The Chicago World Language Academy was opened in 1894 to serve children from the crowded

tenement A tenement is a type of building shared by multiple dwellings, typically with flats or apartments on each floor and with shared entrance stairway access. They are common on the British Isles, particularly in Scotland. In the medieval Old Town, E ...

community surrounding the Polk Street Station port of entry for immigrants. That year was started one of the first public schools

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...

s in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. Since 1981 this school has offered foreign language instruction to Chicago's students. In 1988, the Chicago World Language Academy moved into a new and up-to-date facility.

History

The school opened in 1894 at what is now 820 South Carpenter Street. In 1989 the school moved to a new building at 1340 West Harrison Stree

That location, a century prior, had been the West Side Park, first West Side Park, home of the baseball club now known as the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

. The Andrew Jackson Language Academy was renamed to The Chicago World Language Academy in May 2020 due to concerns of being associated with

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before Presidency of Andrew Jackson, his presidency, he rose to fame as a general in the U.S. Army and served in both houses ...

, who participated in the slave trade and owned over 300 slaves in his lifetime.

Languages

The Chicago World Language Academy provides curriculum in four foreign languages. They are

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

, French,

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

, and Chinese.

Grades

The Chicago World Language Academy offers kindergarten through eighth grade. Each grade has two classes and two teachers. An exception is 4th 5th 6th 7th and 8th graders. They have a teacher for each subject. Classes normally have around 27/28 children each.

References

Educational institutions established in 1894 1894 establishments in Illinois {{illinois-school-stub