We’re happy to see a school finally going into New Eastside, a community that has sprouted up quickly just northeast of downtown.

For years, plans have called for a new school there to support the rapidly expanding number of young families calling the area that used to be a decrepit Illinois Central rail yard home.

We have every expectation that the new GEMS World Academy that’s moving in there will be a fine institution, and with a strong contingent of embassies nearby, its international focus will likely go over well.

But the fact that it’ll be a private school — and likely a very expensive one, at that — just reinforces the fact that residents living downtown don’t have many options when it comes to schooling their kids.

Do you know what the local high school is for students living in New Eastside? It’s Wells Community Academy High School, all the way out in East Ukrainian Village. It’s also on academic probation.

The time has come for Chicago Public Schools officials to focus on creating new schools for families living in downtown Chicago. This is a class of students and parents that, if treated well, will buoy the city as it moves forward.

To be sure, there are other schools all around the city that need help, including many in poor neighborhoods. Those schools should not be cast aside — they need all the help they can get.

But we cannot ignore the problems of one class of people in the city at the expense of another. The solving riddle of public education in this city requires a two-pronged attack.

So, there needs to be a new approach to education, particularly downtown. There are hundreds of families who would send their kids to quality public schools if the opportunity presented itself. Let’s create a place to send them.

This could be in the form of a new public high school in the old Jones College Prep building, a structure that the city is planning on tearing down but advocates including Ald. Bob Fioretti (2nd) are pushing to repurpose.

We’re not totally sold on the idea of saving it, mainly because the idea of having two separate schools right next to each other — one the privileged selective enrollment kids in the shiny new building, another the regular old neighborhood group in a decades-old space. That’s not a formula for long-term success.

But it’s a facility sitting ready to be used. And it’s a need that must be met. It’s a start.

---

By Old Jones Building from West Loop
Posted: 09/03/2012 9:30 PM

It's not a good plan to put two high schools next to each other. I hope they give the schools extra security. You're just asking for trouble.

---

By Davo
Posted: 08/07/2012 10:36 PM

Great article and you hit the nail on the head. We were considering a move back to downtown Chicago, but with young children, the lack of decent public schools is a deal breaker. Sorry, but I will not pay tens of thousands of dollars per child on top of exorbitant property taxes to send my kids to a private school such as GEMS. I'd rather pocket that cash and live in the suburbs. No good public schools = No residents with kids. Sad, but true.

---

By Junior High from South Loop
Posted: 06/21/2012 1:33 PM

Make the old JCP building a Junior High and current Jones College prep, Dean of Students, should be the principal of the Jr High. She can prepare the Junior High students for Jones College Prep because she knows exactly what the students need. If the South Loop Elementary school is overcrowded, a Junior High would make room for more elementary students, in addition to preparing the students for Jones College Prep.

---

By J. Morris from River North
Posted: 06/21/2012 10:11 AM

I agree we should repurpose the old Jones Building for a local Downtown H.S. We seem to be strapped for cash in this city and this seems to be the most cost effective measure to establish a school for downtown families. It is not the quality of the building that makes the school, it is the quality of the families and teachers. St. Ignatius is in an old (though renovated) facility and it is top quality. I am sure they can fix up the old Jones to a decent level for low cost.