How to Walk to School: Blueprint for a Neighborhood School Renaissance

by Jacqueline Edelberg, Susan Kurland, Rhan Emanuel

When two gutsy moms ventured inside Nettelhorst, their neighborhood's underutilized and struggling public elementary school, the new principal asked what it would take for them to enroll their children. Stunned by her candor, they returned the next day armed with an extensive wish list. The principal read their list and said "Well, let's get started, girls! It's going to be a busy year . . . "

How to Walk to School is the story—from the highs to the lows—of motivated neighborhood parents galvanizing and then organizing an entire community to take a leap of faith, transforming a challenged urban school into one of Chicago's best, virtually overnight.

The fate of public education is not beyond our control. In How to Walk to School, Susan Kurland, Nettelhorst's new and entrepreneurial principal, and Jacqueline Edelberg, the neighborhood mom, provide an accessible and honest blueprint for reclaiming the great public schools our children deserve.

Check out www.howtowalktoschool.com for more information.

240 pages, Paperback

First published August 16, 2011

About the author

Jacqueline Edelberg has been the driving force behind the Nettelhorst School's dramatic turn around, a story that has been featured on Oprah and Friends, NPR, CNN, 60 Minutes, Education Weekly, and in the local Chicago media. A community organizer, writer, and nationally recognized fine artist, Jacqueline has led workshops for the Community Schools Initiative, Northside Parents Network, and Chicago Public Schools on how public schools and reformers can improve public education. Before devoting herself to art, community organizing, and cutting the crusts off bread, Jacqueline taught political science at the university of Osnabrueck in Germany on a Fulbright.