WEST ENGLEWOOD — A growing student body has led to overcrowded classrooms at The Montessori School of Englewood, which is why parents and teachers are asking Chicago Public Schools to give them an empty school building.
“The teachers are doing the best they can, but they need more space,” said Shango Johnson, a parent of an 8-year-old student at the school. “They need their own building. The students are always doing innovative things with science, with music, so the space is needed.”
Staying in the current location isn’t going to work for much longer because it hinders the students' learning and overall attitude, he said.
He addressed the Chicago Board of Education at a Wednesday meeting, held at Gwendolyn Brooks College Preparatory Academy, 250 E. 111th Street.
Executive Director Rita Nolan said that this past school year was difficult because they were running out of space: “We have offices in hallways,” she said. The plan for this upcoming year is to turn the cafeteria into a classroom and let the students eat lunch in their classrooms.
“We’ll make good use of [the current building], but it’s not a solution,” Nolan said.
Right now, there are 260 students in pre-kindergarten through fourth grade attending the charter school, but next year the school will a fifth grade, boosting enrollment to 291 students, she said. The plan is to add one new grade each year so that it will eventually teach up to eight grade.
The school, 6550 S. Seeley Ave, is in an annex building with O’Toole Elementary so space is limited.
Nolan said the school also added preschool and Head Start programs. The 60 slots have already been filled and now parents are forced to put their children on a wait list.
“We’re literally turning away early childhood students, which is heartbreaking,” Nolan said.
Parents and teachers are campaigning for a new building in Englewood through a letter of support, which already has collected 600 signatures in two weeks. Their goal is 1,000.
Parents like Tamulea Miller, 44, said the students participate in a lot of hands-on learning that often requires them to move around. She said that learning style won’t be as effective if they’re in overcrowded classrooms. Her daughter Jode Redding will be entering the second grade this fall.
Miller said the school has had a positive impact on the community and she wants to see more children reached.
“We have a mentoring program,” she said. “We did a garden in Englewood, we’ve had a lot of community events. The school has done so much.”
Nolan said she is communicating with architects and working with local aldermen to see if her goal can be accomplished. Having options is important, she said, so if they can’t secure an empty school in the community, she is considering building one on a vacant lot.
“We need options because this time next year, we have to have another option,” she said.
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