 Two ways in which Chicago’s kids are given options are through charter and
magnet schools, which are public schools that require no tuition to attend.
One that caters to students with a passion for art and technology is the Walt
Disney Magnet School, which opened in 1973 and was the first magnet school in
Chicago, teaching kids Pre-K through 8th grade.
“Disney school is the coolest school I know of,” said principal Kathleen
Hagstrom. The school opened in the early 1970s to provide a more diverse student
body, and it remains so today. It reaches children not just from racially
diverse backgrounds, but economically diverse as well. Hagstrom estimated that,
with a student body of 1,650 students, about two-thirds fall below the poverty
line and three-quarters are minorities. More than 100 countries are represented
among the student body.
The school also serves struggling learners, special education students,
handicapped students, and gifted students. The diverse student body comes
through a lottery, with a certain percentage coming from each ZIP code.
In contrast to the city’s traditional public schools, 91 percent of students at
Disney meet or exceed testing standards.
RELATED: Chicago Public School Superintendent indicted thanks to mother with a
blog
The 11-acre campus with a view of Lake Michigan is impressive. After attending a
conference in Bahrain, Hagstrom realized that “we needed to be more 21st
century, and that means kids work in teams, they problem solve, they collaborate
with multimedia solutions.” With a focus on moving into the 21st century,
technology has been key. There is a Promethean technology system in every
classroom, 17 computer labs, an iPad for each student (with individualized
learning systems), and a brand-new learning lab that was dedicated to the late
Diane Disney-Miller, daughter of the school’s namesake, with her husband and
children in attendance.
[to top of second column] |
 The school is also dedicated to getting students ready for the
workplace, Hagstrom said. “We really try to highlight what is
relevant today in terms of what the workplace wants, and it’s not
the independent learning like it used to be. … Now, it’s much more
collaborative thinking. Training kids how to work in teams, because
that’s what happens in the real world.”
The students have had an opportunity to work on a collaboration
with the Disney Family Museum in California. They developed a
project on Walt Disney’s innovations over time, and the kids
imagined what they would look like today.
Electives are available that complement the rigorous core
curriculum. There are traditional options such as gym and library,
but also non-traditional classes such as digital music, general
music, art, 21st century learning and dance, choices that have
disappeared altogether in some public school settings. The gifted
track also has the option of learning Chinese.
This results show up not only in testing, but in the spirit of the
students. In 2007, Chicago Public Schools studied Disney to
determine if it was a model they might want to replicate. A year was
spent analyzing the school, including work by consultants from New
York who came in to evaluate. After three days of focus, Hagstrom
remembers, they said “absolutely you should replicate Disney. The
kids here are so happy it’s like Sesame Street.” A second campus
opened the following year.
Magnet schools are important because they support the strengths and
interests of the student, whether that be at Disney where they may
learn arts and technology, or a school for foreign languages or
other specialities. In the end, however, options matter “because it
offers choice,” Hagstrom said. “You might live in a neighborhood and
you don’t think your neighborhood school is high quality, so the
magnet school provides you an opportunity to fly.”
Click here to respond to the editor about this article
|
