Reconnecting Families to School
Civic Exchange member organization Chalkbeat Chicago reports on education. The COVID-19 pandemic has been particularly disruptive for students, and Chalkbeat Chicago’s reporting has been highlighting the various challenges families have faced to educate their children.
Recently, Chalkbeat Chicago’s reporting has delved into the ways the pandemic has disconnected a disturbing number of families from their school communities. For some students, this disconnection looked like spotty attendance. Other students completely disappeared from their classrooms. This current challenge in Chicago’s Public Schools inspired Chalkbeat Chicago’s re-imagining conversation topic. Join us for a conversation about reconnecting Chicago’s missing families on Thursday, May 18th from 5:00pm-6:30pm CT.
Chalkbeat Chicago’s reporting has revealed that there is not a single issue causing this problem. Instead, a combination of changing employment status, lack of access to the internet, and the emotional toll of dealing with the loss of family members to COVID-19. The varied edges of this problem will require a variety of solutions to reconnect Chicago families to school.
Civic Exchange’s Re-imagining Gatherings are a collection of workshops, conversations, and networking events centered around a core question: How might Chicago and Illinois become the most supportive, responsive and equitable places in the United States? Chalkbeat Chicago will talk with students, experts, and workers on the frontline of reaching out to families about their experiences and struggles with school attendance and what students need to receive a quality education. Learn more about reconnecting Chicago’s missing families during our first re-imagining event on Thursday, May 18th from 5:00pm-6:30pm CT.
This problem is not exclusive to Chicago. Across the country and the globe, educators are trying to figure out a way forward from this deeply disruptive moment in our children’s education. Bellwether Education found that nearly 3 million students have not engaged in formal education since the pandemic began.
Join us in this conversation to learn more about how this problem has looked in Chicago and a few strategies that might help schools and communities better connect students with their education.
