Parents

“One day after a bilingual parent meeting, I [heard] how successful Cool Classics! was the previous year and how kids who didn’t like to read ended up liking it. At that moment, I knew this would be the perfect choice for my son who simply doesn’t like to read, but, to be honest, I didn’t know how quickly he would start reading. Now my son reads much better and he actually likes it. He reads without me asking him to do so. At the moment he’s reading one of his older sister’s books called Diary of a Wimpy Kid #1. He just looks so proud of himself and so am I. I just know that at the end of the school year, he’s not going to just like to read, he will looove it!”

Araceli Acosta

“Cool Classics! helped my son to not just read words, but rather to analyze the content of the book. With Cool Classics! he has learned to become part of the story and enjoy the experience of reading.”

Veronica Norber

“My first impression was that we were going to be reading from classic literature. I didn’t realize that the kids were going to be active in the creation of the play. I didn’t realize that there was going to be so much arts surrounding it. I thought it was going to be one of the run-of-the-mill after-school programs in which there’s a lot of good intentions but it doesn’t really manifest and boy, did it.”

Henry Anderson

“Cool Classics! is the paradigm for what after-school enrichment can look like; it’s an ambitious and true synthesis of the creative arts with the world of great children’s literature and its extant ideas.”

Tony Getsug

“Even though I accompanied my son on some of the field trips, and listened to him when he would come home and share his excitement about an art gallery, ethnic restaurants, drama and theater, I came to realize that Cool Classics! was more than exciting trips and a fun literacy class. Cool Classics! is an excellent opportunity for our kids to be exposed to and motivated to pursue avenues that ignite their potential to be what they were meant to be through various art forms while developing their literacy skills.”

Gabryel’s mother

“A pesar de que acompañé a mi hijo en algunos de los viajes escolares, y lo escuche cuando él llegaba a casa y compartía su entusiasmo por una galería de arte, restaurantes étnicos, el drama y el teatro, me di cuenta de que ¡Cool Classics! era más que excursiones divertidas y una clase divertida de alfabetización. ¡Cool Classics! es una excelente oportunidad para que nuestros niños sean expuestos y motivados a buscar vías que enciendan su potencial de ser lo que estaban destinados a ser a través de distintas formas artísticas mientras desarrollan las competencias básicas de alfabetización.”

Madre de Gabryel

“Participating in the program had a profound effect on our daughter, Vera. When I asked her what she thought about the program she said, ‘It was so great I can’t even tell you.'”

Janice Cody

“I just thought Cool Classics! was some afterschool program where the kids played all day, but they were actually learning and having fun. It opened her eyes to a lot of things. I already told my kids that they don’t need to worry about next year, they’re already signed up!”

Joseph O’Neal

“My daughter had a boost in her reading abilities. We were afraid that since we don’t speak English at home, she would not do well in the program. She didn’t read before she was in the program, but now she’s reading a chapter book every day. It helped inspire her love for reading. She would come home excited to read a new book. Now every Sunday we spend two hours at the Chicago public library so she can find new books to read for the week. We are there so often, the librarian knows our name! Cool Classics! helped a lot.”

Anisoara Serban