Drive By School

Friday was open house day at Kate's assigned school. Our hope was to be enchanted with the school, the plan was then to corner the principal and beg for Mary's admittance. No begging necessary, Kate will not be attending this school, an upstart replication of a very successful advanced learning school in the city. They have yet to decide on a building to house the new school, which is slated to open in four months, but the primary contender is a soon to be vacant school across the street from the remaining Cabrini Green high rises. And while violence is down and the population of the once notoriously dangerous housing project has dwindled, many buildings having been demolished, there remains a distinct element of fear, not exactly the learning environment we are seeking.

While I like to consider myself edgy, and my husband is laughing, I have come to terms with the fact that I am really an established neighborhood kind of girl. And while in a few years this school may be yet another success story for the Chicago school system, I hesitate in allowing my children to be the test market.