Cics – Bucktown Campus

To be honest, my feelings on Bucktown are a bit mixed lately. On one hand, the student-teacher ratio of 15:1 is actually pretty good for a charter school in the city, so I feel like the staff can at least keep an eye on the kids and notice when someone is looking under the weather. However, the school feels like it’s constantly pushing for higher enrollment and it's starting to get really crowded. When the hallways and classrooms are that packed, every seasonal cold or flu just rips through the grades in like two days. They definitely try their best with the facilities they have, but the building shows its age and I’ve seen some dusty corners that make me wonder about the air quality for kids with allergies. It’s an okay environment, but they really need to stay on top of the deep cleaning if they’re going to keep adding more students to the roster.

Honestly, I’m pretty frustrated with the health environment at Bucktown right now. The school is totally packed since they increased the enrollment cap, and you can really feel it in the classrooms. My son’s class has nearly 30 kids in it, and when one person gets a stomach bug or a cold, it just rips through the whole grade because everyone is on top of each other. The ventilation isn't great, and the school looks a bit worn down and grimey lately. I’ve tried reaching out about how they handle absences when things are going around, but it feels like the staff is just spread too thin to give any real individual attention to wellness. Most parent threads I see mention how often kids are out sick because of the crowded conditions. It’s hard to prioritize wellness when the school prioritizes hitting max capacity over breathing room.