POWER-PAC IL Parent Leader Orzella Denton was recently featured in a Chalkbeat Chicago story about the city’s competitive and stressful high school application process.

“Maile Solis’ son wants to follow an older sister to Lane Tech College Prep, one of Chicago’s selective-enrollment high schools on the Northwest Side. Across the city on the Far South Side, Orzella Denton’s daughter dreams of landing a spot in one of the district’s fine arts programs.

But both parents are monitoring grades anxiously — and bracing for a high school admissions process profoundly disrupted by the pandemic.

[…]

Denton, the mom of the seventh grader at Parker Community Academy, chose to keep her daughter learning from home for the remainder of this school year, believing it’s not yet safe to return to the school building. But she worries about how remote learning has tested the girl: The family’s internet connection has been often spotty, and her daughter has found it more difficult to get consistent guidance from teachers.

‘You have an A and B child, and you turn around, and the grades have dropped,’ Denton said.”

Read the full article here.