Friends of Pritzker School started as a question, then a conversation. An idea became an action. One voice became many voices. The voices of neighbors, friends, parents, community members, local business owners, and local politicians, agree that an excellent public school is critical to maintaining a neighborhood’s vitality, stability and growth. A school can echo the strength of a community and ensure its vibrancy.

Over the last several years, the A.N. Pritzker School has made incredible progress internally. Pritzker has a Regional Gifted Center attracting academically talented students from across Chicago, a Fine Arts program that becomes richer each year, an economically and racially diverse student body, and many and varied extracurricular activities. However, neighborhood enrollment in the school has remained relatively low. Friends of Pritzker truly believes that harnessing and maintaining community excitement will make Pritzker one of the premier elementary schools in the city of Chicago.

One of Friends of Pritzker’s first goals is to increase enrollment among neighborhood families. The preschool years and Kindergarten are very important decision points for parents as they decide whether they want to stay in the city or move to the suburbs and whether to send their kids to public or private school.  In response, Pritzker is opening a Preschool for All classroom this fall in an effort to attract neighborhood parents beginning when their children turn three. Interest in the program has exceeded expectations! This fall, 40 students aged three and four that live in the surrounding neighborhoods will begin preschool at Pritzker.

Now that the preschool has moved from dream to reality, we are raising funds to build a playground so we can continue to not only attract neighborhood families to preschool, but keep them in the Pritzker family through the 8th grade!

Officers
K.C. MacQueen is the founding and current President of Friends of Pritzker School. She is the mother of twin boys who are currently enrolled in preschool at Pritzker. A former Chicago Public School elementary teacher, she has a passion for public education. After teaching in CPS, she spent several years working in online education at the college level. She holds a degree in Elementary Education from Michigan State University and a Master’s degree in Learning Sciences from Northwestern University. When she is not mothering her boys or working on Friends of Pritzker business, she sleeps.

Kelly Greeby is currently the Secretary of Friends of Pritzker School. She has a 4 year old daughter at the Pritzker Preschool and a toddler son who is chomping at the bit to spend some time at the water table as well. She has a B.A. in Cultural Anthropology from Albion College and an M.S. in Public Service/Public Policy from DePaul University. Prior to motherhood, she worked in not for profit organizations, as a Membership Director and a Development Director.

Jeff Allen is currently the Treasurer of Friends of Pritzker School. He has two sons, one who is at the Pritzker Preschool and another who hopes to follow in his big brother’s footsteps. Jeff has a B.B.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is an actuary and works as a consultant at Towers Perrin, a human capital and risk management consulting firm. Prior to Friends of Pritzker School, Jeff was involved for over five years with the Wicker Park Advisory Council, including nearly two in which he served as the co-president.