WEST LAWN — For the four years Christina Smith has been teaching English at Peck Elementary, the school has been so overcrowded that there hasn't been enough room for students to spend their recess outside.
Students have to take turns playing outside. On three days out of the week, students spend recess time in the classroom, where they also eat lunch. There's no cafeteria. No library. No auditorium. There's no room for any of it.
"It's a bummer for the kids," said Smith, a sixth-grade teacher who was shocked when she discovered the deplorable, overcrowded conditions at Peck and neighboring Pasteur Elementary. Peck's enrollment topped 1,600 kids this year. The school's capacity is 780.
Relief will come Jan. 9, when Richardson Middle School opens at 6018 S. Karlov Ave. and about 1,200 students — fifth- through eighth-graders from both Peck and Pasteur — will transfer to thin out the bloated enrollments.
Alongside state and city dignitaries, including House Speaker Michael Madigan and Ald. Michael Zalewski (23rd), Mayor Rahm Emanuel held a Veterans Day naming ceremony Friday afternoon at the school, named after two-war Army veteran Robert J. Richardson.
"This was a creative solution given that both schools were dealing with overcrowding," Emanuel said. A new school to help alleviate pressure at two nearby campuses made more sense, he said, than building separate additions at Peck and Pasteur.
Chicago Public Schools data shows Pasteur’s enrollment at 1,230 students, though the building's capacity is 720. CPS addressed overcrowding there with mobile units and leased space for 20 additional classrooms.
In December 2014, CPS pitched plans to build Richardson Middle School — a three-story, 135,000 square-foot building with a capacity of 1,500 students.
Here's what's inside:
• 48 classrooms
• 3 special education classrooms
• 3 breakout spaces
• 4 sciences classrooms
• 4 computer classrooms
• 2 art classrooms
• 1 music classroom
• A dining center
• A kitchen
• Gymnasium
• Library
• Administrative offices
Outside, there's an athletic field for team sports like football, baseball and soccer.
For parents and teachers at Pasteur and Peck, it's been a long wait.
"I've been so excited for two years," said Kathe Myers, a 21-year CPS veteran who served the last 18 years as an eighth-grade teacher at Peck. She'll make the move with her students to the new building.
Enrollment issues are common all over the city.
Many Chicago Public Schools either have too many — or too few — students enrolled at their campuses, according to data released by CPS in January. Fewer than a dozen area schools are listed as “efficient."
The district said more than 300 schools across the city have fewer students than they should and about 25 are overcrowded.
In May, Mayor Rahm Emanuel pledge to alleviate overcrowding at two other Southwest Side schools. Plans include a 16-classroom annex at Byrne Elementary, 5329 S. Oak Park Ave., and a new school to replace Dore, 6108 S. Natoma.
Dore has been overcrowded for several years, operating at 172 percent capacity. The school is in the top five most overcrowded schools citywide: 715 students study in a building meant for 420 students.
At Byrne, you’ll find eight modular classrooms on campus. The school’s current enrollment is 648 students. The ideal capacity is 480 students. Because of overcrowding issues, Byrne does not offer pre-K programming.
In West Lawn, Leticia Almanza's 12-year-old seventh-grader, Joseph, can't wait to start the second half of the school year at Richardson.
There, she said, he won't feel confined.
"He's excited," said Almanza, a member of Peck's Local School Council. "He's happy."
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