Does The Children’s Place work with Chicago Public Schools to transition the children?
We know education is the ticket to success, so collaboration is important. By coming through our program, the kids get enrolled in the [Chicago Public Schools] system once they hit age 3. So they’re on administrators’ radar early on. And the process of getting individualized education plans going for these kids begins. Their needs are disclosed, and that way, teachers aren’t spending a semester trying to assess them before pinpointing the best way to reach them. As for the confidentiality issue, we’re not advocates of disclosing to Chicago Public Schools, whether it’s the student or parent who is infected. Back in the day, school principals had to be notified when a student tested positive. Principals could tell other staffers on a need-to-know basis, and with the collegial atmosphere at a school, this news spread around even more. Can you imagine? Authority figures were letting your secret out. That’s highly stigmatized. That’s like a boss getting a call when an employee finds out the
