Protesting outside of school board headquarters, at 125 S. Clark St., Chicago Teachers Union President Marilyn Stewart termed the closing and re-staffing, known at the Board as a “turnaround,” a back door method of replacing higher-paid, high-seniority teachers with new teachers who work for much less.

The only school that will close in June is Las Casas Occupational High School, 8401 S. Saginaw Av., for reasons the board termed “facilities-related.”

The McCorkle School, 4421 S. State St., will be consolidated into the Beethoven Elementary School, 25 W. 47th St.

The Schneider School, 2957 N. Hoyne, will be phased out.

• Curtis Elementary, 32 E. 115th St.;
• Deneen Elementary, 7257 S. State St.;
• Bradwell Elemenetary, 7736 S. Burnham Av.;
• Phillips High School, 244 E. Pershing Rd., and
• Marshall High School, 3250 W. Adams St.

Phillips teacher Martha Idewu (ih-DAY’-woo) said she finds it ironic that Phillips will be re-staffed because at least six times in the past 15 years, Phillips has been the receiving school as the Board of Education attempted a turnaround elsewhere. She said the effect has been “destabilizing” on Phillips.

The Academy for Urban School Leadership, headed by former Chicago School Finance Authority Chairman Martin Koldyke, will oversee the turnarounds at Curtis, Deneen, Bradwell and Phillips, and intends to spend $1 million a school on the improvement effort.

“As a staff, we would have been able to do phenomenal things” if given that money, Idewu said. Teachers and Parents from Phillips and Marshall argued in public comments that the system skims the good students off to magnet schools, then deprives the remaining students of materials and academic assistance they require for success.

Stewart promised some form of protest in the wake of the board’s action but wouldn’t specify if that would amount to a physical job action like a walkout, sit-in, or some other form of protest.

Read the original article from WBBM News Radio.

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If approved, all six schools will open in communities in need of high-quality education options.

“Six months ago we targeted three underserved communities and strongly encouraged new school design teams, composed of educators and entrepreneurs with close ties to the community, to submit proposals for schools in those areas,” said Huberman.

“Today, after months of community, and parental input, we are pleased with the results.”

Huberman also stressed that input from the Transition Advisory Councils (TAC) was crucial in making the decision process fair and sensitive to the needs of each of the school communities. TAC members met with Huberman last month to share their new school recommendations.

The six proposals include four elementary schools, one high school serving grades 9-12, and a combination middle school-high school that will serve students grades 6-12.

Three of the new schools are slated to open in the fall of 2010, and the other three schools are slated to open in the fall of 2011. All six will be subject to approval from the Chicago Board of Education later this month.

The three schools slated to open in fall of 2010 are proposed in communities the district considers to be high priority — Englewood, Riverdale (Far South Side) and South Chicago—and would be run by existing charter school operators who manage other high-performing schools in Chicago.

If approved, these schools will be located in CPS buildings listed in the 2009 Request for Proposals (RFP), released this past May.

The three schools that will be recommended to the Board for a fall of 2010 opening include:

• Noble Street Charter School – Englewood Campus, a proposed charter school, would serve grades 9-12. The Englewood Campus would follow the Noble model, which is built on a platform of small schools, strong leadership, strict adherence to a discipline code and a rigorous academic program that includes emphasis on reading, math, community service and physical fitness. The culture at all Noble Street schools is infused with the “Noble Way”-scholarship, discipline and honor. Noble Street currently operates nine campuses serving 2,200 students. The new school is proposed to be located at Reed Elementary School, 6350 S. Stewart Ave, which is being phased out.
• Chicago International Charter School (CICS) – Riverdale Campus, a proposed charter school, would serve grades 6-12. The Riverdale Campus would offer students a rigorous college-preparatory education through innovation and choice. CICS currently operates 13 campuses serving 8,100 students, including the K-8 Lloyd Bond Campus that opened in Altgeld Gardens in the Riverdale community this fall. The new school is proposed to be located at Carver Middle School, 801 E. 133^rd Place, which was consolidated with Carver Elementary last year.
• LEARN Charter School – South Chicago Campus, a proposed charter school, would serve grades K-8. The South Chicago Campus would provide its students with the foundation and ambition to earn a college degree through an academically challenging college preparatory curriculum. Each LEARN school, which features an extended day and extended year, is driven by its set of distinct Core Principles: mutual respect among staff, parents, students, and communities served; expected active family contribution; and emphasis on character development and the whole child. LEARN currently operates three elementary schools serving 900 students on the west side of Chicago. Their flagship campus is one of the highest performing non-selective elementary schools in North Lawndale. The school is proposed to be located at James N. Thorp Elementary School, 8914 S. Buffalo Ave. as a permanent co-share.

CPS received 14 proposals to serve the Englewood, Riverdale and South Chicago communities. Design teams applied to open new schools in those areas through a competitive and community-based process.

In each of these three communities, district officials formed a Transition Advisory Council (TAC) composed of parents, educators, community residents, community and faith- based organizations, and elected officials and their representatives.

Beginning in May of this year, and lasting through October, the TACs met regularly to discuss the community’s educational needs and assets, review education-based research, visit high performing schools, and review new school proposals.

Commenting on the process, Paulette Cage Edwards, Riverdale TAC member and Executive Director of the Foundation for Family Empowerment located in the Riverdale community said, “Parents in the Riverdale Community, like other communities, want to have a choice in schools for their children. CICS is the choice of the Riverdale TAC. As a member of the Riverdale TAC and former Altgeld Gardens resident, I believe the rigorous academic plan and disciplined environment offered by CICS is needed to propel these children to reach beyond state academic benchmarks and in doing so achieving their fullest potential.”

The three schools that will be recommended to the Board for a fall of 2011 opening in independently owned buildings include:

• LEARN Charter School – South Shore Campus, a proposed charter school, would serve grades K-8 in the South Shore community. Like the South Chicago Campus, the South Shore Campus would provide its students with an academically challenging college preparatory curriculum, a strong school culture and an extended day and extended year. The school is proposed to be located at 7110 S. Coles.
• Roseland Preparatory Academy, a proposed contract school, would serve grades K-8 in the Roseland community. Roseland Prep would offer students an education where they take pride in themselves, their families, their environment, their school and their community. The school will be modeled after Frazier Preparatory Academy, a college-prep contract school that opened in North Lawndale in the fall of 2007 and utilizes the Mosaica Paragon curriculum. The school is proposed to be located at 11400 S. Edbrook.
• UNO Charter School, a proposed charter school, would serve grades K-8. UNO seeks to provide its students a rigorous curriculum in a well-managed, structured environment to redefine the culture and expectations of public education, especially in urban settings among minority students. UNO currently operates one high school and eight elementary schools serving 3,700 students. Historically, UNO has focused on opening schools in communities experiencing overcrowding. The school’s location is yet to be determined.

Also, three schools were approved by the Board last year to open in fall of 2010.

They are:

• UNO Charter School, a charter school approved by the Chicago Board of Education at its September 2008 meeting, will serve grades K-8. It will offer students a structured academic and social environment to prepare them for success in high school and beyond. The school’s location is yet to be determined.
• UNO Hospitality High School, a charter school approved by the Board at their September 2008 meeting, will serve grades 9-12. Established in collaboration with the Chicago LEADS (Leading Economic Advancement, Development and Sustainability) Initiative, it will offer students a college-prep track and a career-prep track focusing on the hospitality industry. The school’s location is yet to be determined.
• Instituto Health Sciences Career Academy, a contract school approved by the Board at their October 2008 meeting, will serve grades 9-12. Also in partnership with Chicago LEADS, will offer college-prep and career-prep tracks that focus on study and careers in the health sciences. Students will have the opportunity to earn industry certification in nursing, health technology or health administration. The school’s location is yet to be determined.

Finally, eight contract schools have applied to convert their existing or planned schools to charter schools.

They are:

• Academy of Global Citizenship (Garfield Ridge)
• Catalyst Circle Rock Campus (Austin)
• Chicago Talent Development High School (West Garfield Park)
• EPIC Academy High School (South Chicago)
• Instituto Health Sciences Career Academy (Near Southwest Side)
• Rowe Elementary (West Town)
• Urban Prep Academy for Young Men (East Garfield Park)
• Urban Prep Academy for Young Men (South Shore)

A public hearing to allow for comments about the new school proposals will take place Nov. 9 at 6pm in the CPS Board Chambers, located at 125 S. Clark St., 5th floor.

Registration to speak at the hearing will be between 5:30pm and 6:30pm.

About CPS

Chicago Public Schools serves approximately 407,000 students in 666 schools. It is the nation’s third-largest school district.

Chicago Public Schools Announces Six New School Proposals for Priority Communities | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

Next Tuesday, we want – no, we expect – everyone to be in school,” said Board VP Clare Munana.

Board Vice President Clare Munana and Board Member Alberto Carrero Jr. addressed parents, students and community members at John Marsh Elementary School, 9822 S. Exchange, then went door to door to distribute backpacks and school supplies to children in the neighborhood.

Joining in the effort to deliver the back to school message were CPS Chief Education Officer Barbara Eason-Watkins, 10^th Ward Alderman John Pope, Marsh School Principal Gerald V. Dugan Jr., and representatives of the Chicago Fire, including defender Daniel Woolard and Mather High School alum Frank Klopas, the team’s technical director, and Univision. The Fire and Univision are partnering with CPS to provide and support an incentive for up to 500 students who attend school on Sept. 8, the first day of the District’s traditional calendar.

“These are the last days of summer for most of our District’s 408,000 students. Next Tuesday, we want – no, we expect – everyone to be in school,” said Munana. “We work very hard every year to deliver this message, and today I am here with my colleague Alberto Carrero Jr. to make sure everyone on the Southeast Side clearly understands the importance of being in school on the first day.”

“We are excited about the upcoming school year, and we want this community to share in that excitement,” said Carrero. “We came to Marsh today because it is a school that has great leadership and serves an important community. Marsh is a school on the move; one that is a model for our whole system.”

The two Board of Education members, along with Eason-Watkins, noted key points that underline the importance of school attendance:

• The first day is a day of instruction. If you miss the first day of school, you start the year behind.
• The first day is the day you reconnect with your classmates and meet your teacher.
• If you miss the first day, we know from experience it is too easy to miss the second or third or other days.
• Statistically, poor attendance too often translates directly into poor academic performance.

“The student who misses first day is immediately in the position of having to play catch-up,” Eason-Watkins said. “We have to give our children every opportunity for success, and that starts with attending school on the first day.”

The CPS officials also emphasized the safety aspect of ensuring that children are in school.

Marsh School, which educates close to 900 pre-kindergarten through eighth grade students, boasts an International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme. The school has wireless technology throughout and an award-winning dual language program that offers instruction in both French and Spanish.

The Chicago Fire is offering 500 tickets to an upcoming game to students who text a specific message, “CPS Go Fire”, in response to ads being run on Univision. In addition, the Fire has been posting back to school reminders in English, Spanish and Polish at its home games.

“We applaud the Chicago Fire’s commitment to support our back to school efforts by encouraging students to go to school and stay in school,” said Chicago Board of Education President Michael Scott. “We have collaborated with our faith and business community leadership on spreading the back to school message, and we are excited about The Fire’s new partnership to encourage our students about the importance of education.”

Univision has also played a key role in helping to publicize the CPS back to school message to Chicago’s diverse school communities.

“The Chicago Fire is proud to partner with the Chicago Public Schools in getting kids back to school on September 8,” said Klopas. “My dream of playing soccer as a child and representing my country in the Olympics started in a CPS classroom. I know that every child can achieve their own dream as I did, but it all starts by attending school on Day 1.”

About Chicago Public Schools

Chicago Public Schools serves approximately 407,000 students in 666 schools. It is the nation’s third-largest school district.

Chicago Board of Education Emphasizes the Importance of First-Day Attendance in Chicago Public Schools | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.