Small Kids Need Small Schools

Mr. Henderson pauses for a few minutes as the students pass down the stairs on their way to lunch. He tries to get his students back on track as he continues his lesson in a dark corner under the stairwell that he uses as his “classroom”. In another part of the school, the band practices in the supply closet near the basement. Mrs. Roberts, the art teacher, has all her materials in bins and pulls out what she needs as she moves from class to class because she has no classroom of her own. Lunch is eaten on foldable tables that are pulled out into the basement hallways. The assistant principal holds his parent conferences behind a partition in the main hallway by the entrance. This describes my school building….eight years ago.

The description is of the building when it used to be Sullivan Elementary. When it was overcrowded and we used every nook and hallway as space for learning. A new building was built for Sullivan down the street and that’s when South Chicago Community School was opened in their old building. The school is new and fresh. Classrooms are not overcrowded. Lunch is held in an actual room. Teachers have classrooms in which to teach and administrators have offices where they hold private conferences. The supply closet is again, simply that, the supply closet.

When the news came out that Arne Duncan put South Chicago on the list for possible school closing, the reactions were typical. “Don’t close our school.” I’m writing this to give reasons why we shouldn’t close our neighborhood school. Logic will say that some schools should close and merge with others but in this case, I have to disagree. Parents have come to know this school as a small school. The parents want what’s best for their children and believe in our school. It’s natural to want to hold on to what you have. There are dedicated teachers here who will lose their jobs. It’s very tough on everyone.

I have learned that schools are not just bricks and mortar and measured solely by test results. While they are, of course, centers of learning, a real school needs to offer so much more than this. Schools need to be places where children play sports and enjoy after school activities. Perhaps most important of all is that in attending their school children need to feel a sense of belonging. They can get this by engaging in after school activities. A very strong message will be conveyed when the school acts as a focal point for Family Fun days or community events. Schools need to be at the heart of communities. It is pointless asking parents to pull together to support their children's school when that school is not local, when their children have to walk several miles in all weather across dangerous roads or take an environmentally undesirable bus trip. How can you expect to create social cohesion and integration when the child's school is not a local one? These are the arguments that we should consider when consulting on the future of South Chicago Community School. How did Arne Duncan arrive at his decision and were any of the following questions asked by those involved?

· Has a review of the demographics been done in the community that shows this is a good solid decision for the families?
· Was a community meeting held before making such a drastic decision?
· Is the community aware that the building may possibly become a high school bringing in older students and possibly gang violence due to clashing between established gangs in the neighborhood?
· Are the parents able to send their currently enrolled students to the other neighborhood schools without endangering them by crossing the 83rd Street Metra railroad, crossing the busy South Shore Drive intersection, and crossing between rival gang territories that unfortunately exist in the Bush neighborhood?

We hope to ensure quality education is available to all families who desire it. Above and beyond, the closing is only a recommendation at this point; our commitment should continue to be that families in every neighborhood can find a school nearby.