Demographics
My students are extremely resilient and demonstrated their resiliency throughout the pandemics of social unrest and COVID-19. Many of my students lacked adequate Wi-Fi service so some of them went to work with their parents (essential workers) so that they could have wi-fi access. Additionally, I had several homeless students who sat in cars in front of our school in order to log into Google Classroom. Our school also served as a local food bank and some families that could not afford transportation reported that they walked several blocks in order to pick up meals for their families. Personally, I purchased and took meals to some of my students and their families. To add fuel to the fire, the violence in our community has exacerbated many of the social emotional needs of my students.
The New Englewood STEM High School opened in the fall of 2019 starting with an inaugural freshman class and continues to add one grade level each year until it serves grades 9-12. Our school is not considered a selective enrollment school so all Chicago students residing in the area are eligible to attend. This is the first new public open-enrollment high school in this underserved community in over fifty years. In the 1950s urban renewal in Englewood and other communities displaced many African-Americans of whom many moved to the Englewood community. In the 1950s blacks were 11 percent of the Englewood population. That number increased to 70 percent in 1960 and 96 percent by 1980.5 Many thriving businesses left the community plagued with many social and economic ills that Englewood spiraled downhill. Unfortunately, the crime rate became one of the highest in the country. Many thriving businesses left many residents unemployed. Our high school is the answer to years of academic drought and systemic neglect.
Comments: