Chicago Mayor Daley Praises Elev8

Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley at Reavis Middle School.

"To take our schools—and our city—to the next level of achievement and progress, we must demand even more from ourselves. That’s what we’re doing with a program such as Elev8 Chicago," Daley said at the dedication.

The Mayor said that academic success is a good indicator for the overall well-being of young people and that schools need to make sure health is part of every student’s learning environment.

"We know that there is a critical connection between education and health. If a child is hungry or tired or chronically ill, how can we expect them to perform well in school?" Daley said.

The Mayor congratulated Elev8 Chicago's school based health centers for making huge improvements in student lives:

• Physical and immunization rates are up - over 95 percent at the schools.
• Perspectives and Marquette have seen more than 1300 student visits at the health centers.
• Reavis sees 160 students for physical or mental health services every month. Mental health services are the most utilized at three of the five health centers, with social workers having full case loads and 20-40 students on the waiting list; and
• Discipline referrals are down, as much as 70 percent at some schools.

Daley said he believes in the Elev8 mission—that education can't be confined to the traditional school day, and it has to involve parents and guardians.

"It’s clear that what we are dong with "Elev8 Chicago" is taking an approach to education that supports all the aspects of a student’s life – school work, health, parental involvement, social services support," the Mayor said.

He also put Elev8 in the larger context of the Chicago Community Schools Initiative, in which schools partner with non-profit organizations across the city. "That turns neighborhood schools into community learning centers with greatly expanded weekday and weekend hours to provide educational and social-service programs, not just for the students, but for the entire family," the Mayor said. There are currently 150 Chicago schools in the Community Schools Initiative.

Daley hailed the Elev8 Health Centers for providing parents with access to social services and financial coaching and he noted that parent engagement had increased dramatically at each school.

"We are building a model of community schooling, showing what’s possible when schools become centers for community life," he said. 

Watch Mayor Daley's Speech