At the seventh annual “Muffins and Mimosas” celebration, parents of children at Chappell Elementary School in Lincoln Square spent the first day of school commiserating about their kids growing up, sharing their excitement and anxieties about the coming school year, and celebrating the routine a new school year brings with a drink or two.
As the school year begins, it’s easy to focus exclusively on the kids: school supply shopping, forming a carpool, meeting teachers and signing up for after-school activities. But what’s it like for the parents as they say goodbye until pickup time? For some, at least, it’s a mixed bag: commiseration, celebration and some morning parent parties.
Like all Chicago Public Schools families across the city, parents of students at Chappell School on the North Side dropped their kids off for the first day of school on Monday and partook in rituals and traditions of their own.
A group gathered back at Magen Hanrahan’s house for their first-day-of-school tradition: an annual gathering Hanrahan began hosting when her daughter started kindergarten seven years ago.
Now Hanrahan’s daughters, Corryn and Annette, are in seventh and fifth grade, respectively, and Hanrahan’s yearly party has become a familiar tradition at the school. The spread of drinks and snacks was pared down this year, Hanrahan said — usually there’s eggs, bacon and a bloody mary bar.
“I love entertaining, and so sometimes it’s like any chance that I have to throw a party,” Hanrahan said.
And, after several years and the COVID-19 pandemic, she said it’s a good excuse for the parents to get together and catch up before the year starts.
“Even before the pandemic had started, the day kept extending longer and longer,” Hanrahan said. “At the beginning, people would be gone by 10. Last year, we forgot we actually had to go pick up our kids — we just had so much fun. Just catching up, you know, a chance for all of us to see each other after a busy summer.”
The transition to school can be an emotional one, but the parents of Chappell were in high spirits, excited for their children to make friends, resume extracurricular activities and have a more consistent work and school routine after a summer of unpredictable schedules.
But the start of another school year has been harder for some parents than others.
Xiomara Padamsee and Melissa Casey just moved from Pittsburgh to Chicago two months ago, making Monday their daughter’s first day at Chappell. It’s a new city, a new school and a time for new friends and activities for Alexis, 12.
“She woke up an hour early this morning,” Casey said, describing Alexis’ nervousness about the first day of school.
“We were already up because we had our own (nerves),” Padamsee added.
But despite the stress of starting over at a new place, Padamsee and Casey said they couldn’t imagine a better school — or a better welcome to the neighborhood — as they begin a new chapter.
“Everybody’s been very warm and welcoming,” Padamsee said about the Chappell community. “Multiple (people in the) neighborhood texted this morning saying, ‘Have a great first day at school.’”
In addition to their inclusion in the festivities, the couple described feeling more welcome in Lincoln Square, which they say is more diverse than the Pittsburgh suburb they came from and is an environment they want their daughter to grow up in.
“It used to be a scavenger hunt to find the Pride flags,” Casey laughed. “Now, we’re not sure which house is ours sometimes.”
CPS experienced its first jump in enrollment last school year after a dozen years of decline, with an increase of 1,185 students — likely driven in large part by the expansion of free, full-day kindergarten and an influx of migrant students to the district. But enrollment has been far from the district’s only concern. It has faced a number of obstacles in recent years: a bus driver shortage, tension with the Chicago Teachers Union over ongoing contract negotiations and bilingual education staffing challenges.
Yet, as always, school carried on as usual in spite of it — and the excessive heat, which rose to 96 degrees midday.
Over in Lakeview, a similar tradition was going on Monday morning. A group of parents from Hamilton Elementary gathered at Bitter Pops, a bar and coffee shop popular among local parents, for a celebratory coffee after drop-off.
Just minutes before, parents had watched their kids line up for drop-off. Some of the goodbyes were teary-eyed, for both the parents and the children.
Rebecca Goodrich described how her son, who just started preschool at Hamilton, wanted to be the first in line to enter school, and fellow Hamilton parent Ashley Rockwood’s preschool-aged daughter, Parker, was the last.
“I cried,” Rockwood said. “I saw (Rebecca) cry, and then I cried again on the way here. (Parker) gave me a side hug goodbye and went on her way. It’s hard to see, but it also makes you feel good knowing that they feel safe.”
Over at Bitter Pops, where Hamilton parent Suzanne Mak says the local parents often gather for happy hours and other events, about two dozen parents from the nearby school crowded the space of the local haunt, spilling out into the outdoor patio and sharing their experiences earlier that morning.
“We got there and she said she was scared,” Mak said about her younger daughter, Addie, who started kindergarten at Hamilton on Monday. “But she went in, and everything’s OK. I’m excited to hear what they say on the way home after school.”
Others were totally unbothered.
Hamilton parent Laura Gettinger’s younger child, Graham, started pre-K Monday, but his attitude was about what you’d expect of a 4-year-old.
“He found a cicada on the playground and proceeded to show it to all of his new classmates and run over and show us,” Gettinger said. “I’m hoping he didn’t put it in his pocket. He didn’t look back at all.”
Gettinger was happy her son was excited for school and new friends. She’s also looking forward to having time in the day to focus on some career-oriented goals of her own — namely, getting her personal training certification and beginning to take on some clients.
Hamilton has a tight-knit community, says parent Suzanne Mak, who — along with her husband, Ryan — dropped off Addie as well as their third grader, Eisley. The parents have active WhatsApp chats they use to coordinate group activities over the summer and answer questions during the school year.
“Whether they’re coaching an extracurricular activity or they find out that somebody’s having a surgery or a personal challenge, it’s a wonderful level of accountability and transparency when it comes to our kids,” Gettinger said. “Like, hey, my kid is struggling in this way. Does anybody else have this situation? What can we do to wrap around?”
Back in Lincoln Square, Padamsee and Casey were also making plans for after school. Alexis had a theater audition in the evening, so they planned to pick up some Chipotle — Alexis’ favorite — and convince her to tell them everything.
“Maybe the burrito bowl will open her up,” Casey said.
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