Lynn Renee Persin
& Budlong Elementary School

Lynn Renee Persin & Budlong Elementary School

It’s a neighborhood school, a local school, right around the corner from my apartment.  There is no lottery or admissions test to get in.  And there are no bidding wars just to have a home within its borders. Yet, Budlong Elementary School is offering a well-balanced educational, cultural, and social experience for families of extremely diverse backgrounds on the North Side of the city, just a short hop outside of Lincoln Square. With the youngest learners in preschool just beginning an educational journey that can take them all the way through 8th grade if they choose, where their days are filled with a dedicated staff committed to elevating their spirits every day at Budlong. 

 In addition to the expected circulars of a day in the Chicago Public School system, students at Budlong have regular art classes with a dedicated art teacher.  They have a drama teacher with her own theater room complete with curtains, a stage, and inspirational quotes on the walls. Besides a large gymnasium there is an auditorium with the type of stage I remember from my childhood, that fills with sunlight throughout the day and has chairs that don’t need to be folded up and put away at the end of a concert. There is a second gymnasium on the bottom floor, a library, and two rooms with two different teachers who are dedicated to immersing their students in Mandarin and Chinese culture. On Tuesdays, excited and fresh-faced musicians flow from room to room bringing carts of instruments to get the entire class singing “This Little Light of Mine” as the sun flows through the large windows of this building which dates back to 1918, over 100 years ago. 

Walking the hallways at Budlong is a pleasure, despite the extra pressures that COVID has put on an already over-stretched staff, specifically in maintenance where they are often working double-contracts to cover all the schools that need their services.  Mondays are COVID testing in the auditorium, and since winter break ended, classes have been rotating in and out to remote learning as the pandemic continues to impact our daily routines. But morale is high, even though the lunchroom might be empty as classes are forced to eat lunch in their rooms or in shifts in the downstairs gymnasium, not quite 6 feet apart. Celebrations are picking up, Halloween, Valentine’s Day, or one of my personal favorites, the Lunar New Year Parade. Even with all the additional stress the school is committed to focusing on the needs of their students and filling their days with learning and reverie.