Clemente Community Academy High School

Pros: -There is only one class per grade. The class sizes are bigger since many migrants got here but the kids still thrive academically, in my opinion.-Most of the kids seem to get along really well and within the last 3 years that my child has been here, I haven’t heard of a single fight. -Biggest pro is the kindergarten teacher; she’s the best. I was worried that my child may be a bit behind when she started school because she didn’t attend preschool. My daughter went from uninterested in learning at home, to reading on a second grade level, within months! I promise the teacher is AMAZING! CONS:-The administration is absolutely HORRIBLE! From the LAZY front desk clerk, counselor, to the principal. I’ve never actually had any issues with the principal, beside from her ignoring the two emails I sent her, but many other parents and even staff say that she’s not the best to deal with. -My daughter needed speech pathology and from what an outside pathologist told me, CPS has 60 days to offer this service to her. It’s been three years and it still hasn’t been addressed, despite me reaching out to them several times. We had to seek outside counseling. -It’s the only Ukrainian speaking school in Chicago and they have no problem showing favoritism to those students. -Some of the Russian/ukrainian parents are extremely rude and for some reason act as though they’re entitled.-Incidents are never reported to parents. CPS requires schools to fill out an incident report if your child is injured at school. My child has come home telling me that she was involved in incidents that were never reported to me. Thankfully, the Kindergarten and 1st grade teachers were pretty good with informing me of incidents, but if something happens at lunch, recess or afterschool, you may never hear about it from the staff! -There is only one class per grade. I listed this as a pro but it can also be a con…same kids every year…not always good for the child, especially if there are issues. -White privileged ppl in the neighborhood allow their dogs to poop on the playground (in the fake grass-like flooring)…disgusting! Sometimes it’s still there when the kids arrive. IMO, they need a gate to keep them out or cameras. -Not enough diversity for black students when it comes to culture. -No languages taught besides English (ESL).-Not enough extra curricular programs. -The school is last min with everything. They inform you of events days before & it’s annoying.-Uniforms…ugh!

They have the playground locked at 1 pm during the summer. What's wrong with the fools that run this city?

My son has been accepted into the pre-school program, and thus far, this has been a terrible experience. I'm interested in the dual language program, and every time I call to inquire, I receive a different answer regarding how to get him enrolled in this program. At first, I was told that it's first-come, first-served, so the sooner I complete the registration documents, the better chance my son will have. Then I was told it's a lottery system. And now I'm being told that the dual language program coordinator will reach out to me to setup a meeting to assess my son, and that she's calling people now, but I may not hear from her until the end of August. I'm just not sure I believe anything they're telling me, and it's an unbelievably stressful and convoluted situation. This school is so poorly ranked to begin with that I almost never bothered applying at all, and now I'm really questioning what type of experience my son would have here, if this is how they treat people.

Our experience having a child enrolled in the RGC program for two years (fall 2022 - spring 2024,) was dismal. Our first teacher unexpectedly quit midyear, seemingly due to the lack of support from the top. We stayed one more year, because our next teacher was to be the coordinator of the school’s RGC program, and she had an excellent reputation. We found out the week before the start of school that she had just transferred to another school. Pritzker School was aware she was leaving in advance, and made no effort to inform our grade of the impending change. We had our child retested, fortunately they received an offer from another RGC program, and we couldn’t be happier that we transferred out. (Turns out the teacher we would’ve had for our third year quit as well!)There were too many frustrating issues to recount here, including a grimy kindergarten classroom that took the help of many families over many after school evenings to fully clean up. It is incredibly difficult to find much information online about the various CPS schools. If you can meet a family with a child currently at Pritzker, try to get their candid opinion. If you’re on the fence between this and another school, you might want to strongly consider the other school. Several schools in the immediate vicinity with excellent reputations are Burr, Drummond, and Pulaski.All that said, there are indeed some fantastic teachers at Pritzker (Dr. Jenkins, Mr. Swift, and Mrs. Delgado are but a few of the exceptional standouts, as well as Mrs. Hobbs at the front door), and there are wonderful families but in our opinion, the LSC strongly needs to consider a new principal.

In this school discipline is out of control. They practice restorative discussions but chronic behaviors and violent behaviors are done by the same students. Students who are continually out of control and are black are not receiving consequences based on their actions but on their race and continue to abuse.it is about policy and not being just. It is about appearing great on paper but it is not truthful because a lot has not been disclosed. When you walk in the building the kids are everywhere. They are disrespectful to each other, to the staff as well. It looks like chaos. Administration just does not take initiating and let the teacher care thr burden of handling It all. It is depressing.