BUCKTOWN — Samaiya Chevon Ewing, assistant principal of Bucktown's Drummond Montessori School, died Monday. She was 33.
Melissa Sterne, chairwoman of Drummond's Local School Council, said Ewing joined the school staff in October.
"Though she only started at Drummond this year, Ms. Ewing quickly became a well-liked and respected member of our community. We are all shocked and heartbroken over the tragic loss of our colleague and friend," Sterne said on behalf of the LSC.
CPS sent out grief counselors to meet with the school's students Tuesday after sending an email to parents Monday, Sterne said.
An autopsy ruled Ewing died of natural causes, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office.
Located at 1845 W. Cortland St., Drummond serves 346 children.
On Wednesday, Drummond's principal, Raynell Walls, said: "The Drummond Community mourns the loss of a passionate educator and leader who touched the lives of students, teachers, staff and families this year. Samaiya Ewing joined the Drummond school community on October 19, 2015 and has served our community extremely well. We are deeply saddened at the loss but celebrate her service to us."
CPS Chief Executive Officer Forrest Claypool said: "CPS shares the grief of the Drummond community, who are mourning the loss of Samaiya Ewing. As a school leader, she was dedicated to the students whose lives she cared about deeply. She was a respected colleague, and she will be deeply missed."
Ewing graduated from Smith College with a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy in 2009 and completed her graduate degree in education at Harvard University Graduate School of Education, according to her LinkedIn profile.
Prior to joining Drummond this past fall, Ewing worked as a resident principal at Oscar Mayer Magnet School in Lincoln Park, as a teacher at a charter school on the South Side and as a principal intern at a Montessori school in Cambridge, Mass.
Tricia Black, who teaches first-, second- and third-graders at Drummond, said her students dealt with their grief by talking about Ewing and coloring a flower assortment to adorn the classroom's door.
Black said Ewing was not known personally by most of the students and the ones she did know well was often because of disciplinary issues.
"[Ewing] often took care of discipline and had different levels of interaction with different students. The kids had a really comfortable way of interacting with her. She was very grounded and direct and full of heart, which is exactly what kids need," Black said.
Black described Ewing as "an amazing communicator" with a background in poetry.
"She really loved language and I would take mental notes [watching her]. She made everyone feel comfortable and involved," Black said.
Ewing died at home, according to Legacy.com. She was born in Chicago on Sept. 25, 1982.
She is survived by her two partners, Davin Potvin and Phillip Howell; her great grandmother Freddie Woods; her mother Monica Ball; three sisters Sasha, Saniqua and Shontel Dixon; and a niece and nephew Charielle and Charlie Castillo. She is further survived by numerous aunts, uncles, cousins and friends.
A visitation for Ewing is scheduled for 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, followed by a service at Drake & Son Funeral Home, 5303 N. Western Ave.
A floral arrangement made by second-graders at Drummond Montessori School. [DNAinfo/Alisa Hauser]
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