CPS to build modular unit to alleviate overcrowding at Mt. Greenwood School

by Patrick Thomas
To address concerns about overcrowding at Mt. Greenwood Elementary School, the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) will build a modular unit there to house four classrooms beginning next school year. In the process, the extra space will save another local school from being moved out of the neighborhood, at least for now.
The decision made by CPS came in response to the growing concerns about overcrowding at Mt. Greenwood School. Those concerns led to a CPS proposal to move nearby Keller Gifted Regional Center, 3020 W. 108th St., to free up space for Mt. Greenwood School, 10841 S. Homan Ave. The proposal sparked outcry from the Keller community and prompted elected officials to take action to save Keller, one of the top-scoring schools in the state on the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT).
With the addition of a modular unit at Mt. Greenwood School, Keller will not be moving anywhere for now. Mt. Greenwood School Principal Kate Reidy announced the news at the Local School Council meeting on Feb. 2 and said the modular unit will accommodate up to 120 students.
“This is not a Keller issue. This is a Mt. Greenwood School issue. This is a Mt. Greenwood concern,” said Reidy. “This is a short-term solution to see if the economy bounces back.”
The economy is believed to be the reason Mt. Greenwood’s enrollment boomed when families started pulling their children out of parochial and private schools.
CPS officials said Mt. Greenwood School enrolled 766 students this year, but they project that enrollment will reach 780 next year and 869 by 2013.
Reidy said projections can be inaccurate, but in her first year, the school’s enrollment ballooned.
“I didn’t anticipate getting 100 children the day I took the principalship. The day I took the principalship on July 1, 2008, until August 1, 2008, I received 100 students, and the next year I received 50 kids, so you never know,” she said.
Regardless of the future condition of the economy, having the modular unit will allow Reidy more time to plan.
“I do believe it will give me a two- to three-year span to plan for the future,” she said.
The decision to add a modular unit came after 19th Ward Ald. Ginger Rugai, state Sen. Ed Maloney (D-18th) and state Rep. Kevin Joyce (D-35th) met with CPS CEO Ron Huberman to discuss the issue on Feb. 2.
Maloney said Huberman appeared to understand the situation in the 19th Ward, where overcrowding has been reported at several schools. Maloney said that despite the addition, the 19th Ward will not be overlooked for funding for future school projects.
“He knows that it’s not the final answer, and the thing I was afraid of was that this would push us down the list for capital, but he said no,” Maloney said.
Huberman informed local leaders that CPS would examine all 19th Ward issues, including building a new facility and working with area high schools, Maloney said.
“He is willing to look at pursuing at [115th Street and Western Avenue] as a possibility for more special education services; he talked about [the Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences (CHSAS)] perhaps absorbing more special-education kids, and he is going to look at the Morgan Park High School situation and see what can be done to make it more attractive to the community, perhaps make it a more competitive enrollment,” Maloney said. “He was very open and understood the dynamics of the neighborhood in terms of parochial schools in light of the economy and how it’s going to put pressure on the public schools given the fact people simply can’t afford it anymore. So I think it was pretty productive.”
Reidy said there was an obvious need for more classrooms for special-needs students and general education students.
“We need space, if that implies that we are overcrowded, so be it,” she said.
According to Reidy, Mt. Greenwood School currently has three first-grade classes with 25 students each as well as another first-grade class of 22 students that uses her office as its classroom. The new modular unit will free up her office and will also help keep class sizes down.
“I always prefer to have lower class sizes, and I think any parent would, too. That’s why I made my office a classroom,” Reidy said. “My biggest priority was making sure that my primary students were in the smallest class sizes that I currently provide, and that was most important to me.”
In an-email to parents, Keller Principal LaTanya McDade said Keller is staying put for the moment.
“It was unofficially communicated that Keller School is no longer in jeopardy of being moved from the current location of 3020 W. 108th St. However, I will seek further correspondence from CPS senior management regarding specific details to bring closure to this matter,” McDade wrote.
Patricia Trlak has a daughter at Mt. Greenwood and a son at Keller. She is happy they will be staying put.
“We are pleasantly surprised today. It’s a great solution for now, but we know it is only a temporary solution. We’re very happy, but we’re not done. We need schools.”
Joe McGovern, who has two daughters, also at both schools, said he was relieved to see an answer for Mt. Greenwood School, but he acknowledged there is more to be accomplished. He would like to see CHSAS become an option for seventh- and eighth-grade students.
“We need a 20-year solution,” McGovern said, “instead of a one-year solution.”
 

This is part of the February 3, 2010 online edition of The Beverly Review.

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