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Save Our School
Dear Alumnus:
There is a hot rumor afloat that Hyde Park Academy, formerly Hyde Park High
School and Hyde Park Career
Academy, will close down as early as 2005. Although it is a “rumor” and no
public announcement has been
made, Chicago-style politics dictates that rumors like this are intentionally
spread to see if there will be any
opposition. If they are not challenged NOW, plans will move forward to close the
school. Therefore, it is
imperative that we nip this immediately because later will be too late. In the
interim, the interior of the school
is intentionally being driven into the ground. This will be an excuse to close
the school. Unfortunately, the
minister of a local church wants the property to build town homes. Additionally,
the University of Chicago is
interested in working with the local minister in taking over the area. The
school is nearing landmark status and
we will work diligently toward getting this status to prevent any further
problems.
Please send a letter (sample below) or post card to each of the following and
copy me so that we have a record of how many
have protested the possible closing of our alma mater:
Mr. Michael Scott
School Board President
Chicago Board of Education
125 S. Clark Street
Chicago IL 60603 |
Mr. Arne Duncan
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Board of Education
125 S. Clark Street
Chicago IL 60603 |
Honorable Richard Daley
Mayor
City of Chicago
City Hall
Chicago IL 60601 |
Alderman Leslie Hairston
5th Ward
1900 E. 71st Street
Chicago IL 60649
773-324-5555 |
Senator Emil Jones, Jr.
507 W. 111th Street
Chicago IL 60628
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Senator Barack Obama
13th District
1741 E. 71st Street
Chicago IL 60649
773-363-1996 |
Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie
25th District
1303 E. 53rd Street
Chicago IL 60615
773-667-0550 |
Congressman Bobby Rush
2416 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington DC 20515-1301
202-226-0333 (Fax)
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Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr.
314 Cannon House Office Building
Washington DC 20515-1302
(202) 225-0899 (Fax) |
Rep. Connie Howard
8729 S. State Street
Chicago IL 60619
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Thanks for your support and don’t forget to forward a copy of your protest to
me!
Lori Husband
HP Alumni Association
P.O. Box 637
Matteson, IL 60443-0637
E-mail: lori0602h@aol.com
| About Lori Husband: My name is really
Loretta Husband, but everyone calls me "Lori." I graduated in June 1959.
Unfortunately, I'm not a member of the school system. I'm really in IT
(Information Technology) and am a technical writer/business analyst/project
manager. I'm semi-retired due to health challenges.
I've been trying to come up with innovative things to help organize and
get the Alumni going. I don't have any children or grands. However, I have a
deep concern for today's youth and want to do all I can to help give them a
fighting chance in this world. I greatly appreciate the kind of education I
received at Hyde Park and can't understand why it was not passed down from
class to class over all these years.
FYI, a professional assessment is being performed. We have a meeting
scheduled for mid-August to see what is needed to be done to bring the
school up to snuff. I'll let you and the rest of your group know the
outcome. I had just started attending the Local School Council (LSC)
meetings in May. They are breaking for the summer and will resume in
September. I'll be at all of those meetings, if possible. I have obtained a
copy of the LSC's manual so that I can understand rules and regulations.
Unfortunately, the HP LSC needs to be replaced. They spend a lot of
indecisive time and have lost funds because they can't make up their minds.
To me, that is sinful because the students are using books that are more
than 5-years old. There is so much going on and I need to spend more time at
the school and keep jumping up and down to get some results. I live in the
suburbs and just can't get into the city daily. |
Sample Letter
Please feel free to copy and change this letter composed by Joel Neuberg
to fit you, or write one of your own.
Honorable Richard Daley, Mayor
City of Chicago
City Hall
Chicago, IL 60601
Dear Mr. Daley:
I am writing on behalf of thousands of alumni
of Hyde Park High School, responding to rumors that the school may be closed in
the near future. Though I have not lived in Chicago since I graduated from Hyde
Park in 1963, I have a large family living in Chicago, have visited the city
hundreds of times in the past forty years, and have noted the recent
improvements to our old neighborhoods. My uncles were contemporaries of Amelia
Earhart (HP, 1916); my aunt graduated from HP in 1933; my mother-in-law in 1940;
my brother and several cousins graduated in the 1960’s. I visited the
school with alumni twice in the past three years and we are concerned that that
the City of Chicago and the Chicago Board of Education are not committing enough
resources to maintain the historic building and provide students with an
excellent education comparable to that which we received there. July 25, 2003,
a dozen alumni of the Hyde Park High School swim team looked into the school
swimming pool that has not held any water in a decade. I toured a library sadly
lacking information resources.
Even those of us who no longer live in Chicago
have fond memories of our school and our neighborhoods. My first paying job was
distributing brochures for the Democrats in the fifth ward (and voluntarily
disappearing those of the Republicans) in the 1954 election. We are interested
in and willing to contribute to the well-being of Hyde Park High School. Please
do not allow this great school to die of neglect or fall victim to a
neighborhood improvement plan that fails to take into account the needs of the
local young people.
Take a look at the lists of Hyde Park alumni
at:
www.aitchpe.com and www.classmates.com.
Many of these people still live and vote in Chicago; others have friends and
relatives who do. Please consider us constituents who want Hyde Park High
School to serve the south side neighborhoods for another 130 years.
Sincerely,
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