together in one building. The academics are rigorous and the extra cirricular activites have no end. Students can be involved in so many things. For my sons, New Trier has been a very rewarding experience. Finally, the children move on to New Trier East for the 10th-12th grades. New Trier is widely respected nationally. It is very competitive and very large. Class sizes hover around 1000.  But don't let that fool you. Because the student population is so large, the choices  of academic and athletic paths are equally vast. Pretty much anything your child wants to do is available to him or her. My son even has his own radio show at WNTH 88.1. His show airs on Monday evenings. In the spring of 2007, the New Trier symphony orchestra (my son was there)played at Carnegie Hall. Later that year, New Trier won the Grammy for best high school music program IN THE COUNTRY!!! Experiences like these are not found at many high schools. And you should see the list of notable alums. It is very impressive to say the least.

Private Schools:
Wilmette has two Parochial Elementary Schools: St. Francis Xavier School in east Wilmette and St. Joseph's Catholic School at Ridge and Lake. Many of these children go on to either Regina Dominican High School for girls or Loyola Academy for boys and girls. Michael Jordan's son attends Loyola. Both of these schools have excellent reputations for the education they provide.