Bret Harte Elementary School

To be honest, my experience with Bret Harte has been a bit of a mixed bag. On one hand, I love that they have health and wellness thinking skills baked into the curriculum, and the after-school programs are great for keeping the kids active instead of just sitting around. But with it being an older building in Hyde Park, I definitely worry about the ventilation during flu season. Communication about bugs or typical 'school crud' going around could be much faster. It's a decent school, but I wish the district would put more money into the actual physical health of the facility rather than just the programs.

My son has been at Bret Harte for two years now and overall the health situation is pretty solid for a big city public school. The nurse is really responsive whenever there's a scraped knee or a sudden fever, which gives me peace of mind during the workday. I also appreciate that they actually send out emails when something like strep or flu is going around the classroom so we can keep an eye out at home. The building is older, but the custodial staff does a great job keeping the high-traffic areas and bathrooms clean. My only real gripe is that the 'stay home' policy can be a bit of a gray area sometimes, and I've definitely seen some kids in the drop-off line with pretty gnarly coughs, but I guess that's just life in CPS!