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Barnard Elementary Speculates On Fallout From 19th Ward School Proposal

By Howard Ludwig | September 15, 2016 5:39am
 Barnard Elementary School in Beverly is not included in a major overhaul of public grade schools within the 19th Ward. Still, administrators and parents expect fallout from the plan that would ultimately consolidate two schools in Beverly to make more room for an overcrowded school in Mount Greenwood.
Barnard Elementary School
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BEVERLY — The number of students interested in attending at Alice L. Barnard Elementary School in Beverly would likely increase under a proposed schools shakeup in 19th Ward, according to Principal Patrick MacMahon.

The school at 10354 S. Charles St. isn't mentioned as part of the public school restructuring plan authored by Ald. Matt O'Shea (19th), but there would likely be some fallout at the school of 328 students, MacMahon said.

"I don't see us having fewer kids as a result of this," MacMahon said Monday.

O'Shea's proposal includes merging Sutherland and Kellogg elementary schools in Beverly, which the alderman said is justified since enrollment by students living within the neighborhood boundaries of these schools has declined.

Jude Everson, 4, of Beverly is a preschool student at Barnard Elementary School. Principal Patrick MacMahon and Assistant Principal Margaret Burns stand in the background. The pair arrived at the school in 2013 and have driven the school's rating up to the second-highest rank issued by Chicago Public Schools. [DNAinfo/Howard A. Ludwig]

Meanwhile, enrollment has skyrocketed at Mount Greenwood Elementary School, according to O'Shea. So he wants to move the Keller Regional Gifted Center from Mount Greenwood to Kellogg's slightly larger campus, which would become vacant under the proposed merger.

Mount Greenwood Elementary would then take over Keller's building and operate as a dual campus school. Thus far, the proposal has been met mostly with outrage by parents at Kellogg and Sutherland.

Several of these parents have voiced concern about the plan's potential to eliminate seats for students from outside of the neighborhood. Many of these students attend these schools through the Chicago Public Schools' Options for Knowledge program.

MacMahon said there were 150 students interested in attending Barnard through the same program when he arrived at the school on Feb. 8, 2013. That list has since grown to include more than 300 names.

The surge of interest is likely a result of improvements made under the leadership of MacMahon and Assistant Principal Margaret Burns. When the pair began, Barnard was on academic probation. It now enjoys the same high ranking as Sutherland and Kellogg.

Principal Patrick MacMahon and Assistant Principal Margaret Burns arrived at Barnard Elementary School in 2013. The school was on academic probation at the time and has since risen to the second-highest rating issued by Chicago Public Schools. [DNAinfo/Howard A. Ludwig]

"The turnaround has been pretty sudden in the past 3½ years," said Burns, adding 267 students were enrolled at the school when she arrived one month after MacMahon.

Burns and MacMahon believe the school's success is the reason Barnard now operates 120 percent above capacity as it relates to the CPS' utilization standard. And a considerable number of its students live within Barnard's neighborhood boundaries.

Indeed, MacMahon estimates about a sixth of the student body at Barnard comes from outside the neighborhood and attends through the options program. That compares to about half or a third of the students who were at the school when he and Burns arrived, they said.

Drawing students from within the neighborhood is an important component to a healthy school, Barnard's administrators said. In fact, MacMahon and Burns went door to door for two years after arriving at Barnard to introduce themselves to residents and answer questions.

"We realized we had a lot of trust to earn back," said Burns, who gave a nod to the teachers for improving the school's rank as well as adding after-school activities to further engage students.

Ken Benavidez stands beside a painting he created at Barnard Elementary School in Beverly. Benavidez is the new art teacher at the school at 10354 S. Charles St. Assistant Principal Margaret Burns said art classes are often a way to reach otherwise unreachable students. [DNAinfo/Howard A. Ludwig]

Maureen Schleyer is among the neighborhood parents who heeded the message. Her 4-year-old son, Jude Everson, attends preschool at Barnard, and the pair frequently walk to the nearby school named for the first woman principal in CPS.

"I heard some awful things about Barnard," said Schleyer, who attended Sutherland herself and knows at least three families on her block in Beverly who attend her alma mater via the options program.

Schleyer, who is white, believes part of the reason is racial. Barnard is 97 percent black, while neighboring Sutherland is 61 percent black, according to CPS data. She also theorized that those same families would likely attend nearby Catholic schools or leave the city for suburban schools if spots at Sutherland weren't available.

But aside from pure numbers, both Schleyer and MacMahon worried about the perception the proposed shakeup will have on public schools in the area. Personally, Schleyer said news that Kellogg might close sent her into a panic.

"I got into my head the snowball effect. I thought in 5-10 years, will they take Barnard away from me?" said Schleyer, who's also on the LSC at Barnard. "It just seems so wrong to me on so many levels."

Maureen Schleyer of Beverly stands with her 4-year-old son Jude Everson at Barnard Elementary School. Schleyer lives within the neighborhood boundaries for Barnard but said several of her neighbors send their children to Sutherland Elementary School. [DNAinfo/Howard A. Ludwig]

MacMahon worried that parents concerned about the potential upheaval might opt out of CPS or look at Barnard as a more stable option. He said his school is already full, yet he must accept any new students who apply from within the neighborhood boundaries.

If that were to happen, Barnard would likely curb the number students allowed into the school from outside the neighborhood via the options program. This would only add more names to the already long list of those hoping to attend, he said.

"I have no interest in overcrowding our students," said MacMahon, a Morgan Park resident.

MacMahon credited O'Shea for his support in the turnaround effort at Barnard. But he believes the alderman's proposal will ultimately be scrapped, and he wondered how Kellogg — a high-performing and in-demand school — would be considered for consolidation when there are plenty of low-performing schools who are unable to draw students from either inside or outside of their boundaries.

"The bigger question for us is why would they even target this area?" he said.

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