Abbott Elementary School on the South Side, named after Robert Sengstacke Abbott, founder of the Chicago Defender, is among five schools the Chicago Public Schools has proposed consolidating this fall under a proposal made public Friday.
Abbott Elementary School on the South Side, named after Robert Sengstacke Abbott, founder of the Chicago Defender, is among five schools the Chicago Public Schools has proposed consolidating this fall under a proposal made public Friday.
CPS is proposing to consolidate Abbott, located at 3630 S. Wells St., with Hendricks Elementary school, 4316 S. Princeton Ave.
“We’ve seen great progress in our district over the past several years. But there are still too many schools that aren’t making the improvements we need to see, and they’re not serving the needs of their students well enough,” said then-Chief Executive Officer for CPS, Arne Duncan. “Where we see that happening, we have an obligation to the families in those communities to bring them something better. Their children can’t wait another year or two. You only get one chance at a quality education.”
Duncan has since moved on to Washington to become U.S. secretary of education.
Abbott’s issue is not poor achievement. Instead, the school is hurt by low enrollment.
Abbott Principal Carol Hardin blames the redevelopment of Chicago Housing Authority for its low enrollment of 140 students.
“Prior to CHA families relocating, Abbott had an enrollment of 350, but since the reconstruction of public housing in Bronzeville, many kids transferred out and never returned,” she said. “I am saddened that CPS wants to consolidate Abbott because this is a community school that has been here since the 1940s.”
“Why would you bus kids to a lower performing school? That makes no sense whatsoever,” said Myiti Sengstacke, 37, the great grandniece of Robert S. Abbott. “It should be the other way around. Students from Hendricks should be coming to Abbott. There will be a demand for more elementary schools in the next five years as housing redevelopment grows in Bronzeville, so Abbott should remain where it’s needed.”
Since 2001, CPS enrollment has dropped by more than 40,000 students as gentrification in many neighborhoods, mostly Black, has pushed families out of the city and into nearby west and south suburbs, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Hardin agrees with Sengstacke that since standardized test scores at Abbott are higher, Hendricks should be the one consolidated.
Sengstacke, who works as an instructor for an academic enrichment program for CPS students called High Jump, plans to attend the 9 a.m., Jan. 31 public hearing at CPS headquarters to protest Abbott’s closing.
Community activist Andrea Lee questions why McClellan Elementary School, 3527 S. Wallace St., is not the receiving school for Abbott.
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