CPS TO CONVERT NTA ELEMENTARY INTO HS

School serving high percentage of black students has achieved Level 1 status

Chicago Public Schools Chief Education Officer Janice Jackson announced Friday that the district will convert National Teachers Academy Elementary School into a high school for the booming South Loop and neighboring communities.

CPS will add more high school capacity as its enrollment is projected to plummet for the second year in a row, as its existing neighborhood high schools are undergoing more budget cuts and as the district attempts to balance its books — again — with state money that has been promised but not yet secured. The new high school’s boundaries have not yet been determined.

“CPS is taking an important step toward building diverse, high- quality neighborhood schools that will serve your children from pre- K through high school graduation,” CPS CEO Forrest Claypool and Jackson wrote in letters to families. “We did not make this decision lightly, and we believe this is in the best interest of the entire community. We also believe it was important to make a decision so that we could move forward together.”

For months, supporters of NTA, 55 E. Cermak, have pointed to its steady rise to Level 1, the district’s secondhighest rating, in pleading to keep an elementary school that serves a high percentage of African- American students. Its students may now attend South Loop or stay put as high school grades are phased in.

The NTA community said on Twitter it’s not done fighting.

Niketa Brar wrote that “@ForrestClaypool @janicejackson ‘ righting past wrongs’ by continuing to ignore the voices of low- inc blk folks and closing their skl.”

South Loop Elementary, which serves far fewer poor children than NTA, is getting an annex that allows it to expand. Jackson has pushed for the merger of the school communities, saying she wants NTA students to have access to South Loop’s new facility and greater student- body diversity. And she wants a diverse high school option for the growing neighborhood.

Jackson’s recommendations still need Board of Education approval, likely in February, but the appointed school board rarely votes down measures CPS leadership presents.

Jackson will ask them to consider moving South Loop’s southern boundary to 22nd street and to start freshman classes at NTA in fall 2019, allowing current NTA students in 2nd through 7th grades to finish where they began.