Matthew Henson Elementary School, Chicago
Thirteen years after students left 1326 South Avers Avenue, boarded windows, damaged grounds, and stalled reuse turn a former community anchor into...
Watchlist Blog
Thirteen years of vacancy make Henson a warning about school closure
New research linking long-vacant school buildings with nearby violence gives North Lawndale's boarded Henson school a wider policy meaning.
July 23, 2026
Matthew Henson Elementary School, Chicago
Updated 2026
Henson has remained empty since 2013, turning a former neighborhood anchor into a visible dead zone and a case for funded reuse planning before schools close.
Matthew Henson Elementary has now been vacant for as long as many students spend in school. Closed in 2013, the North Lawndale building entered its thirteenth empty year with boarded windows, damaged grounds, and no active community use.
New research on Chicago's closed schools reports that nearby gun violence rose where buildings stayed vacant and that successful reuse could mitigate the pattern. Henson makes the cost of an unfunded afterlife visible.
Read Henson's place record in Matthew Henson Elementary School, Chicago.
Track more school transitions in Watchlist Blog.
A closed school does not become neutral land when the students leave.
What The Study Adds
The findings connect building disposition to neighborhood safety rather than treating an empty school as a neutral real-estate holding.
The reported association does not reduce violence to one cause, but it strengthens the case for maintenance and immediate reuse planning.
What To Watch Next
CPS disposition status, bids, interim uses, stabilization work, and community proposals are the next records.
Henson should remain classified as vacant and endangered until an executable reuse is funded.