Fifth Ward resident Sylvia Carlson said her family went into their first day at the Dr. Bessie Rhodes School of Global Studies “completely blind.” As she and her two kids approached the Skokie school on bikes, she said they felt an instant connection to its community.
“The very first family we saw was on a cargo bike like ours, and I was like, ‘Oh, this is my place,’” she said. “The atmosphere here, I noticed just immediately, was so inclusive.”
For Carlson’s family and their peers, Friday was the last school day at Bessie Rhodes. In 2024, the Evanston/Skokie School District 65 Board voted to close the school, which houses a Two-Way Immersion program that facilitates bilingual learning.
Bessie Rhodes parent Rita Kendrick noted the effect of sending her kids to the district’s only fully bilingual school.
“I think this place is special, especially because there’s not a difference in language. There’s not kids speaking Spanish in one corner and English in another,” Kendrick said. “There’s Spanglish all over the playground, and there’s no barriers in friendships.”
As Kendrick picked her kids up from Bessie Rhodes for the last time, she fought back tears while reminiscing on a community that she said is “better than any I’ve ever known.”
Bessie Rhodes Principal Charlise Berkel said the students and teachers commemorated their last days of school with a talent show, field day and Berkel’s personal favorite, the teacher-student kickball game.
“All the other grades came, and they lined up on the grass to watch,” Berkel said. “It was a lot of fun, it was a lot of cheer. I think the children like their teachers, and I think the teachers love their kids.”
Many students and teachers are expected to make the transition over to the new Foster School, which is planned to open for the 2026-27 school year with Berkel as principal.
Carlson’s children will be some of the first students to attend the new school, and she said she’s feeling “hopeful for the future.”
“I’m happy that we’ll get to go to school in our neighborhood, that our kids will get to stay in the TWI program, because that was the most important thing for us,” Carlson said.
Elida Patino, a first grade teacher at Bessie Rhodes, will teach at Foster next year, but said she will always remember the building she called “such a great school and place to be.”
“I’m just a little sad, but looking forward to move to the new school and continue our legacy of building or creating a special place where kids feel (they) belong and (are) respected.”
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Related Stories:
— District 65 School Board votes to close Dr. Bessie Rhodes School
— Bessie Rhodes parents demand dialogue with District 65 administrators about planned school closure
— District 65 Board to vote on resolution on potential Bessie Rhodes closure
