George B Swift Elementary Specialty School

Tbh I'm pretty stressed with how things are going at Swift lately. The chronic absenteeism is hitting over 20% which tells you everything you need to know about the health culture here—it's like a revolving door of kids being out sick, and the school doesn't seem to have a handle on it. The student-teacher ratios are also way too high for an elementary school, making it impossible for teachers to notice if a kid is struggling or coming down with something until it's too late. It honestly feels like they're more focused on the specialty curriculum than basic wellness or making sure the building stays clean and germ-free. Every time a bug goes around the classroom, my kid catches it twice because the sick policy is barely enforced. Definitely not the 'healthy' environment I was hoping for.

Swift has been pretty solid for our family so far. Being a larger CPS school in Edgewater, you’d expect it to feel a bit chaotic, but the nurse and front office are actually really on top of things when kids get sick. I really appreciate that they don't just send out those generic auto-calls for every little thing; when my youngest had a fever, the communication was personal and clear about when she could come back. The building is older, so it doesn't always have that 'sparkling clean' vibe of a new suburban school, but they do a good job keeping the classrooms tidy and encouraging the kids to use hand sanitizer. My only gripe is that recess gets cancelled pretty fast when it's cold out—I wish they'd let the kids run off some energy outside more often during the winter months, but overall, it's a healthy environment.