Elementary School

Principal's Corner

Regional Gifted Center to be Phased Out
In a letter to parents on Friday, Nov 3, 2011, Principal Shelton announced  that the Regional Gifted Center program at Elementary School will be permanently phased out, in an effort to relieve overcrowding at the school.

November 3, 2011

Dear School Families and Community,

Due to the population growth of the surrounding neighborhood and the continuing academic achievements of our students, demand for enrollment at Elementary School has steadily increased over the last several years. Since 2009, two Growth Committees have worked with our school administration, CPS staff, and the school and neighborhood communities to discuss solutions to the issues of overcrowding and space constraints.

Over the past weeks, I've been in further discussions with CPS district officials regarding these issues. CPS officials and I agreed to a final solution that best serves the needs of current Elementary School students and families.

In my previous letter I stated that Elementary School would not admit a Kindergarten Regional Gifted Center (RGC) class for the 2012-13 school year. Today I announce that we will extend that strategy by permanently phasing out the Elementary School RGC program. Thus, over an eight-year period we will see a reduction in this source of enrollment pressure of approximately 28 students per year (one classroom) for a total reduction of 224 students (nine classrooms). Again, no new RGC students will be enrolled at Elementary School, but all current School RGC students will be able to "graduate" out of Elementary School's RGC program as eighth graders.

In addition, beginning immediately and continuing through the 2012-2013 school year, I will institute a freeze on the admission of out-of-boundary siblings of current SLES students. After the 2012-2013 school years such admissions will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

How to best use the space of our two buildings to serve our students for the 2012-2013 school year will be based on enrollment trends. Please note that at this time no final decisions have been made to move classrooms or grades. An updated plan will be distributed to all parents by June 2012.

I'm sure these decisions will raise many questions. I've tried to anticipate some of these questions and added them to the bottom of this letter.

If there are any additional questions I didn't address below, please email me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . At next weeks LSC meeting (November 9th) I will answer any submitted questions. I will also discuss my vision for the future of School.

Although the RGC has been an attractive asset to our school in previous years, I'm confident that we will continue to thrive and excel with our dedicated parents, teachers, and community. I hope you will embrace these changes and continue to make School one of Chicago's schools of choice.

As always, I value your commitment to Elementary School. I appreciate the input I received these past months.

Yours in education,

Tara Shelton

FAQ's Regarding Regional Gifted Center Phase Out at SLES

1. What happens to my child if he/she is currently in the Elementary School (SLES) Regional Gifted Center (RGC)? Will the resources be reduced over this 8 year phase out period?

Your child will continue to receive the high quality education you are currently experiencing through his/her eighth grade graduation year. The RGC will not relocate to another site prior to the current kindergarten gifted students eighth grade year. Resources will not be reduced over the next 8 years. Our current teacher positions are board funded based on student enrollment. Reducing one gifted classroom per year will not result in the loss of a teacher position because the current neighborhood enrollment trend will balance the reduction of the one gifted classroom. This will continue throughout the phase out period depending on enrollment numbers.

2. What are the plans for the branch building? Will the lower grades stay there?

The Branch will continue to be fully utilized and yes, some lower grades will stay there. Which specific classrooms can not be determined until later in the school year when I have a more accurate idea of the student enrollment for 2012-2013? The decision will be provided by June 2012.

3. If I live out of the boundary and I have a child in either the RGC or Neighborhood class (via lottery), will my other child be able to attend SLES via a lottery program?

For 2012-2013 school year out of boundary siblings will not be accepted for enrollment. For 2013-2014 school year out of bound siblings will be accepted again based on available space.

4. Will there be any lottery at all for the 2012-2013 school year?

There will not be any lottery for 2012-2013 school year.

5. Are there plans to reinstate the RGC at SLES at some point in the future?

At this time I can only anticipate that if there is a need for SLES to reinstate the RGC, CPS will be open for this discussion. However, Elementary School will continue to thrive as a hybrid school and continue to build its neighborhood program.

6. Are there any plans of moving the middle school to a different location in the future?

There are no plans to move the middle school to a different location in the future. At this time it is my priority to keep our current families housed in two locations only: Main Building and the Branch. Three locations would be difficult to manage. The K-8 model we currently have has a proven record of excellent student preparation demonstrated by the high rate of placement of our 8th graders in selective enrollment high schools.

7. Is there a target enrollment level that are expected with these changes?

Based on our current trend of neighborhood enrollment, I expect we will continue to enroll three neighborhood classrooms of kindergarten for the next several years. Another option available to School if our enrollment ever drops is to accept applications through our Magnet Cluster Lottery program. This program allows School to accept students citywide through our Fine Arts Magnet option.

8. Were any other options considered by CPS?

Yes. For the last two to three years, we have been actively engaged in discussions with families as well as CPS. We discussed moving specific grades to other locations, moving the entire RGC to another location, reducing enrollment in incoming Kindergarten and/or preschool classes, and changing the boundaries, among other options. Based on the continued concern expressed by some parents about neighborhood class size, it was determined that phasing out the RGC would provide the space needed to accommodate the neighborhood growth. This was a difficult decision to come to, but the result will be less disruptive to SLES families, children and staff than the other options and allow SLES to continue to serve K-8 with excellence.