Two South Side elementary schools are considering renaming their buildings after Arnold Mireles, the South Chicago community activist who was slain Dec. 29.
One of the schools, Sheridan Elementary, 9000 S. Exchange Ave., is one block from where Mireles lived.
“He was a role model for all our kids,” said Marta Suarez del Real, the local school council president of Sheridan Elementary.
School officials had been considering a name change for the past 18 months, but they had not chosen an alternative.
“We didn’t have a name that was inspiring for the children, but now we do,” said Suarez del Real.
The second school, Sullivan Elementary, 8255 S. Houston Ave., also is discussing whether to name a new school building after Mireles.
School officials met Monday to discuss the proposed change, but a final decision has not been made, said Sullivan Principal Robert Efenberg.
Efenberg also said Mireles was someone the pupils at the school admired.
“His popularity reached across all racial lines,” Efenberg said.
Police are still investigating the slaying.
Mireles worked in the city’s community policing program and fought against slumlords and drug dealers.
He tutored schoolchildren at a local church. He also worked to rid his neighborhood of blighted buildings.
