KENWOOD — It was a smooth transition Tuesday for Kenwood Academic Center students and faculty as they started the new school year in their new building without a director at the helm.
Two weeks after the abrupt dismissal of Jennifer Hay-Lewis, throngs of junior high students were greeted by smiling staff and guided to their new classrooms at 4959 S. Blackstone Ave. as Principal Gregory Jones answered questions from anxious parents. The student body increased to 265 and was taking over the building formerly home to Canter Middle School.
If there was any uneasiness about the staff change, it didn’t show.
“It’s been a good morning so far,” said Jones as he helped usher students to their classrooms. “Come back in a couple days, we might have a story then.”
Most new parents were optimistic. Toya Adams, parent of 7th grader, hadn’t heard much about the Hey-Lewis controversy but doubted it would affect things much.
“I think my daughter’s going to have a great year,” said Toya Adams, who says Kenwood was her daughter’s first choice. “I wanted her to be in a school with better opportunities, and this is it.”
Sarah Forte, another parent of an incoming 7th grader, wasn’t able to attend the special local school council meeting held in the days following Hey-Lewis’ departure, only reading about it in an email sent to parents the last week of August.
Still, she’s confident that she and her daughter will have no problems adjusting.
“The teachers are very involved and nurturing,” said Forte. “And staff and faculty have been very good about keeping in contact to let us know of the changes taking place. My daughter’s excited to be here.”
Leslie Bates, a Kenwood Academy alum and parent of another incoming 7th grader, echoed Forte’s enthusiasm, but was still disappointed about Hey-Lewis’ dismissal.
“She did a great job of keeping us informed, and I wish they’d bring her back.”
A former CPS employee, Bates is familiar with budget cuts but believes school administrators could’ve done more to keep her.
“Most principals know what the budget is going to be beforehand, so if you know certain positions are going to be cut, there are positions you can streamline to keep those other positions. Better choices could’ve been made,” said Bates.
And then there’s the matter of this year’s new bell schedule, which has students arriving at 9 a.m. and leaving at 4:15pm, a point of concern for parents worried about students traveling after dark.
“They really should’ve kept the schedule as it was,” said Bates, “because now you’re going to have kids on the CTA buses by themselves after dark.”
Other CPS employees, Safe Passage guides who wished to remain anonymous, shared Bates’ concern.
“When the season changes and it gets darker earlier, it’s going to be a problem,” one worker said.
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