CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Several thousand CPS pre-kindergarten and special education cluster students return for in-person learning Thursday, and at least one parent is excited about it.
Yemisi Taylor’s 4-year-old son Reginald will be among those returning Thursday to in-person learning. He attends Willa Cather Elementary School.
Taylor said Reginald was born prematurely at 23 weeks and is developmentally delayed. That’s why she thought it was so important for him to be in school. He also gets help, before and after school, from daycare at Marillac House on the West Side.
"He actually loves his pre-k elementary school teacher, so he was excited to go. He’s excited that he rides the school bus, so he was really looking forward to going back," Taylor said.
Taylor said Reginald will really benefit from being back in-person, because she said, remote-learning has been "brutal."
"The in-person definitely provides more one-on-one instruction, which in my opinion, for my kid, is a requirement, is actually needed ‘cause it helps to keep him more focused," she said.
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Taylor is thankful her son goes to Marillac House for daycare. When there was remote-learning only, she said the staff there were helpful in getting Reginald logged in and doing his work.
Peter Beale-DelVecchio, CEO of Marillac St. Vincent Family Services, said more than 200 students from birth to 5-years old are in daycare at two Marillac facilities. He said another 100 K-8 students have been learning remotely at the facilities while their parents are at work.
"We are thrilled that starting tomorrow, young students will be able to get back, particularly students with IEPs will get additional services that we’re not able to offer," Beale-DelVecchio said.
Like other families, Taylor's family has done a lot of juggling during the pandemic. Taylor works at Stroger Hospital of Cook County, where she's a patient access management coordinator. Her husband works at a charter school where their 8th grade child is a student. Both are at home since the school is still in remote-learning mode. The couple's eldest child attends Fenwick High School on a hybrid schedule.