Staff members of both Evanston/Skokie School District 65 and the Two-Way Immersion (TWI) program met with families at the Dr. Bessie Rhodes School of Global Studies on Saturday morning to discuss the tentative transition plan for the program if the school closes.
The Spanish-English dual-language immersion program aims for students to develop an academic proficiency in both languages and positive sociocultural attitudes.
The program is available at Bessie Rhodes, a K-8 magnet school, as well as for all Spanish-speaking students of District 65 in kindergarten through fifth grade and via lottery for English-speaking students at Dawes, Dewey, Oakton, Washington and Willard schools. It is currently set to expand to include sixth through eighth grades only at Bessie Rhodes in the fall of 2024.
With budget shortfalls leading to discussions of closing Bessie Rhodes, district officials have announced that the program will move to Haven Middle School in the fall of 2026. This tentative plan was unveiled in more detail at a school board committee meeting the previous Monday.
“I know the thought of the school potentially closing is extremely difficult, and not what folks signed up for,” said Angel Turner, superintendent of District 65, to the families gathered on Saturday. “We really want to make sure that we provide support and care for all of our families here.”
Community conversations
Following introductory words from staff, parents were invited to participate in a gallery walk activity. The hallway at Bessie Rhodes featured space where families could write questions and concerns about aspects of the plans.
Topics included the language program implementation timeline and student transitions in year three. Staff from the language program, including Amy Correa, multilingual program director; Cecilia Romero, multilingual coordinator, and Kim Kelly, compliance coordinator, walked through the gallery with families and helped answer immediate questions and hear concerns.
“We want your feedback. We need your feedback,” Correa said to families. “This is a space for you to provide it.”
Other District 65 representatives, including school board President Sergio Hernandez and board member Omar Salem, also participated in the gallery walk activity and spoke to families.
Program staff members plan to publish answers to frequently asked questions from the activity.
After the gallery walk, parents were invited to break into small groups, held in both English and Spanish. The breakouts served to give families a space to voice their feelings and experiences. Media were not allowed to attend the small group sessions.
March set to protest closure
Outside before the event, staff members handed out flyers for a protest scheduled during the first of three public hearings on the Bessie Rhodes closure. These state-mandated hearings on April 22, May 6 and May 20 will be followed by a school board vote on closing the school on June 10.
Supporters plan to gather April 22 at the Joseph E. Hill Education Center and shuttle to Bessie Rhodes. From there, they will march down Church Street back to the education center, where the public hearing will take place.
Protest organizers wrote online that closing Bessie Rhodes and splitting up students will “open up our children, and the children of future families, to greater isolation, fewer resources and support, and greater assimilation in English-language schools.”
Editor’s note: This story has updated to correct Angel Turner’s job title.