N
Chicago, IL 60622

My child attended half-day PK-3 last year. She loved her experience there, and we were impressed by how much learning could be done in just 2.5 hours a day. Previously she had been at home with a nanny or parent. She learned concepts that I hadn't learned until Kindergarten or 1st grade back in the 1990s, like syllables, phonics, etc. Her teacher and classroom assistant were warm, engaging, responsive, and welcoming, and they adapted very well to a class that varied in its makeup in terms of prior knowledge and experience outside the home. The preschool reflected the diverse country in which we live - Black children, Latino children, white children, recently arrived immigrants, children with special needs, etc. That's a wonderful thing; the kids learn so much from one another. In my observations, the children integrated well as they learned and played together. I noticed no divisions and my child never mentioned any. As white people, our child was a minority at this school, and we had zero issues with that; no one ever made us feel unwelcome and she wasn't teased or anything like that. What stands out the most to me about this school is that it is such a warm and welcoming community. I am not exaggerating when I say in the entire year we attended this school, I never encountered one staff member - whether a teacher, office clerk, security personnel, or janitor - who had a bad attitude. They really mean the "Community" part of the name José De Diego Community Academy. The school received a large influx of Spanish-speaking immigrant children towards the end of the school year, and it was impressive to watch the whole school mobilize and pull together to try to support these kids. There are many bilingual staff. In my daughter's class alone, the kids spoke English, Spanish, Ukrainian and Polish! However, we ended up transferring to our assigned neighborhood school (which does not offer a PK-3 program) albeit with broken hearts. We really miss Diego but think our child's long-term academic needs will be met better at a school with a dedicated Gifted program, and this school does not currently offer that. However, I'm confident that if more families give this school a try, we will see the test scores rise just as they did in the nearby neighborhood schools, Pritzker and Pulaski and Burr over the last decade. And if my child's new school doesn't add a PK-3 program, I will without hesitation send my second child to De Diego for PK-3.