On a corner of the neighborhood once known as Cabrini-Green, outside the school previously known as
"I slept three hours," she said, standing on the sidewalk in a swarm of parents, children, teachers and cops. "It's like today is my first day of school."
Bell-Washington is the mother of three boys, and this year, as Jenner merges with
"I'm nervous," DaMari said.
About what?
"If the school bus get bumping," he said.
While some of the kids Tuesday were worried about things like bumpy bus rides -- and whether they'd make friends over at the new school -- the adults were more inclined to focus on the big question:
Would this grand experiment in desegregation work in the famously segregated city of
The merger of
Jenner, the last remaining school of several that once served the Cabrini-Green housing project, was vastly underused. Almost all its students were black and poor, and it was threatened with closure.
A building with too many kids. Another with not enough. Only a mile apart.
The solution may look obvious, but it wasn't simple.
In 2014,
As Beyer once recalled it: "He said, 'Congratulations. There's this idea floating around about merging our two schools. Whenever you get settled, give me a call.'"
Croston was black. Beyer was white. Both were young and energetic. Together they led the push to bring the student bodies together, channeling the younger kids -- kindergarten through fourth grade -- into
Finally, seven months ago, after two years of work and arguments in the communities,
But his presence remained vivid on Tuesday, the day his dream came true.
Outside what's now known as
Inside, the school had changed over the summer. Before, Jenner students didn't have lockers; now lockers lined the hallways. The place had a clean new sheen and a lot of new furniture. It had a library again, and even a 3D printer. A mural of Croston was freshly painted on a cafeteria wall.
Combining the schools has meant shuffling a lot of things around. Students, teachers, staff. And stuff.
Some of
Most importantly, the merger has called upon everyone involved to examine their sense of identity and community. Some of that has been done through training.
"To get people to talk about things we don't talk about in this city, like race," said
The merger of Jenner and
And there are some, perhaps more at Jenner, who feel that despite the great gains, something's been lost.
"I grew up in Cabrini and I feel a lot misplaced sometimes when I get over here," said Bell-Washington.
She looked around at the new condos and townhomes, some on the market for more than $1 million, and at the old Wayman AME church that sold to developers this summer. What little remains of the Cabrini she remembers will soon be gone.
And yet what matters to her more is what her kids are gaining, like a school library, music instruction, the chance to learn another language.
The first day of anything is just that. The first. More will come, and with more days more challenges. But this was a day to remember and one
"It's emotional," said
He was standing with a friend he made during the long merger negotiations,
Smedley's white. Linzy's black.
"The best thing is getting to know my neighbors," he said, "to know and be known. I feel so lucky."
Linzy nodded and recited one of her favorite lines:
"Positive thoughts, no fear."
Previously:
• 08/29/18: Another summer. Again, a gift
• 08/17/18: In search of family in a small-town graveyard
• 08/09/18: Courage, kindness two years after 12-year-old blackboy was shot in Chicago
• 07/26/18: An everyday encounter made brighter by a good question: 'Do you have a story for me?'
• 06/19/18: A Big Sister's Guide to Life: Don't chase men and other practical advice
• 06/12/18: For 13 years, 2 friends wrote letters daily. It was a love affair of poetry, separated only by death.
• 06/01/18: What would we do without our brothers?
• 05/17/18: Forget a fiddler. City woman awakens to find a goose on her roof --- and laws about removing it and her eggs
• 05/10/18: A high school senior with college dreams was paralyzed by gunfire. Two years later, he's still pushing forward
• 04/05/18: Remembering the youngest history makers
• 04/03/18: The Parable of the (Expletive Deleted) Comfort Dog
• 02/15/18: Fees, fines, loans, scams: How the poor get poorer
• 02/01/18: When Paul Simon, Daniel Day-Lewis and Elton John say 'farewell' to work they love, should we too?
• 01/25/18: At Oscars time, let's snub the snubbing
• 12/28/17: The real 2017 word of the year
• 12/20/17: The laundry-folding robots are coming
• 12/13/17: How not to waste the last days of 2017