aerial view of evanston township high school

As of 2010, 41.5 percent of residents in the ward are Black, 35.3 percent are White, 14.4 percent are Hispanic or Latinx and 8.8 percent are Asian - demographics he hopes the school’s population would reflect. Part of Wilkins’ vision is that the school reflects its community. He said he hopes to see high family involvement with the school. Henry Wilkins started STEM School Evanston, a group advocating for the construction of a public school in the 5th Ward where children excel in STEM principles and work with the community.

Six Evanston Township High School students from Emerge, a leadership and community development program, moderated the event - the second in a two part series about the legacy of school segregation in Evanston.

Currently, the ward’s nearly 700 students are assigned to five District 65 schools. The ward has gone without a neighborhood school since the Foster School officially closed in 1979 when Evanston/Skokie School District 65 sold the building due to its desegregation plan. Community leaders discussed the movement to open a community school in Evanston’s 5th Ward during a virtual panel hosted by Evanston Public Library Thursday.

Aerial view of evanston township high school