Charles Gates Dawes Elementary School

To be honest, I’m pretty frustrated with the health situation at Dawes lately. The chronic absenteeism rate is super high, sitting around 26%, and it honestly feels like there’s always something going around because the school doesn't seem to have a handle on wellness. While their official 'plan' documents talk about health and safety partnerships, the reality on the ground feels different. The student-to-teacher ratio is also pushing 30:1 in some spots, so there’s no way the staff can keep an eye on hygiene or notice when a kid is starting to look sick before it spreads to the whole class. Communication about illness outbreaks is pretty spotty—I usually hear more from other moms in our group chat than from the school office. It feels like they're just checking boxes on paper without actually improving the environment for the kids.

My son is in 2nd grade at Dawes and overall I’m pretty happy with how they handle things. The school is usually clean, and I definitely notice the custodian crew working hard when I’m picking him up. They’re super strict about the 24-hour fever-free rule, which can be a hassle for work schedules, but it honestly keeps the classroom bugs from spreading too fast. The nurse is a sweetheart and always calls me right away if there’s a scraped knee or if he’s just feeling ‘off,’ so I never feel out of the loop. Only downside is the communication about flu season can be a bit late sometimes, but for a neighborhood CPS school, they do a solid job keeping the kids healthy.