Chicago parent on school closings: “I cry a lot…Nobody wants their school closed.”
The Chicago school system plans to shutter 54 schools next year to save money and improve academics. Among them is Lafayette Elementary in Humboldt Park on the West Side of the city, a school with a treasured school orchestra and a program for autistic children. Valerie Nelson, 43, is a home health care worker who sends her two daughters there. A frequent volunteer at the school and a member of Stand For Children, an education advocacy group, Nelson has joined rallies to save the school. Her youngest daughter, Leza, is in the autism program, and her oldest, Tessa, has joined the orchestra. Nelson says both girls have thrived.
Popout The Lafayette Elementary School orchestra in 2010
The Hechinger Report spoke with her about how she thinks the closing will affect her family and her community.The Hechinger Report: What has your experience at Lafayette been like? Valerie Nelson: I think of it like a family. With our school, the kids with autism are inclusion with the regular kids, so they work well together. They’ve been together from pre-K. My [youngest] child has gone from nonverbal to speaking a few words. She’s been potty trained. She’s much more social. She’s on her second little boyfriend. My oldest is part of a string orchestra. She plays a violin. Being part of the orchestra is pretty cool because you get to go to a lot of places…and most of the kids in orchestra have pretty good grades. They’re able to apply at