For Dewey Elementary School Principal Anna Marie Newsome, her school is built upon a rich and long-lived community.
The school is one of two — along with Nichols Middle School — public schools in the 4th Ward.
“In Evanston, there’s a lot of generational families, and it’s not uncommon for me to talk to a parent that says ‘I went here, and my dad went here, and now my kid’s going here,” Newsome said.
She went on to explain how the 4th Ward’s economic diversity curates the community of Dewey and other schools within the ward.
Newsome described an experience with a family struggling with homelessness during the holiday season and how the community showed up for them. She said she found out a family at the school had recently been evicted and reached out to the community for help.
“By the next day, the PTA had made it known to certain families and anonymously donated money, and we had enough for that family to stay in the hotel for a few days,” Newsome said.
Beyond schools, the ward is home to the Evanston Police Department and the Chicago Transit Authority’s Davis Station, which helps connect Evanston to the rest of Chicago’s public transportation system.
For 4th Ward resident David Cater, Davis Street businesses are the community space that make the community special. He has lived in the ward for 11 years, he said.
“It’s very vibrant, very mixed,” he said. “It’s a good mix of community, town and business.”
The 4th Ward is in the center of Evanston and is bordered by the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 9th wards.
Ald. Jonathan Nieuwsma (4th), said the ward is also a hub for several community spaces.
“We’re all a part of one Evanston,” Nieuwsma said. “What makes the 4th Ward special is we have a little bit of everything. We have some of the downtown. We have the Main Street and the Dempster Street business districts. We have residential neighborhoods.”
The ward is also home to various organizations that aid in homelessness and food insecurity, such as the Lydia Home located on Washington Street, Connections for the Homeless located on Dewey Avenue and McGaw YMCA located on Grove Street.
Newsome said the ward’s diverse spirit bleeds into the classroom and leads to students building a more worldly view during their time at school.
“It’s kind of a unique place in that we have families who are facing extreme struggles and who need our help, and they’re going to school with families who are very well off,” Newsome said.
The 4th Ward is home to places of worship such as Beth Emet the Free Synagogue, Evanston Church of God and Baitul Huda mosque. Nieuwsma expressed pride in having a variety of worship places in the 4th Ward.
For Newsome, the diversity makes the Ward 4 community a warm place where members advocate for each other, she said.
“With everything that’s going on recently, they (the community) are very protective of each other, and they can really be counted on to be advocates for those in need,” Newsome said.
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