Education & Families News
New Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot visited the McKinley Park branch of the Chicago Public Library on Monday, June 24, to kick off the library system's Summer Learning Challenge. While there, she acknowledged the central role that libraries play in communities, especially for children.
"Libraries are where magic happens," Lightfoot said. "It's where kids can come ... and use their imaginations for endless possibilities to really grow themselves."
Read more: Lightfoot Inaugurates Summer Learning Challenge at McKinley Park Library
Evergreen Academy Middle School's status as a 2019 Illinois Horizon School to Watch and its upcoming STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) program expansion received cheers and plaudits at the school's recognition ceremony on Tuesday, June 11. Principal Marian Strok led the ceremonies, also jumping in as a special guest performer on tambourine.
"These kids sold us," Strok said of the students' high performance that led to both the School to Watch redesignation and the STEAM program pick by Chicago Public Schools (CPS). "Only four schools in CPS got STEAM," she said.
1 commentsRead more: Evergreen Academy Celebrates Upcoming STEAM Program, Schools To Watch Redesignation
Nathanael Greene Elementary School at 3525 S. Honore St. in Chicago's McKinley Park neighborhood has landed yet another accolade for high performance with its certification as a top supportive school for social-emotional learning. The designation, which acknowledges Greene's efforts toward creating an across-the-board supportive environment, comes from the Office of College and Career Success of Chicago Public Schools.
"We applaud your strong-multi-tiered system of supports for students, your integration of social and emotional learning into daily practices, and the many positive and collaborative relationships you have built in your school community," said a letter to school leaders from Office of Social Emotional Learning Executive Director Hellen Antonopoulos.
Read more: Greene Elementary Lands Exemplary Supportive School Certification
"Namaste is not closing at the end of this school year," said Namaste Charter School Board Chair Cathy Calhoun in response to a press release issued earlier this week by the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU). "The CTU's claims about our school closing are not accurate."
As previously reported here in the McKinley Park News, the CTU's press release stated that threats to close the school surfaced during negotiations surrounding unionization of the school's teachers and staff. However, no such threat was made, and the CTU is instead misconstruing a discussion about Namaste's financial trajectory "to have an upper hand at the bargaining table," said Vanessa Acuna, Namaste's dean of students.
Read more: Charter School Board Refutes Threat Allegation: "Namaste Is Not Closing"
Namaste Charter School in the McKinley Park neighborhood is threatened with school closure in an effort to block its unionization, according to the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU). A recent press release from the union stated that the Namaste board of directors will consider a plan to close the school at a closed-door session of its Tuesday, May 28, school board meeting.
"They threatened to shut the school down," said CTU President Jesse Sharkey following last week's bargaining sessions that, for the first time, included discussion of school finances. "The bosses at Namaste would rather close that school down than provide classroom resources."
Read more: Namaste School Closure Threatened In Unionization Push: CTU
