CHICAGO — Rose Davis wasn't about to let her two young grandchildren walk alone through one of Chicago's most violent neighborhoods, even though they were going to a school kept open for students who needed a safe haven while teachers walked the picket line.

So Davis, who has a painful diabetic condition that affects nerves in her legs, walked with them Monday the six blocks to Benjamin E. Mays Elementary Academy in Englewood — about five blocks farther than the school they normally attend — where they ate breakfast and lunch, read books, worked on computers and played games. She went back four hours later to escort them home.

"They had to go out of their home zone, and you never know what gang violence is going on on the other side of the zone," said Davis, 47, who said she will continue making the difficult trek until teachers return to the classroom.