Our principal refers to the goal as Continuous Improvement, but it must be celebrated that CPS has seen its record high graduation rates and enjoys the fact that all 10 top Illinois Schools according to US News And World Report are CPS Schools. This is an achievement only won through the shared dedication of Teachers and Parents, Administrators and, perhaps mostly, Students.

As a Community Representative who serves on a council of a city-wide elementary school, this news inspires optimism. Having full confidence that our students whom we educate with such enthusiasm, all 1,542 at Disney– from prekindergarten through eighth grade– have more opportunities to continue their stellar and well-rounded education. Yet, the discrepancy between schools that have against the schools that have not can not be ignored.

It is a hard fact to face: zip codes can determine the direction and resources provided to our students, Disney and beyond, and many of our kids at Disney are from those different zip codes.

As a stark example, 48.1% of our children at Disney are Black while our Buena Park neighborhood is only 9% Black.

These are reasons why I am involved. Because if we combine our tangible talents with our shared goals, continual improvement is possible. Zip codes do not have to be determinants of poverty.

We are proving that.

Looking forward,