From: Barbara Byrd Bennett [bbyrd-bennett@cps.edu] Sent: Tuesday, April 14, 2015 9:09 PM To: Dowell, Pat CC: Rendina, Michael; Francis Bilecki Subject: Re: South Loop School Matters Thank you. Pat I did speak with the Mayor on this issue and it has never fallen off out consideration list. I think this is a possibility and perhaps we can hammer out details. If you will recall, when I presented this idea at a meeting in my office with a gentleman who represented one of the community groups, this was not an acceptable alternative. He was very clear that students who attended the South Loop elementary school would not attended NTA. Given this email, I will reach out to David Vitale and members of my team to schedule a follow up conversation. Frank, please see me on getting a meeting scheduled. Thank you Barbara Sent from my iPad > On Apr 14, 2015, at 6:55 PM, "Dowell, Pat" wrote: > > ??Barbara and Mike, > > > I have spoken to the Mayor a few times about the need to address both the overcrowding at South Loop Elementary and the need for a neighborhood high school in the area. David Vitale also attended a meeting of over 300 South Loop residents where these issues were also raised. Recently, the Mayor attended an Easter Egg hunt in the South Loop where the Mayor said to the President of the Prairie District Neighborhood Association he would work with me to bring a neighborhood high school to NTA. I want to get started on this while the CHA is moving on plans for the redevelopment of Ickes (CHA Board selection of developer anticipated to occur in June) which will bring between 670-1100 new units of housing to the South Loop. This does not include all the housing that is already under construction or housing that is anticipated to be developed because of the investment made by MPEA in this area. This matter is urgent for me and my constituents. Please advise. > > > Ald. Dowell > > > ________________________________ > This e-mail, and any attachments thereto, is intended only for use by the addressee(s) named herein and may contain legally privileged and/or confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient of this e-mail (or the person responsible for delivering this document to the intended recipient), you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, printing or copying of this e-mail, and any attachment thereto, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error, please respond to the individual sending the message, and permanently delete the original and any copy of any e-mail and printout thereof. > CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIPS HOUSING AND REAL ESTATE CITY OF CHICAGO COUNCIL CHAMBER CITY 200 121 NORTH LASALLE STREET BUDGET AND GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 60602 TELEPHONE: 31 2-744?8734 RULES AND ETHICS EDUCATION AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT ALDERMAN, 3RD WARD 3RD WARD CENTER 5046 SOUTH STATE STREET HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL CHICAGO. ILLINOIS 60609 TELEPHONE: (773) 373-9273 TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC WAY FAX: (773) 373?6852 E-MAILZ April 15, 2015 The Honorable Mayor Rahm Emanuel City of Chicago 121 N. LaSalle, 5th Floor Chicago, TL 60602 RE: School Overcrowding in the South Loop Dear Mayor Emanuel, Thank you for the opportunity to discuss an urgent issue facing residents of Chicago?s South Loop neighborhood, school overcrowding. As you are well aware, the South Loop has experienced a drastic increase in population, and that, combined with the excellent performance of South Loop Elementary School, has caused severe overcrowding. Furthermore, the population boom has made the need for a neighborhood high school even more acute, as there is no high school within the area that serves neighborhood elementary school graduates. The primary factor contributing to school overcrowding in the South Loop is its ever expanding population. The population within the approximate South Loop Elementary School attendance boundary stands at 48,967 according to the 2013 American Community Survey. That is more than a twofold increase from the 2000 census. This ascension will continue unabated as your of?ce and mine work together to bring additional residential, commercial and event space into this in?demand neighborhood. The CPS in?school statistics are even more grim. 20th day data supplied by CPS for the fall of 2014 show that South Loop Elementary School is overcrowded, housing 908 kids for 690 slots, a utilization rate of 132%- That makes South Loop the 41St most overcrowded school among 57]. non?charter schools. Quite simply, the neighborhood population trend data combined with the current school utilization rate shows the school situation to be untenable at best, dire at worst. The educational crisis extends beyond elementary and middle school to the high school level as well. Currently there is no neighborhood high school for students in the South Loop. Wendell Phillips Academy High School, an AUSL turnaround school, is not a viable option for the South Loop as it is located miles from the neighborhood?s population center. Jones College Prep, located in the neighborhood, is a selective enrollment school with only 75 slots for neighborhood children through the CTE program, a program students still need to test into. These 75 slots fall far short of. the demand, with 474 students residing in the Jones College Prep overlay area and 415 of these students eligible to apply for the CTE program. Those 400 students (340 eligible) who do not get accepted into Jones have no reasonable neighborhood high school alternative- Luckily, there is an option to provide reasonable accommodation for South Loop students and families. William B. Ogden Elementary School and Ogden International High School in the Gold Coast and West Town neighborhoods respectively, offers a fantastic model for the South Loop. Ogden Elementary School?s Pre?K through 5?Lh graders feed directly into Ogden High School for 61h through 12th grade. This coordinated, multi? campus educational track is overseen by the leadership of a dedicated principal who manages both campuses. This structure provides many tangible bene?ts including: drastically increased student capacity in a high?demand neighborhood, coordinated curriculum management, centralized school leadership, relief from the highly competitive high school testing process, easy transition for middle school students into the same high school building, and simpli?ed student pick-up and drop off for parents. That model can be applied to South Loop Elementary School and nearby National Teachers Academy (NTA). Opened in 2002, NTA boasts updated facilities in a convenient location with enough space along Cermak Road for expansion. Currently, NTA is classi?ed as underutilized by CPS with 25% of the school (214 seats) open for additional students. If we restructured South Loop Elementary and NTA similar to Ogden by sending Pre?K through 3rd grade students to South Loop and 4th grade through 12th grade students to NTA, we could alleviate the overcrowding at South Loop while ?lling the utilization void at NTA. Combining the two schools into a single streamlined duel campus educational institution would also require a restructuring to a more inclusive attendance boundary. That can be done with a focus on ensuring full utilization of both campuses. This idea has been discussed previously by the community, and it?s imperative that if adopted, residents are provided incentives to shift their students to NTA. That is why we can both solve the elementary school overcrowding issue and the neighborhood high school issue in the South Loop by expanding NTA to include neighborhood high school students. For a small investment, a high school expansion within current footprint could solve the existing school issues for the South Loop while allowing space for the continued residential expansion we know is coming for the neighborhood. South Loop Elementary School was not always the highly desirable educational institution it is today. For decades, it languished under the yoke of poor performance as many neighborhood residents chose to send their kids out of the area to private or charter schools. A concerted plan was enacted by CPS leadership to reinvigorate the school. While the plan was met with great skepticism by residents at the time who went as far as ?ghting against sending their kids to South Loop Elementary it has ultimately proven to be successful. It is time another plan is enacted, one crafted after the existing Ogden model, in order to meet the growing needs of the South Loop community. This is an extremely urgent issue that will only get more pressing with time. I ask that you join me in supporting this effort to resolve the school overcrowding issue in the South Loop by merging South Loop Elementary School with National Teachers Academy and investing in NTA to become a neighborhood high school. Sincerely, Pat Dowel] 2 Alderman, 3"d Ward Cc: Dr. Barbara Byrd-Bennett, CEO Chicago Public Schools South Loop High School National Teachers Academy Capacity 690 840 20th Day Fall Enrollment Current 908 626 Combined Campus Pre?K to 3rd at 701 746 high school students South Loop, 4th to 12th at NTA High School Enrollment Neighborhood Pool ?150?400 students (150 if just South Loop NTA Grads, 400 if expanded Jones overlay)