Federico Garcia Lorca Elementary School

To be honest, the health environment at Lorca is kind of a constant stressor for our family. The school is crowded, and you can definitely feel it—the student-to-teacher ratio is high, so things like hand-washing and making sure kids aren't sharing germs totally fall through the cracks. It feels like as soon as one illness starts, the whole classroom is out because they just don't have the staff to keep up with sanitizing everything. Also, the attendance numbers have been pretty rough lately, and it's clear that the 'wellness' culture isn't really a priority compared to just getting through the day. I wish they'd be more transparent about when a bug is going around because right now I'm usually finding out from other parents on Facebook instead of the office.

My kid has been at Lorca for two years now and honestly, they do a pretty solid job with health stuff. The building always smells clean when I drop off, which is a big relief given how many bugs go around Chicago schools in the winter. They’re super quick to send out emails if a kid in the class gets something like hand-foot-and-mouth or strep, so I’m not flying blind. My only gripe is that the sick policy is a bit strict on the 24-hour fever-free rule, but I get why they do it. Overall, the nurse is sweet and I feel like they actually care about keeping the kids healthy and moving.