Suburban Charter School Plans Helmed By River Forest Mom

RIVER FOREST, IL — A River Forest mother of four is leading the charge to open a public charter school in the area. Alison Jack has partnered up with other parents to form Western Educational Community Action Network, or WeCan, an initiative to "open a tuition-free, progressive, multi-district public elementary school" in Chicago's western suburbs.

WeCan's website emphasizes the progressive focus of the school by outlining goals for a "culturally relevant curriculum" that plans to include such techniques as mindfulness, social-emotional learning, and culturally responsive pedagogy. In this same vein WeCan aims to have a "racially conscious" team of staff and faculty that can help "unify the diverse communities of West Cook County that attend the school," its Facebook page states.

According to Chicago Tribune, Jack works with the Illinois Charter Schools as their director of charter support and growth. Jack was involved in the opening of a charter school in Chicago and she told Chicago Tribune that working with charter schools is her "passion."

WeCan hopes to open the proposed suburban charter school by fall of 2019

You can learn more about WeCan's charter school plans at its information meetings, which are as follows.

• Melrose Park: Saturday, September 23rd from 1:00-3:00pm at Chuck E. Cheese’s (1030 Winston Plaza)
• Oak Park: Thursday, September 28th from 6:30-7:30pm at Oak Park Public Library (834 Lake St)

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