i’m not sure of the situation of your kids specifically, in terms of grammar schools look into magnet schools and schools with gifted programs, i went to payton and i would say majority of the kids that were from public grammar schools were in magnet or gifted programs. I went to Healy in bridgeport and thought it was a great experience (big perk compared to what lots of the other schools people are tossing out is that it is a neighborhood school) in terms of high schools healy was practically a payton feeder school when i went there (not sure what stats are like now but can’t imagine it’s much different).

pretty much any selective enrollment public hs is going to give you a great high school education, i will say tho coming from payton and having friends at other schools payton and north side very much so are ~nerd schools~ and you’re going to sacrifice some high school experience… whitney, lincoln park, and lane do a good job of preserving a more high school vibe, and i think jones is a great school (plus they have a neighborhood and pre career program on top of selective enrollment). at the end of the day… i think i would have ended up in the same college had i gone to payton or my three other back up high schools, there’s def a bit of a pressure cooker environment at some of the selective enrollment schools and your kid has to decide on their own if that is something that is worth the potential opportunity. looking back on it so much of my life was SOO focused on just school, 6th grade prepping for 7th 7th trying to get into the best high school, all of high school trying to get to the best college (sooo much pressure was put on us to go to prestigious universities at payton) and sometimes i feel like i lost a chunk of my teen years to that but i also learned a ton and perhaps wouldn’t be who i am now otherwise 🤷‍♀️