417 S Kilbourn Ave
Chicago, IL 60624

I've been a substitute teacher at CPS for 2 years. I have observed every demographic and grade level. I felt compelled to write a review after substitute teaching a kindergarten class at Heffern. I cannot compliment the gym teacher enough! Mrs. Rathers-Clark was the kind of teacher that every teacher should observe and reflect. She did a lesson with spaceships that involved teamwork and a hula hoop that called for personal space. She had students stretch and line up, then dance as a class for a warm-up before her lesson started. She was always in control of her classroom management, every student was engaged and it was a pleasure watching such great teaching.

(Note: the principal has changed and student enrollment is now less than 250.) The majority of students are amazing...with 30% rebellious, disrespectful, hallwalkers. The staff are amazing. The principal and assistant principal do not enforce their own rules, then condemn the rest of staff who try to enforce the rules. Students ignore the administrators' requests to their faces and nothing happens. The school is severely understaffed (teachers are asked to give up prep time to do other jobs: work as security, work as substitutes, etc.) Principal fired all the teachers who raised concerns or who spoke up on behalf of students' or teachers' needs in addition to giving them lower ratings before firing them. Students who disrupt learning are permitted to interfere with other students' learning. The needs of students with learning disabilities are met sometimes. They are ignored many times. The principal has created a climate where people are afraid to speak up about anything for fear or their job/retaliation.