Charles Kozminski Elementary Community Academy

Honestly, I’m pretty worried about the environment at Kozminski lately. My biggest issue is the attendance and how many kids seem to be out sick constantly—the chronic absenteeism rate is super high, which makes me think illness just cycles through the classrooms without much intervention. The building itself feels like it needs a lot of work; you can tell it’s an older CPS facility and I’ve seen some stuff about maintenance issues and 'change orders' in school board notes that make me wonder about the air quality and general upkeep. It’s hard for the kids to focus on wellness when the basics feel a bit neglected. I really wish they had more staff or a better system to keep the school cleaner and help the kids actually show up healthy every day. Right now, it just feels like we're treading water.

Honestly, Kozminski does a pretty solid job keeping things clean, especially for being such a busy neighborhood school in Hyde Park. My youngest is in the preschool program and I’ve been impressed with how the teachers handle the constant 'germ season'—they are really on top of making sure the little ones wash their hands and they actually enforce the sick policy so kids aren't coming in with full-blown fevers. Communication from the office is usually good if something like strep is going around the classroom, which I appreciate. Only downside is that the nurse's schedule can be a bit hit or miss some weeks, but overall the staff seems to genuinely care about the kids' wellness.