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.

Thole and Nealy are utterly unfit for running an establishment as simple as a grade school! They lack knowledge in the primacy spectrum, are unable to administer guidance and apply patience, and hinder the operations of a respectable schooling system. Ray Elementary remains only by the proper benefit of its other staff (the majority), and I strongly do not recommend their advisory towards any other school.

I have been teaching kindergarten at Ray for 7 years now and I absolutely LOVE our school. I believe I work with the best teachers in the city of Chicago . Our administration is TOP NOTCH! They are the backbone of Ray and I am so thankful to have them lead our school. The staff of Ray not only love our kids we LOVE our tight knit community. GO RAY WARRIORS!

Ray school is the place to be! I am now into my fifth year of teaching and I couldn't be happier to go to work everyday! The staff, administration, and most importantly students are hard to beat! The school community is strong, caring, and safe. Teachers and staff work together to instill a real love of learning! I would recommend Ray school to anyone!

The staff really care about the children, and they are a great support system. The children love going to school to learn and play with each other.

I think this is a excellent school, good teachers and a nice principal. Great experience. I wish I could give it 10 stars!

The school is ok it has cool stuff some teachers are mean but it is cool to be at ray

Does anyone in the comments BESIDES Current staff have a review?

The school is pretty ok …

a good public elementary school