Eliza Chappell Elementary School

To be honest, I’m pretty frustrated with the health situation at Chappell lately. The chronic absenteeism rate is over 20%, which is a huge red flag for me—it feels like kids are constantly cycling through illnesses or just not showing up. With the student-teacher ratios being what they are in CPS, the staff is totally stretched thin, so I don't think they have the bandwidth to really stay on top of deep cleaning the classrooms or managing the wellness side of things. It’s hard to feel good about the environment when it feels like a revolving door of germs and there's not enough support for the kids' physical or mental health.

My youngest is at Chappell and we’ve had a pretty solid experience with the health side of things so far. The school is usually pretty quick to send an email blast if something like strep or pink eye is going around the classroom, which I really appreciate so I can keep an eye out. The nurse has been great when my son wiped out on the playground, very calm and called me right away. It’s a CPS school so the facilities are older, but the classrooms look clean and they seem to be staying on top of the hand sanitizer stations. Only downside is the sick policy can be a little strict with the '24 hours fever free' rule even for minor stuff, but I get why they do it to keep the bugs from spreading.