Daniel Burnham Elementary School

My mom lived in this neighborhood when she was growing up– and then after I got out of the Peace Corps I taught here in this school for a year. Many things have so much greatly changed from the time my Grandparents moved into the neighborhood to when I taught there.
I will always remember our nice principal telling a room full of mostly women teachers who were also brand new to the school that– «at 4 pm no matter what you will drive home and go home.» All the women looked at him — like ‘why’ so I ‘gentle and’ carefully say– it is for safety– gang related safety not to be out at night in this neighborhood. They were not street smart and just didn’t know. The neighborhood changed.
As a school though– it is wonderful– 5,000+ kids and they take care of the little ones and are helpful and respectful so much more of the time than other schools I have visited.
They have coordinated school plays and open up some to the community.
The teacher aids are the best– almost all of them are local and know the kids and what they are going though in their lives.
A school is a community!