No neighborhood school for the South Loop

The old Jones building will become part of the new
selective-enrollment Jones campus.

As reported in the Chicago Sun-Times and DNAinfo.comChicago, the old Jones College Prep school building will not be used as a open-enrollment neighborhood high school. Residents of the South Loop, along with Alderman Bob Fioretti had advocated to reuse the old Jones building as a high school for the growing South Loop and West Loop populations.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Chicago Public Schools announced yesterday at a joint press conference that the old Jones building will be included as part of the $115,000,000 new Jones College Prep school campus. So instead of a open-enrollment neighborhood high school, Jones will increase its selectivity by approximately 800 students, nearly doubling its current enrollment. According to CPS and the mayor’s office, 300 spots will be set aside for local residents who will have to “test in.”

 “Census data shows what many residents have said, that more than 40 percent of the families with children are leaving this area when the children reach school age...”  

The residents of the South Loop had set up a Web site, reusejones.org specifically to advocate for a neighborhood open-enrollment high school. The site presented a case for reusing Jones as such. Census information suggests that the neighborhood could support such a school. Fioretti was quoted in the DNA article as saying that “Census data shows what many residents have said, that more than 40 percent of the families with children are leaving this area when the children reach school age…Converting the current Jones building into a neighborhood school will help to keep more families in the city, which will benefit the economy of the entire city.”

What do you think? Did Mayor Emanuel “ignore” the wishes of South Loop parents, as the Chicago Sun-Times suggested? If you want your voice to be heard, contact the mayor’s office or tweet him at @ChicagosMayor and/or leave him a message on his Facebook page.