Winter-Spring 2013 Edition by Chicago International Charter School

A Chicago International Charter School Publication

Honest. Focused. Reflective.

What does it take to run a portfolio charter school organization?

VoL. 06 nUM.1 WInterâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;sPrIng 2013 www.chicagointl.org

openingThoughts

to oUr VALUed PArtners And stAkeHoLders, Thank you for taking the time to share in our 9th issue of FocalPoint. In this edition, we tackle the notion of “portfolio management” as seen through our unique lens. As many of you know, when CICS opened its first schools in 1997, it did so with the support of one school management (SMO) partner. It was only after watching the early struggles of the campuses that the Board of Directors decided to pioneer the innovation of charter school portfolio management by substituting the “one” SMO with two new partners. The Board had three reasons for this shift: • To mitigate the educational risk involved in having a single partner run the

Elizabeth Purvis

Chief Executive Officer Chicago International Charter School

educational programs in CICS campuses

• To offset the ﬁnancial risk of having a single partner manage the campuses • To embrace innovation, bearing in mind that as long as the delivery of curricula and instruction led to superior performance, there was no need to be wedded to one particular approach. The manner in which CICS has managed its portfolio has changed dramatically since 1999, but the underlying constructs of the model remain the same: shared accountability, strong relationships, and responsible decision-making that puts children first. In 1979, Uli Bronfenbrenner published The Ecology of Human Development, which influenced greatly the way modern educators think about the context of children’s lives. At the core of this theory is Bronfenbrenner’s belief that the unique path of development taken by every child is dependent upon his or her “microsystem” (family, school, neighborhood and friends) and the “mesosystem” (connections between microsystems). Using this theory, in order to understand how a given child (who we’ll call “Corey”) acts in school, we would want to understand how Corey’s family relates to the school, how the school relates to the neighborhood, and how Corey’s friends relate independently to Corey’s family and to Corey’s school. The 16 campuses of CICS are neighborhood schools that would not succeed without the unwavering support of the families and community members. The strengths and needs of each neighborhood affect our schools, which adapt in order to succeed and serve. The mission of CICS is to provide, through innovation and choice, an attractive and rigorous college preparatory education that meets the needs of today’s children. The CICS board, network staff, and SMO partners understand that the realization of our shared mission requires that we are sensitive to the complexities within our scholars’ lives. The scholars’ families, neighborhoods, and peers will have tremendous influence upon the success of CICS scholars, so the learning done within the school walls must extend outwardly and the unique resources of each neighborhood and family must be shared and appreciated internally. We hope that the photos, stories, and data shared here will encourage you to visit our website and Facebook page, and learn more about the ecology of CICS. Even better, we hope that what we share in FocalPoint encourages you to reach out to us for a conversation or a visit. Shared accountability and relationship-building require your interest, your feedback, and your ideas. Warm regards,

Elizabeth D. Purvis, Ed.D.

FoCALPOINT

VoL. 06 nUM. 1 WInter– sPrIng 2013

What does it take to run a portfolio charter school organization? 08 Put Children First

A ‘Children First’ Perspective // BY DANIEL ANELLO

04 Listen to Families

ViewPoints—Two Questions, One Dozen Answers // COMPILED BY MEGHAN SCHMIDT

20 Manage Facilities and Maintain

Myriad Community relationships Facilities Matters // BY KATE PROTO

16 Provide safe Passages in

Chicago’s rough neighborhoods The Village-Keepers // BY KATE PROTO

12 Celebrate excellence & Innovation CICS Irving Park Campus Profile

// BY MICHAEL COTTER

34 Prepare students

for College and Career

Commit to College Alumni Profiles

05 Advocate for Adequate

and equitable Funding

Policy Report // FEATURING ILLINOIS SUPREME COURT

26 Maintain a strong Financial

standing and Produce robust student outcomes CICS 2012 Annual Report

FocalPoint MAGAZINE

CONTRIBUTORS

PHOTOGRAPHY

DESIGN

A Chicago International Charter School Publication 11 East Adams Street, Suite 600 Chicago, IL 60603 www.chicagointl.org

Daniel Anello Michael Cotter Kate Proto Meghan Schmidt

Tony Armour Photography www.tonyarmour.com

The Grossbauer Group www.grossbauer.com

Ray Whitehouse www.raywhitehouse.com Committed to Greatness

ViewPoints To highlight the importance of having high-quality public school options, we asked CICS parents to reflect on how their lives might have been different if such choices weren’t available. COMPILED BY MEGHAN SCHMIDT

What would you and your family do

if CICs and charter schools We would have stayed enrolled in our local neighborhood school. KELLY PANTALEO, CICS IRVING PARK

I would have to leave my neighborhood to ﬁnd a high-quality school choice. I would transport my children from our neighborhood with low-performing neighborhood schools to a different neighborhood. LUCRESIA ORTIZ,

We would have looked at private school or possibly moving to the suburbs. Parochial was not an option for us. AMBER MANDLEY, CICS BUCKTOWN

CICS PRAIRIE

If my children did not have the choice of a charter school, we would have had to put our two sons in a private school. Our neighborhood public school was not up to par with our standards. Fortunately, we had smart boys, but they needed to be challenged. CICS Bucktown did that. If we had to pay for an education at a private school, I could not have had the rewarding experience of being a stay-at-home Mom for ten years. I thank CICS every day. Not only did one of my sons get full scholarship to a private high school, but both of our boys are now attending renowned universities. CICS gave us a choice, and I know now that it was the right one. DEBBIE SHEAHAN, CICS BUCKTOWN

My children would be “stuck” in a low-performing school. Our family sent our children to the local Catholic school and found the cost to be too much. I have seen my children develop socially—they hold conversations with all ages and are mature for their ages—and I believe CICS plays a role in their development. WILSON VASQUEZ, CICS WEST BELDEN & CICS NORTHTOWN ACADEMY

What would your family have had My children would have to deal with long commute. They would miss having meals together as a family and starting the day with breakfast at home. My children would have to attend a school in an unknown community Presently, my children attend a charter school in our neighborhood. My children know the neighbors and my neighbors know my children. LUCRESIA ORTIZ, CICS PRAIRIE

My children would have to deal with unfamiliar and, in some cases, unsafe surroundings as well as gangs and peer pressure. CICS staff is responsive and always willing to offer before, during and after school help and homework help. WILSON VASQUEZ, CICS WEST BELDEN & CICS NORTHTOWN ACADEMY

FocalPoint | Winter–Spring 2013

HALENE SMITH, CICS AVALON

While our local school is an “OK” school it did not fit the academic needs of our kids. I would apply each year to gifted and magnet schools hoping for a better fit. I would be torn through with the fear that my kids would be enrolled at 4 different schools. We have to live in the city since my husband is a Chicago firefighter. Public schools are our only financial option. If our local school was our only option I would have to supplement their curiosity to learn at home after school. I would have to do this extra supplementation to guarantee that my kids get into a great (selective enrollment) high school. KELLY PANTALEO, CICS IRVING PARK

If charter schools didn’t exist we would have to ﬁnd a way to pay for private school. In order to afford private school one or both of us would need to ﬁnd a second job. Our family would suffer because a second job would not allow enough time with the children.

Illinois Ranks 2nd-to-Last in Fair Distribution of Education Funds, National Study Finds Dr. Bruce Baker of Rutgers University Graduate School of Education; David Sciarra, executive director of the Education Law Center (ELC); and Dr. Danielle Farrie, ELC research UT NJ OH MN ME SD IN CT MT DE WY TN CA KY NE GA NM AR OK OR WV KS VT RI SC LA IA MD AZ WIdirector MS WA CO TX MI ID FL VA PA ME AL NY MO ND NC NH IL NV

Illinois Ranks Second-to-Last in Fair Distribution of Education Funds, National Study Finds

“Is School Funding Fair? A National Report Card,” a national study conducted by Rutgers University researchers and the Education Law Center in Newark, N.J., ranks states on how fairly they fund public schools based on four interrelated “fairness indicators”—funding level, funding distribution, state fiscal effort and public school coverage.

Committed to Greatness

PolicyReport

The report card gave Illinois an “F” in an evaluation of the fairness of its funding distribution between low- and high-poverty school districts. The report ranks Illinois second-to-last in funding distribution fairness. Illinois also scored low marks on the study’s other measures: THE FAIRNESS MEASURES All 50 states are evaluated on the basis of four separate, but interrelated, fairness measures: Funding Level: Using figures adjusted to account for a variety of interstate differences, this measure allows for a comparison of the average state and local revenue per pupil across states. States are ranked from highest to lowest per pupil funding.

Is School Funding Fair? — A Report Card for Illinois —

Funding Distribution Grade

Funding Distribution: This measure shows whether a state provides more or less funding to schools based on their poverty concentration. States are evaluated as “regressive,” “progressive” or “flat” and are given letter grades that correspond to their relative position compared to other states. Effort: This measures differences in state spending relative to the state’s fiscal capacity. States are graded according to the ratio of state spending on education to per-capita gross domestic product.

Effort Grade

Funding Level Rank Coverage Rank

Coverage: This measures the proportion of school-age children attending the state’s public schools and also addresses the income disparity between families using private schools and those sending their children to public schools. States are ranked according to both the proportion of children in public schools and the income ratio of private and public school families.

Demographics

Illinois

Chicago

Number of students

2,023,087

409,055

Number of schools

4,058

672

% Low-income

43%

83%

% English Language learners

14%

The study, updated in 2012 from the original 2010 report, shows these findings for Illinois: Illinois received a grade “F” in funding distribution, one of only 5 states to receive this failing grade. Illinois now has the second highest disparity of funding between high-poverty and low-poverty schools nationally. A state is considered “regressive” if a 30-percent-poverty district receives at least 5 percent less funding than a zero-percent-poverty district. In Illinois—one of only ﬁve states with a statistically signiﬁcant “regressive” funding structure—districts with 30-percent poverty can expect to receive 21 percent less than a district with zero percent poverty. Illinois scored a “D” in “effort”—a measure based on the ratio of state spending on education to per-capita gross domestic product. 6

FocalPoint | Winter–Spring 2013

In response to the National Report Card’s assessment of Illinois, Hoy McConnell, executive director of Business and Professional People for the Public Interest (BPI) said “Illinois’ shameful ranking on this national survey is not a surprise, but it does serve to demonstrate unequivocally that our flawed system for funding public schools is deeply inequitable compared to the rest of the country. Illinois’ system is unfair to everyone in the state—taxpayers, school districts, businesses and—most importantly—Illinois schoolchildren and their families, who are not getting a fair break under the present system.”

BPI, a Chicago-based public interest law and policy center, filed a lawsuit in 2010 on behalf of two Illinois taxpayer plaintiffs. The suit was filed on behalf of property tax payers and claims that someone in a poor district with a $300,000 house must pay more property taxes than someone in a rich school district with a $300,000 house, and that the disparity in unconstitutional.

The case was dismissed and so BPI appealed to the Illinois Supreme Court. The Illinois Supreme Court agreed to hear the case so the parties filed briefs and it was argued before the court in September 2012. A decision is pending as of press time. “Essentially, if we can get the Supreme Court to declare the system is illegal as it currently exists, that should give strong impetus to the legislature and to the courts to expeditiously change this current system,” says McConnell.

According to a BPI press release, The goal of the National Report Card is to provide a deeper understanding of the condition of state finance systems across the county. The results of this evaluation can be used by stakeholders, community leaders, elected officials, and concerned citizens working to reform state school funding.

As education reform initiatives capture the public’s attention, the National Report Card presents the critical element for successful public schools. The ability to improve states’ educational outcomes, whether closing achievement gaps, increasing college and career readiness, or supporting teacher quality, depends on the foundation of a fair school funding system. The National Report Card contributes valuable information that can help determine the direction of public education policy at the federal, state, and local level.

To read the full report, visit www.schoolfundingfairness.org

ONE PROPOSED SOLUTION: EVIDENCE-BASED FINANCE ADEQUACY IN ILLINOIS: A CASE FOR “ADEQUACY FUNDING” By Michelle Turner Mangan and Ted Purington Excerpt: The evidence-based school finance adequacy model is an alternative method to determining per-pupil expenditures by looking at how much “best practices” cost, rather than what taxpayers are necessarily willing to afford. In some states, it has been used as policy for indicating the base state funding level. In others, pieces of the model have been pulled out for targeted implementation. To think about school funding with an adequacy framework is to consider the adequate (or sufficient) fiscal resources that would enable all students to perform at high levels. An adequacy framework first necessitates that current money within the system is used in different ways.

A feature of the evidence-based model that is most important for a diverse state like Illinois is that additional resources are added to the state foundation level. So, in other words, the funding formula does not assume that all students need exactly the same resources. Evidence demonstrates that English Language Learners and impoverished students require additional instructional resources, such as tutors. The model incorporates those costs.

“The greatest danger for most of us is not that we aim too high and miss, but we aim too low and reach it.”

This statewide comparison of an evidence-based approach to school finance adequacy to current revenues (2008) in Illinois is replicated after the Wisconsin school finance – Michelangelo adequacy study methodology (Odden et al), which charges that, “Given the curriculum stanUnder an equity framework, the dollar amount that dards the state has decided all students should be is used as the foundation or baseline is often arbitrarily taught, the knowledge needs of the emerging global determined: The money in the system is a result of political economy and the performance levels to which all students compromise. However, under an adequacy framework, the founda- need to achieve to participate effectively in the economy, however, tion of the baseline dollar amount is strategic. So, any money above it is time to focus on school finance adequacy—to identify what it and beyond what the system currently has should be determined would take programmatically to teach students to those performance —and hopefully used—in ways that are consistent with research and levels and to fully fund those programs.” // best practice.

What does adequate funding look like? According to this study: $12,532 per-pupil To read specifics of the model, read the full report here: www.isbe.net/EFAB/pdf/Appendix_IV_fy11.pdf Research Resources: Is School Funding Fair? A National Report Card — Second Edition: June 2012. By Dr. Bruce Baker of Rutgers University Graduate School of Education; David Sciarra, executive director of the Education Law Center (ELC); and Dr. Danielle Farrie, ELC research director.

Evidence-Based Finance Adequacy in Illinois: A Case for “Adequacy Funding” A Subcommittee Report of the Education Funding Advisory Board (EFAB) Advisory Board Committee By Michelle Turner Mangan and Ted Purington, November 18, 2010

Moving from good to great in Wisconsin: Funding schools adequately and doubling student performance. By Odden, A., Picus, L. O., Archibald, S., Goetz, M., Mangan, M. T., & Aportela, A. (2007).

Committed to Greatness

FocalPoint | Winterâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Spring 2013

What does it mean to have a “children first” philosophy? At Chicago International Charter School, this question is contemplated on a daily basis. When CICS leaders look at a given campus, they determine if it is good enough by asking, “would I enroll my own child or loved one here?”

According to Beth Purvis, CEO of CICS, the answer needs to be “yes” every time. As it stands, all CICS campuses do not yet meet this standard—there are currently exceptions—but the staff and board of CICS firmly believe that with hard work and single-mindedness around putting children first, this lofty goal will be realized. “Children first” poses a deeper philosophy than just how CICS evaluates its schools. It delves into the realities of where CICS chooses to open schools. Ask Beth Purvis where campuses should be located and she will tell you, “anywhere the need is severe enough and the community wants us.” Contrary to misconceptions of how charter schools operate, at CICS there is no discussion of how involved parents might be, or what overall scores might look like were CICS to locate a school in a given community. It has been and continues to be all about the children.

CICS is proud to be the first high-quality school in several of Chicago’s neighborhoods that have the greatest need. The 16-campus network currently has schools in six of the most violent neighborhoods in Chicago, and one campus in the most violent neighborhood in Rockford, Ilinois. Many of these school communities are ranked among the most impoverished neighborhoods in Chicago and Rockford as well. But CICS leadership does not and will not shy away from the difficult work, regardless of what that might do to network “statistics.” The goal is to keep children from becoming statistics, and through that process, reinvigorate communities. “Children first” means CICS believes every child can learn, given the opportunity. Saying that and believing it are not always the same. Purvis will tell you, “It is our obligation to give these children, families, and communities that opportunity.”

BY DANIEL ANELLO

PHOTO BY RAY WHITEHOUSE

ChildrenFirst Photo by tony armour photography

This leads to

the most difficult aspect of running a portfolio model (see Focal Point Vol.5, Num.1, “Freedom within a Framework”*), transitioning school management. In the last two years, CICS has transitioned management at ten of its campuses, impacting the lives of nearly 6,000 students and families in the process.

Change Management

One common misconception about these transitions is that the teachers in a building all get replaced. CICS, who has managed as many as fifteen school management transitions since opening in 1997, recognizes that this is not how to improve outcomes at a school. In 2011, 75% of the teaching staff at the five schools undergoing a management change returned. In 2012, about half of the staff came back. “During a transition, it’s important to spend the necessary time determining the complex reasons for academic or cultural struggles. It is important to CICS that teachers Photo by tony armour photography

A Case in Point

When CICS announced a management change at CICS Washington Park in 2011, Jessica Beasley was the 7th Grade Math teacher at the time. “It wasn’t that management didn’t have good intentions,” she points out. “But things were chaotic. The road to get to the end results had too many lanes.” When discussing her initial reaction to the announced transition, Beasley says, “I was very anxious. Would I have a job next year?” She goes on to explain that, “I was confident in my level of commitment to the kids and the school, but would the new SMO see that, I didn’t know.”

FocalPoint | Winter–Spring 2013

A Clear Vision

Beasley noted the importance of seeing the new management team in the building almost daily from then on. “I saw they had a clear vision for the school. I was on board at that point, and committed to having a role with the new organization.” Beasley became the Assistant Director the following year, and is now the Middle School Director. Notably, when Jessica Beasley asked if the school was good enough for her children, she responded “yes”. Her son is now a 2nd grader at CICS Washington Park and she will be enrolling her daughter next year.

Dr. Purvis showed us the data, she told us that our kids deserve better and that we could do better. and principals are not held responsible for issues that might arise in the management structure of an individual campus or SMO,” explains Purvis. “In some situations, it’s no one’s fault, it’s simply the case that the missions of the SMO and CICS are no longer aligned, and it’s best to sever the relationships before a crisis arises.”

Top to bottom: Jessica Beasley, Upper School Director of CICS Washington Park, with her son; Shontele Fuller, CICS Longwood parent, working with her daughter and son in the school bookstore; Beth Purvis reads to a group of CICS Bucktown students

The questions asked started out very negative,” she says. Then, “Dr. Purvis made it clear on what would happen, which helped lessen some of the fear,” Beasley explains. Purvis reiterated CICS’ philosophy that children come first, no matter how hard that decision made things in the short-term. “She showed us the data on where the children at the school were performing. We all knew it wasn’t good enough.” One thing in particular resonated with Beasley—“she told us that our kids deserve better and we could do better. I agreed with her.” After hours of discussion, the staff and teachers burst into applause.

She recalls the meeting where CICS and the new SMO first met with parents and staff to explain the transition. “You could see by the body language that [parents and teachers] were unhappy with the change.

Theresa Hollins, an active family member whose grandson attends CICS Lloyd Bond, was staunchly opposed to the 2012 SMO transition at her school at the outset. The departure of the campus director, a man who had dedicated two years to improving the lives of the school’s children, was seen as a potentially devastating casualty of a management switch. CICS met reqularly with Hollins, to ask for her feedback and help in reaching out to the broader community regarding the changes. The CICS leadership assured her that this was about the children. Fast forward six months and Hollins says, “so far, so good,” regarding her 3rd grade grandson’s class. She is still adjusting to the change, recognizing that it will take time to improve the level of communication and teacher support at the school. She did share, however, that the education she sees her grandson receiving is “in place.”

A Higher Standard

Shontele Fuller, who has been a CICS parent since the network’s founding in 1997, has been through two management changes at CICS Longwood— one in 1999, and again this past school year. In both cases she describes the changes as having been difficult, but she also recognizes why they were necessary. “It’s a chance to set a higher standard of achievement for the kids,” Ms. Fuller points out. “I am eager to see my children do better academically, and excited to see a push for the school to do better.” As Fuller looks to her daughter’s college application process, however, she has expressed some concern. “I don’t want [the new leadership] to spend time fixing only the basics and forgetting about the additional supports my daughter needs.” While CICS and the SMO work closely to make sure her daughter and other children don’t miss a beat due to the transition, Fuller remains optimistic when it comes to these additional layers that she feels are required in a great school. “I want [the teachers and staff] to get back that closeknit culture they had,” which she pointed out had come from working together for so many years. As the new school administration has begun to acclimate, Fuller says she already sees signs of that “familial culture returning.” When transitions take place, they are never easy. “Children-first” as a philosophy can be a bitter pill to swallow at times. It means making very difficult decisions. It means taking on the agonizing truths of failure, or even moderate success that is hedging toward status quo, and transparently reflecting on mistakes so you can do right by the children. It means putting adults at the bottom of the organizational chart and thinking about operations and culture from a children-first perspective. “Doing what's best for kids is already firmly rooted in the hearts and minds of CICS families, teachers, partners and staff. For the CICS community, successfully aligning on this shared philosophy will mean that every day, every decision is based on children.” //

The Impact on Parent and Community Engagement One of the most challenging aspects of a management transition is maintaining parent and community engagement. Distinctive Schools (DS), who took on management of three schools in 2011 and a fourth in 2012, have made parent engagement a focal point from the moment they arrive. Beth Colodny, whose new title reflects this attentiveness (Director of Parent Involvement and Advocacy), remembers vividly how apprehensive parents felt initially.

“Once the parents saw us doing much more for them, they opened up.” She says that her role is to ensure DS continues to provide more consistent communication and more transparency for the parents and community. Where there weren’t parent groups, the schools now have them, and where there were, the parent groups, “have grown and involvement has gone way up.” Colodny goes on to say how DS is “able to offer parent programs now.” She finishes with something that often gets overlooked in these transitions. After managing the difficult ramp-up period and the initial back-to-school time frame, she recalls how “staff morale got better, and our engagement with families improved, which led to increased involvement.”

Photo by tony armour photography

*Footnote: Management contracts with SMO partners are made and evaluated on a school-by-school basis. If an SMO partner fails to meet the targets that they develop in collaboration with CICS management for a particular school, they are given a two- year probationary period to improve outcomes. If the SMO is unable to meet designated benchmarks within that period, CICS has the right to replace them with another management organization at that particular school. SMO contracts allow for both parties to reconsider the partnership on an annual basis: If the SMO partner and CICS find their missions are no longer aligned, they can choose to part ways for reasons other than performance.

Committed to Greatness

FocalPoint | Winterâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Spring 2013

alking into CICS Irving Park feels a lot like walking into a big family home. In many ways the staff and families at Irving Park do treat each other like family, and their school like home. Every morning as students arrive at school, staff members greet each student, welcoming them by name and wishing them a “Good morning.” After passing through the entrance, everyone congregates in the gym for the daily Community Meeting, as if gathering around the breakfast table. The assemblage serves less as an information download as it does a motivational affirmation session. School leadership and students alike recognize the positive contributions of individuals whose actions are working towards the betterment of the school’s culture. Students exemplifying the virtues of compassion, perseverance, respect, responsibility, and integrity are held in high regard among peers as they cheer for each student who personifies the attributes. This peer-to-peer respect is a reflection or the Irving Park virtues, and just one example of the ways in which Irving Park isn’t merely excelling academically, but is also achieving the CICS goal of educating the whole person and creating well-rounded, responsible citizens in a learning community that values care for others and the world around them. by michael cotter photos by tony armour photography

Committed to Greatness

CampusProfile Excellence in the classroom For two years running, CICS Irving Park has earned the distinction of being the highest-performing elementary school in the CICS network, as well as the highest-performing charter elementary school in Chicago, as measured by the 2011 and 2012 Illinois Standard Achievement Test (ISAT). There is no doubt that rigorous goal-setting paired with data-driven instruction paves the way for academic success in the classroom, but Irving Park teachers push that rigor beyond the classroom to make it a family affair.

Teachers and administrators know their teaching will be more effective if coupled with the understanding and reinforcement of the students’ families. “Teachers always offer to teach parents what they’re teaching their children,” says Marisol Duerr, a parent of two Irving Park students and a member of the CICS network staff. “It’s so parents will understand exactly what their child is learning. My daughter’s reading teacher emailed me the summary of the book that they’re going to be reading and suggests that we read it with our children.” Teachers discuss goal-setting and achievement drivers with parents, and explain how they would like to move each child academically.

Duerr likes that she’s able to gauge how effectively her children’s day-to-day learning is impacting their growth. “They will tell you where a child is, and where they should be, even if the child is ahead of where they need to be.” Like all CICS elementary campuses, Irving Park uses the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) to measure student growth throughout the school year. Teachers use these data to differentiate instruction in the classroom and regularly offer orientation classes for parents to help them better understand their child’s test scores,

what they mean, and where his or her achievement positions them relative to their growth targets. CICS Chief Data Analyst, Christine Poindexter-Harris, credits Irving Park leadership for their utilization of interim assessment data and ability to differentiate instruction as a key to their success. “They’re successful in educating all student learners; those lower-achieving students as well as higher-achieving ones. Irving Park is extremely successful in their standardized test performance scores, not only on state assessments but on NWEA as well. It speaks to their high achievement levels, as well as the large amounts of growth they achieve every year for individual students,” Poindexter- Harris remarks.

cics Irving Park teachers push rigor beyond the classroom to make it a family affair. 14

FocalPoint | Winter–Spring 2013

a commUnitY oF lEarninG There is a special sense of community here that even a newcomer can feel within minutes of arriving at the school. The administration, faculty, and families have collectively lent a hand in shaping the school’s community and culture from day one. Opening its doors in 2006 with grades K–4, it wasn’t until last school year that Irving Park grew to capacity, graduating their first 8th-grade class. For the families who started with Irving Park that first year,

entrusting their child to a new school took a leap of faith, but it also gave them a hand in shaping their child’s education. Six years ago, Irving Park mother of three, Jo Anne Pepper took that leap when she enrolled her son Liam, now a 5th grader, in the school’s first kindergarten class. She hasn’t looked back since. Pepper joined the school’s launch committee and had an opportunity to spend time with CICS CEO Dr. Beth Purvis while the school was in

the planning phases. Pepper recalls CICS leadership sharing their vision for the school and she appreciated the opportunity to visit a CICS campus to help set a tangible expectation. “I think I was pretty confident. I could see what they were doing with the facility, that they were bringing in quality teachers to teach, and that they really wanted to open a successful school. I could also see that they were really listening to the parents.” Listening to parents

has continued to shape the Irving Park family community every day. Like any family, the adults work together to instill positive values in the children, teaching the whole child—both intellectually as well as socially and emotionally. Six years after her oldest child started at Irving Park, Pepper is still at school almost every day helping to make photocopies, lending a hand in the classroom, or assisting students at lunch.

Parent Jo Ann Pepper volunteers at lunch, helping students participate in the school composting program

GoinG GrEEn An important part of developing responsible citizens has been the focus on respect and conservation of the world around them. While the students and teachers are trying to maximize their academic accomplishments, they’re doing so while simultaneously minimizing their footprint. From organic gardening and maintaining their own chicken coop, to monitoring the solar energy that the school’s new solar panels are collecting, the students at Irving Park are learning what it means to “go green” in an urban setting. In 2011 a group of 6th and 8th graders started seeing value in the school’s refuse. Dubbed the “Compost Corps”, the students began an organic waste composting operation with lunch scraps. After the first 25 lbs. of compost were put aside for use in the Irving Park garden, the “Corps” sifted and bagged nearly 300 lbs. of the compost and brought to the

Independence Park Farmers Market where they netted a profit for their yield. Composting has grown well beyond the “Corps,” and has become a school-wide affair led by the both parents and experienced students. While the school keeps a demonstration compost system on site to continue a small-scale operation, the entire school is now on board. Tuesday lunch periods have become dedicated to the separation of refuse into recyclable parts and the collection of organic matter for composting. Both organic and non-organic recyclable materials will eventually return a profit to the students and teach them the incentives of creating less waste.

curb waste. Kids learn how much energy they use and how long it takes them to collect it. Over time, students learn how their compost replenishes essential carbon that has been depleted from the soil. Because they’re the gardeners, they know why this is so important. In early spring, the kids take their compost to the school’s gardens and prepare them for planting while, simultaneously, students are starting seedlings in the classroom in preparation of planting their outdoor garden in the late spring. This fall the students harvested cabbage, squash, and peppers and are learning hard science as well as responsible citizenry as they drastically cut down on the school’s waste production.

These environmentally conscious initiatives are more than just good practice. Not only do the solar panels generate electricity for the school, they also generate data and help

CICS Irving Park school leaders see immense value in the holistic learning that comes from programs like the green team. The leadership team strongly believes in developing the

whole child and understands that a successful education has multiple dimensions. “By teaching essential life skills, building caring relationships, and modeling respectful behavior, Irving Park team members create a context for learning that supports the development of all students as empathetic, selfaware, and socially responsible citizens,” shares Director Janet Heiman. With the combination of academic rigor, holistic learning approaches, and an engaged and open relationship with parents, Poindexter-Harris doesn’t see an end to what the Irving Park students can accomplish. “They have successfully closed the achievement gap between themselves and a national comparative sample of their peers. Their new goal is to exceed college readiness benchmarking across all grade levels—and I know they can do it.” //

Committed to Greatness Committed to Greatness

// //

15 15

In a city so violent that murder rates regularly make national headlines...

By Kate Proto Photos By Tony Armour Photography

FocalPoint | Winterâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Spring 2013

Chicago’s educational institutions face a daunting task—keeping kids safe and out of harm’s way as they travel to and from school. Consider the numbers: 405,000 Chicago Public School (CPS) students traverse the city each morning, afternoon and evening. If a parent cannot afford the time or resources to drive them, and if CPS does not provide them with a school bus (as is the case with charter, magnet, and selective enrollment schools), chances are that his or her route involves walking and/or taking public transit.

Adrienne Leonard helps two CICS ChicagoQuest students safely cross the street

Without certain protections, protections often referred to as “safe passage,” a student traveling even a short distance to school might run a hazardous gauntlet each day: from encountering shady characters on public transit, to facing gang members and drug dealers on the street, to navigating traffic at a busy intersection. Such circumstances have led to tragedy, as in the case of Derrion Albert, a young man who was brutally beaten on his way home from a South Side Chicago high school in September 2009. Given CICS’s decision to operate in the city’s areas of highest need, developing partnerships that keep children out of harm’s way is critical. One must be relentless and resourceful, linking up parents, neighbors, community organizations and police officers to strengthen ties in the communities CICS serves. Adrienne Leonard, a community organizer who does such work for CICS, calls it “connecting the dots.” Leonard’s passion for safe passage came as a direct result of Derrion’s death—Derrion’s family and Leonrd are close, so his loss greatly affected her. “I wanted to do something that would prevent this from ever happening again. I told Derrion’s grandfather, Joseph Walker, ‘In Africa, the village-keepers take care of the village. That’s the problem. We’re not taking care of our village. Anyone should be able to get

to school safely, and it’s the village-keepers, the people in the neighborhood, who should keep them safe.’”

key ingredients Over the years, Adrienne Leonard has cobbled together quite a broad network of village-keepers to accomplish her goal and the goal of “Pain to Power,” the not-for-profit group she helped create to establish safe routes to and from school. By working very closely with a CPS high school as well as multiple CICS and Perspectives charter school campuses, Ms. Leonard has learned true community reform has several key requirements. One: Start at the elementary level, particularly with Chicago Police Department (CPD) programs like “Officer Friendly” and “Keepin’ it Real,” which teach young people to trust police officers, use caution with strangers and pick safe walking routes.

“It’s the only way you can change the mindsets of the children from an early age,” she imparts. Two: Be resourceful, getting help from across the community, particularly since CICS does not have access to CPS safe passage funds. “If the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA), Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), or Chicago Police Department are running programs or offering incentives, see what you can offer your volunteers and schools,” suggests Ms. Leonard. Three: Recruit and train trustworthy parents and community members who live in the neighborhood, and run background checks on everyone for peace of mind.

“You can’t hire people to do this type of work who don’t live in the community—you need the village-keepers to do the work.” One of Ms. Leonard’s regular volunteers, Roosevelt Hawkins, agrees with this requirement wholeheartedly. “If we know the rougher people in the community, we can try to communicate with them and ask them to cross the street to keep a distance as our kids come to and from school. They know and respect me, and they respect that the kids are going to school.” Mr. Hawkins wishes, however, that more of the volunteers were male. “We need more men to step forward and help with these kids. Our presence makes a difference.”

Another fundamental aspect of running a successful safe passage program is overcoming the rhetoric suggesting traditional public schools and charter schools are at odds with each other. When it comes to keeping kids safe, folks need not have a bias toward school “type,” says Phyllis Palmer, a community leader in the Altgeld GardensRiverdale community. “I don’t want to hear from people saying ‘this school’ versus ‘that school.’ These are our kids. It’s about choices, wherever they choose to go, they are going to be taken care of. That’s the bottom line out here.”

Committed to Greatness

VillageKeepers A Labor of Love Phyllis Palmer provides eye-opening illustrations about the complexity of community work. In Altgeld Gardens alone, where CICS Lloyd Bond and CICS Larry Hawkins serve students from grades K-12 in one of the city’s most impoverished and isolated communities, Palmer is connected to a web of volunteers. “It’s a labor of love,” she shares. “I just tell people to keep their eyes out—if you see something give us a call. Stand outside for 30 minutes especially at the end of the school day; if the area is clear then you’re good.” In the center of the Altgeld neighborhood, the public library provides a safe haven for kids who don’t have anywhere to go right after school. If a child needs safe passage from the library, a staff member will call one of Ms. Palmer’s dependable associates.

“I know one mom, Marguerite Jacobs, her son goes to CICS Larry Hawkins, he’s on the football team. She also works for Chicago Housing Authority and organizes their tenant watch program. The CHA folks are on the corners when school is going in or coming out, and they’ll physically walk children from a safe haven to get latchkey kids home safely.” Ms. Palmer’s work doesn’t end in the neighborhood. From encouraging the CTA to provide more security staffing at the 95th street Red Line station, a transportation hub for Chicago’s south side, to riding the buses each morning and after the dismissal bell, she is relentless.

Marguerite Jacobs, CICS Larry Hawkins parent,

18 stops // to FocalPoint Spring 2013 chat with a|fellow community resident.

“I’ll ride the bus all the way to the end and back. The kids are recognizing me on the buses,” she says proudly, “I’ll tell them, ‘Excuse me, I don’t want no cussing, no fighting. I know your principal, I know your mama, I’ll call her tonight. Get your tail home.’ At the end of this past school year, one young person asked me reluctantly if I was coming back next year. I said, ‘This is the first face you’re going to see next year.’” Once a well-trained group of volunteers is formed, small victories help to keep the momentum going. One of Adrienne Leonard’s first safe passage initiatives involved working with a group of dedicated parents at CICS West Belden, in the Belmont Cragin neighborhood, to mobilize around safety issues.

The group, called the “Parent Patrol,” successfully advocated and got the city to turn North McVicker into a one-way street, cut back the trees for improved visibility of street lights, and installed a speed bump near the school. They also banded together one day when a young man from the neighborhood came looking for a CICS student. While the young man waited for dismissal, the parents stood guard to ensure that the CICS student was not targeted. For Adriana Ramirez, a parent of three at CICS West Belden, the best incentive is seeing her child succeed: “Since I’m volunteering at school, my daughter, who loves having me around, is doing better and better. She even asked me if the school would be around when she had kids. I told her, ‘I hope so, baby.’” //

Juan Covarrubias, CICS West Belden Security Guard, takes a moment to spend time with his nephew as school lets out.

One of Ms. Leonard’s regular volunteers, Ron Bouyer, a crossing guard who works in the Cabrini-Green neighborhood near CICS ChicagoQuest, sees these efforts as a way to get back to traditional community values.

Key elements to a successful safe passage program 1. Regular communication and collaboration with:

“Used to be a time when people in the neighborhood looked out for each other, knew everybody’s mamas. We help out by looking out for these kids.” – Ron Bouyer

Parent volunteer on bus route

1. CTA bus pick up scheduled at dismissal

Parents & Community members School leaders Chicago Police Department

Safe Haven

Chicago Transit Authority

Safe Haven

Chicago Housing Authority City Council Members Church leaders

2. Walking schoold bus 2. “Keepin’ it Real” and “Officer Friendly” education in elementary school

Middle School

3. Safe Havens such as schools, churches, libraries, businesses, etc. which have been deemed safe and where children could go to wait for someone to pick them up, while receiving adult supervision by a vetted community member who has undergone a background check

Safe crossing

Volunteer parent patrol

High School

4. Adults or parents who live in the neighborhood must perform the bulk of the work: • 2-3 to lead “walking school buses” to take kids from a meet-up spot to school and back • 2-3 to ride on public transit, particularly buses, during peak times (before and after school)

Safe crossing

• 2-3 to wear crossing guard attire and ensure safe crossings, stand guard on troublesome corners

Safe Haven

Safe crossing

Volunteer parent patrol

Elementary School

Committed to Greatness

OpeningThoughts

FocalPoint | Winterâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Spring 2013

The Complexities of Managing More than 1 Million Square Feet of Educational Space

by Kate Proto

PHOTOS BY RAY WHITEHOUSE

Committed to Greatness

FacilitiesMatters

Approaching the utility garage, Larry Daniel was cautious. Electricity at CICS Basil in the city’s Englewood neighborhood had been flickering in and out all morning, and Daniel, a Facilities Director at Chicago International Charter School, had received numerous complaints.

But with 17 properties to look after, 5 of which are owned by the network, 8 of which are leased from the Archdiocese, and 2 of which are CPS buildings, maintaining school buildings that are up to code and meeting occupants’ needs is a constant challenge. The leased properties present a unique set of challenges for CICS, as illustrated in Mr. Daniel’s recollection. In the opinion of CICS Chief Operating Officer, Tom McGrath, “We are on the hook for all of the buildings, regardless

Daniel carefully pried open the garage window and peered in. He discovered that a thief had cut all of the electrical cords in the garage and neighboring convent, the copper wire removed, live wires popping. “We couldn’t have that type of activity. We concreted the windows shut and installed a metal door to the garage with a gate surrounding the garage. We haven’t had a problem since,” recalls Daniel. While an extreme example, this is an illustration of the complex nature of the CICS facilities team’s job of managing more than one million square feet of school facilities, many of which are in high-crime areas. Without safe, secure environments, children cannot focus on learning and teachers cannot teach effectively.

Thus, when CICS inherits such spaces, the facilities team has to invest significant resources to bring buildings up to standards.

Community Builders These investments do not go unnoticed in a city that has seen a pattern of decline in parochial

Without safe, secure environments, children cannot focus on learning and teachers cannot teach effectively. of whether we own or rent them. All students deserve the same quality of facility, so we don’t short the occupants who are in a leased space—we make repairs across the board to ensure the buildings are up to code and tenantable.” Understandably, many of the archdiocesan properties were former parochial schools that fell into disrepair over a number of years, as the landlords were deferring maintenance due to a lack of resources.

FocalPoint | Winter–Spring 2013

school enrollment, leading many such schools to face closure as the only option. Working with parishes is a symbiotic relationship; the partnership between parish leaders and CICS campuses helps build the community. CICS benefits from having access to buildings in which neighborhood children can receive an education, and the parish is able to stay open and serve the wider community.

Father Gabriel of St. Anselm’s parish, which neighbors CICS Washington Park, puts it this way: “It’s a blessing that CICS is serving the children in this area. After we could no longer run a school ourselves and closed the St. Anselm’s school, the charter school came and it was such a good thing. Sometimes God closes one door and opens a window. Quite naturally, I don’t know how our church could remain open otherwise— CICS recently renewed its contract for another 10 years, that gives us 10 more years of hope.” Father Gabriel’s assistant, Fredericka, wholeheartedly agrees that the partnership is beneficial. “Everybody’s on the same page. The CICS Washington Park and St. Anselm’s group, we get together regularly and we strive to be in constant communication. Sometimes there are issues to resolve, like when our parishioners need to use the school cafeteria for repasts, or we require parking lot space for a funeral, but it’s not a gripe fest. We’re a household and we all have our parts.”

Facilities by the Numbers CICS manages 17 properties and 16 campuses.

The dearth of quality buildings in Chicago means budgets are often consumed by the effort to maintain aged and historically neglected buildings at the expense of investing in improvements that promote and elevate the educational experience of the student.

Fredericka notes that the shared mission is really all about improving the lives of community members. “For me, the most important thing is seeing the students – they know CICS has high expectations of them, and the school calms them down, gives them the order and

discipline they need. None of us can control what happens at home, but who a child hangs out with, the expectations he has within himself, it instills a spark in him that is catching. His parents, his siblings, see the change in him and it sparks a change at home.”

Patching leaks with student dollars While CICS serves neighborhood public school children, charter schools are not given access to the district’s capital budget. A principal in any traditional CPS school is given a budget to spend on education only, knowing that their building will be taken care of with a separate source of funds— whereas charter school leaders in non-CPS buildings have to give up operating revenues which were intended to be spent on teacher salaries and educational necessities to fi nance facilities essentials.

Father Gabriel, of St. Anselm’s Catholic Church, reﬂects on the shared mission of CICS Washington Park and his parish: “We are very grateful for all of the work CICS has put in, you have done marvelous things and our church members notice this. We all enjoy working with young people to have a dream—how do you achieve a dream if you don’t have a dream?”

owned by the network CICS Basil CICS Northtown CICS Longwood CICS Loomis CICS Ralph Ellison

leased from the archdiocese CICS West Belden CICS Bucktown CICS Avalon CICS Prairie CICS Washington Park CICS Irving Park CICS Wrightwood CICS Lloyd Bond

buildings owned by cps CICS ChicagoQuest CICS Larry Hawkins

buildings leased from St. Edmunds Episcopal Parish at Washington Park-South from Patriots’ Gateway Community Center– Rockford

Committed to Greatness

FacilitiesMatters

While CPS has strived to alleviate some of this burden, many facilities experts said the $425 per pupil supplement provided to charters in the 20112012 school year was not enough. Due to the Gates Foundation’s impetus, the $425 was raised to a $750 per-pupil amount that began in the 2012-2013 school year, and will increase once more in the 2013-2014 school year. Interestingly, there is no mechanism in place to guarantee that CPS would adjust this number in the future, to recognize the natural increase in costs that charter school facilities teams will incur to adjust to real market changes. As McGrath puts it, “One-size-fitsall doesn’t necessarily work.”

While no one will debate the beneﬁts they can offer, inadequate funding forces Illinois charters to think of improvements such as this CICS Longwood playground as luxury items. Here, students enjoy access to a playground that was previously out of order.

So Illinois charters are faced with a dilemma. The law currently states districts can fund charters at 75% of the per capita tuition charge that they pay traditional schools. Add to that the additional burden of having to pay for facilities fi xes out of student educational coffers, and one could argue it is the children and teachers who are being hurt the most. The CICS facilities team faces decisions on a daily basis that many single mothers face. Do I feed my children (with knowledge) or do I put a roof over their heads?

FocalPoint | Winter–Spring 2013

The DecisionMaking Process To anyone who has not worked in construction or real estate, the process and corresponding costs can be staggering for even the slightest facilities upgrade.

Further, the city permitting process can increase scope and budget by imposing additional conditions due to unforeseen ADA code or city landscape ordinance requirements. And of course, many upgrades that CICS pursues are based on a mandate from the city to come

The CICS facilities team faces decisions on a daily basis that many single mothers face. Do I feed my children (with knowledge) or do I put a roof over their heads? First you have to pay engineers and architects to create the plans, then there is the cost of professional services and fees to obtain necessary permits.

into compliance with various codes. When embarking on a project plan, especially for an older building with latent environmental problems behind the walls, the CICS facilities

“The gym ﬂoor overhaul was much anticipated at CICS West Belden and we are so grateful. Not only does it look bright and beautiful, our students notice the extra bounce and improved traction. In my 6 years here, I’ve never seen our kids so excited about our PE facilities. Additionally, the freshly painted basketball and volleyball lines offer an opportunity for students to explore dimensions and the consistent theme of math in sports.” – Matt Cullen, teacher, CICS West Belden

CICS has managed to provide some impressive upgrades to buildings new and old, which helps bolster student and teacher morale, keeps kids safe and focused on learning, and provides a symbol of hope in the community. A cross-section of recent projects:

team puts the contingency in at 30% “because once you get started, you know you’re going to fi nd something additional that needs immediate attention,” says McGrath. Despite these challenges, McGrath and his team strive to do their best: “Every week we are asking our campuses, are there functional problems we are not aware of? We seek constant feedback to hone in on the most dire day-to-day necessities. For long-term planning, we formally ask each campus in January what priorities they might have for summer facilities projects—we prioritize life safety fi rst and go from there. We also take into account the extent to which the educational outcomes could be improved with a given enhancement.” //

Secure spaces

“In an ideal circumstance, the district would provide charters with tenantable buildings and leave the core competency of education to us, but we do the most sensitive job we can.”

Some project decisions come from within the same facility, like choosing to complete a phased roofi ng project at CICS Northtown over fi xing the drafty windows—fi xing the windows alone would have cost 40% of the CICS facilities expenditures in a given year.

Safe space to play CICS Washington Park’s parking lot was resurfaced because the students play there and potholes were posing a problem.

Educational technology IT infrastructure upgrades have been necessary across the network to help utilize educational technology like interactive whiteboards.

Basic health and safety Abatement of asbestos and lead at CICS Prairie, Wrightwood and West Belden.

– Tom McGrath, COO of CICS Committed to Greatness

CHICAgo InternAtIonAL CHArter sCHooL AnnUAL rePort

WHERE WE ARE CICS AVALON

1501 EAST 83RD PLACE

CICS BASIL

1816 WEST GARFIELD BLVD.

CICS BUCKTOWN

2235 NORTH HAMILTON AVENUE

CICS CHICAGOQUEST

1443 N. OGDEN AVENUE

CICS IRVING PARK

3820 NORTH SPAULDING DRIVE

CICS LARRY HAWKINS

801 EAST 133RD PLACE

CICS LLOYD BOND

13300 SOUTH LANGLEY AVENUE

CICS LONGWOOD

1309 WEST 95TH STREET

CICS LOOMIS

9535 SOUTH LOOMIS STREET

CICS NORTHTOWN ACADEMY

3900 WEST PETERSON AVENUE

2 13

CICS PRAIRIE

11530 SOUTH PRAIRIE AVENUE

CICS RALPH ELLISON

1817 WEST 80TH STREET

CICS WASHINGTON PARK

6105 SOUTH MICHIGAN AVENUE

CICS WEST BELDEN

9 8

2245 NORTH MCVICKER AVENUE

CICS WRIGHTWOOD

8130 SOUTH CALIFORNIA AVENUE

CICS PATRIOTS

615 SOUTH 5TH STREET, ROCKFORD

ACADEMIC STUDENT PERFORMANCE SUMMARY

60+720

MET OR EXCEEDED ISAT STANDARDS

CPS COMPOSITE: 72.5%

78%

INCLUDES ELL, EXCLUDES SELECTIVE ENROLLMENT

5-YEAR COHORT

��

100

88%

2012

CPS 5-YEAR COHORT GRADUATION RATE: 57% EXCLUDES SELECTIVE ENROLLMENT

2011 READING: 2.2 GI 810 = 87 MATH: 2.5 GI 450= 74 50

2012 CICS COLLEGE ENROLLMENT RATE

NATIONAL AVERAGE (55TH PERCENTILE)

CICS HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION RATE

2012 READING: 1.5 GI = 75 490 MATH: 2.5 GI = 74 450

NATIONAL AVERAGE (55TH PERCENTILE)

NWEA GROWTH INDEX

NATIONAL AVERAGE (55TH PERCENTILE)

CICS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL SUMMARY STATISTICS

100

2010 READING: 3.3 GI 850 = 96 MATH: 3.3 GI 790= 84 50

100

69%

ELEMENTARY ACADEMIC STUDENT PERFORMANCE 2011-2012

AFRICANAMERICAN & LATINO

�

82% LOW INCOME

�

CICS IRVING PARK

517 STUDENTS K–8 | OPENED 08/2007

85% AFRICANAMERICAN, LATINO, ASIAN

�

70% LOW INCOME

�

CICS LLOYD BOND

346 STUDENTS K–6 | OPENED 08/2009

100% AFRICANAMERICAN

�

99% LOW INCOME

�

CICS LONGWOOD

934 STUDENTS 3–8 | OPENED 08/1997

100% AFRICANAMERICAN & LATINO

�

85% LOW INCOME

�

CICS PRAIRIE

404 STUDENTS K–8 | OPENED 08/1998

100% AFRICANAMERICAN & LATINO

�

96% LOW INCOME

�

CICS WASHINGTON PARK

447 STUDENTS K–8 | OPENED 08/2000

100% AFRICANAMERICAN & LATINO

�

95% LOW INCOME

�

CICS WEST BELDEN

500 STUDENTS K–8 | OPENED 08/2002

99% AFRICANAMERICAN & LATINO

�

94% LOW INCOME

�

CPS NEIGHBORHOOD COMPOSITE 74%

ISAT COMPOSITE

MEET OR EXCEED STANDARDS

NWEA READING

MEET TARGET

NWEA MATH

MEET TARGET

740+100=

84%

NATIONAL AVERAGE 55%

550+90= 64% 550+150= 70% CPS NEIGHBORHOOD COMPOSITE 79%

ISAT COMPOSITE

MEET OR EXCEED STANDARDS

NWEA READING

MEET TARGET

NWEA MATH

MEET TARGET

790+130= 92% NATIONAL AVERAGE 55%

550+30= 58% 550+100= 65% CPS NEIGHBORHOOD COMPOSITE 58%

ISAT COMPOSITE

MEET OR EXCEED STANDARDS

NWEA READING

MEET TARGET

NWEA MATH

MEET TARGET

580+50= 63% NATIONAL AVERAGE 55%

550+70= 62% 550+110= 66% CPS NEIGHBORHOOD COMPOSITE 79%

ISAT COMPOSITE

MEET OR EXCEED STANDARDS

NWEA READING

MEET TARGET

NWEA MATH

MEET TARGET

790+0= 79% NATIONAL AVERAGE 55%

550= 55% 550+20= 57% CPS NEIGHBORHOOD COMPOSITE 70%

ISAT COMPOSITE

MEET OR EXCEED STANDARDS

NWEA READING

MEET TARGET

NWEA MATH

MEET TARGET

700+20=

72%

NATIONAL AVERAGE 55%

550+100= 65% 550+90= 64% CPS NEIGHBORHOOD COMPOSITE 60%

ISAT COMPOSITE

MEET OR EXCEED STANDARDS

NWEA READING

MEET TARGET

NWEA MATH

MEET TARGET

600+80= 68% NATIONAL AVERAGE 55%

510+40 51% 550+110= 64% CPS NEIGHBORHOOD COMPOSITE 71%

ISAT COMPOSITE

MEET OR EXCEED STANDARDS

NWEA READING

MEET TARGET

NWEA MATH

MEET TARGET

710+170= 88% NATIONAL AVERAGE 55%

MATH

25TH

550+160= 71% 550+280= 83%

50TH

75TH

4.1 3.4

NWEA GROWTH INDEX AS COMPARED WITH NATIONAL PERFORMANCE PERCENTILES

25TH

50TH

READING

97%

540+10 54% 550+60= 61%

75TH

2.5 1.6

NWEA GROWTH INDEX AS COMPARED WITH NATIONAL PERFORMANCE PERCENTILES

25TH

50TH

75TH

1.1 2.0

NWEA GROWTH INDEX AS COMPARED WITH NATIONAL PERFORMANCE PERCENTILES

25TH

50TH

75TH

0.6 0.6

NWEA GROWTH INDEX AS COMPARED WITH NATIONAL PERFORMANCE PERCENTILES

25TH

50TH

75TH

2.6

NWEA GROWTH INDEX AS COMPARED WITH NATIONAL PERFORMANCE PERCENTILES

3.3

25TH

NWEA GROWTH INDEX AS COMPARED WITH NATIONAL PERFORMANCE PERCENTILES

25TH

50TH

75TH

0.4

2.6

50TH

75TH

4.4 6.4

NWEA GROWTH INDEX AS COMPARED WITH NATIONAL PERFORMANCE PERCENTILES

25TH

50TH

75TH

MATH

667 STUDENTS K–8 | OPENED 08/1997

MEET TARGET

MATH

CICS BUCKTOWN

MEET TARGET

NWEA MATH

AS COMPARED WITH NATIONAL PERFORMANCE PERCENTILES

READING

�

NWEA READING

NATIONAL AVERAGE 55%

1.7

READING

LOW INCOME

620+80= 70%

0.1

NWEA GROWTH INDEX

READING

�

98%

MEET OR EXCEED STANDARDS

75TH

MATH

AFRICANAMERICAN & LATINO

CPS NEIGHBORHOOD COMPOSITE 62%

ISAT COMPOSITE

50TH

MATH

100%

25TH

MATH

730 STUDENTS K–8 | OPENED 08/2002

MEET TARGET

550+10= 56% 550+110= 66%

MATH

CICS BASIL

MEET TARGET

NWEA MATH

MATH

�

NWEA READING

AS COMPARED WITH NATIONAL PERFORMANCE PERCENTILES

1.8

READING

LOW INCOME

NATIONAL AVERAGE 55%

0.1

READING

�

93%

680+80= 76%

READING

AFRICANAMERICAN & LATINO

MEET OR EXCEED STANDARDS

NWEA GROWTH INDEX

READING

99%

CPS NEIGHBORHOOD COMPOSITE 68%

ISAT COMPOSITE

MATH

421 STUDENTS K–8 | OPENED 08/2005

READING

CICS AVALON

�

88% LOW INCOME

�

CICS LOOMIS PRIMARY

577 STUDENTS K–2 | OPENED 08/2008

100% AFRICANAMERICAN & LATINO

�

96% LOW INCOME

�

NWEA READING

MEET TARGET

NWEA MATH

MEET TARGET

NATIONAL AVERAGE 55%

490+60 49% 550+40= 59%

MEET OR EXCEED STANDARDS

NWEA READING

MEET TARGET

NWEA MATH

MEET TARGET

AS COMPARED WITH NATIONAL PERFORMANCE PERCENTILES

25TH

50TH

75TH

3.2 2.2

NWEA GROWTH INDEX

NOT APPLICABLE

ISAT COMPOSITE

0.5 1.4

550= N/A

AS COMPARED WITH NATIONAL PERFORMANCE PERCENTILES

NOT APPLICABLE

550= N/A 550= N/A

25TH

50TH

READING

AFRICANAMERICAN & LATINO

MEET OR EXCEED STANDARDS

710+120= 82%

MATH

93%

ISAT COMPOSITE

NWEA GROWTH INDEX

MATH

692 STUDENTS K–8 | OPENED 08/2005

CPS NEIGHBORHOOD COMPOSITE 71%

READING

CICS WRIGHTWOOD

75TH

HIGH SCHOOL ACADEMIC STUDENT PERFORMANCE 2011-2012

�

LOW INCOME

�

75% AFRICANAMERICAN, LATINO, ASIAN

COLLEGE ACCEPTANCE RATE

�

76% LOW INCOME

CPS AVERAGE 57%

100% AFRICANAMERICAN & LATINO

�

80% LOW INCOME

19.3

AVERAGE ACT SCORE

43%

CPS AVERAGE* 16.5

96%

CPS AVERAGE 57%

�

COLLEGE ACCEPTANCE RATE

85% SCORED > 20 ON ACT

85%

5-YR COHORT GRADUATION RATE

AVERAGE ACT SCORE

SCORED > 20 ON ACT

CPS AVERAGE* 16.5

532 STUDENTS 9–12 | OPENED 08/2006

COLLEGE ACCEPTANCE RATE

95%

19%

�

CICS RALPH ELLISON

93%

20%

17.1

CPS AVERAGE* 16.5

83%

5-YR COHORT GRADUATION RATE

AFRICANAMERICAN

85%

832 STUDENTS 9–12 | OPENED 08/2003

AVERAGE ACT SCORE

100%

CICS NORTHTOWN ACAD

SCORED > 20 ON ACT

538 STUDENTS 9–12 | OPENED 08/1997

5-YR COHORT GRADUATION RATE

CICS LONGWOOD

CPS AVERAGE 57%

*THIS FIGURE DOES NOT INCLUDE SELECTIVE ENROLLMENT SCHOOLS

CICS NEW CAMPUS BACKGROUND CICS PATRIOTS

CICS Patriots serves students in grades K-6 and will open a new grade each subsequent year. This is CICS’s first campus outside of Chicago. CICS Patriots focuses on data-informed decision making to best meet the needs of all students. Director Amanda Rychel has been educating students in CICS Schools for the past 8 years, and is focused on providing a high-quality education to prepare students for college and beyond.

CICS LARRY HAWKINS

Named by community members to honor the life of Dr. Larry Hawkins, a prominent advocate for Chicago youth. The opening of CICS Lloyd Bond and CICS Larry Hawkins provides a K-12 continuum for residents in and around the Altgeld Gardens neighborhood. CICS Larry Hawkins believes that all children should be provided the same opportunities to learn and that all students, when properly supported, can learn. CICS Larry Hawkins believes in providing a safe, nurturing environment in which students can grow intellectually, socially and emotionally.

CICS CHICAGO QUEST 220 STUDENTS 6–8 OPENED 09/2011

CICS ChicagoQuest serves students in grades 6-8 and will open a new grade each subsequent year. CICS ChicagoQuest is a revolutionary charter school where middle- and high-school students are challenged and engaged with a curriculum based on principles of digital learning and game design. CICS ChicagoQuest is designed to prepare its students for college, career, and sophisticated participation in an evolving world.

GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP EXPERIENCE (GCE)

CICS has collaborated with GCE, a partnership which features a School-within-a-School pilot that serves a cohort of students and their families who were languishing on the CICS waiting list. Today, these students are paving the way for a long-term partnership between GCE and CICS.

GLOBALCITIZENSHIPEXPERIENCE.COM

This, our first, courageous cohort of students reaps the benefits and demonstrates the success of GCE’s innovative and relevant pedagogical models founded on the principles of global citizenship that are aligned with the Common Core State Standards (skills) and UN Millennium Development Goals (values). As our new CICS students are discovering, GCE aims to transform public education by cultivating graduates who are global citizens—demonstrating purpose, autonomy, accountability, gratitude, and through each of these, achievement.

349 STUDENTS K–6 OPENED 08/2010

426 STUDENTS 7-12 OPENED 09/2010

1535 N DAYTON STREET | 9-12 COLLABORATION EST. 09/2012

We invite you to learn more about the CICS/GCE students who explore integrated curriculum taught through inquiry and project-based learning. Please schedule your visit to GCE HS, host our students on field experience, or interact with these students on their digital portfolios that they curate on GCEVoices.com.

STATEMENT OF ACTIVITIES YEARS ENDING JUNE 30, 2012

JUNE 30, 2012

JUNE 30, 2011

71,183,924 5,928,918 6,994,282 95,557 3,564,305 87,766,986

67,069,861 5,438,054 3,649,409 225,000 141,553 1,465,451 77,989,328

Operating Funds to EMOs Longwood Campus Expenses Administrative Expenses Facility Maintenance & Capital Expenses Rent, Utilities & Property Taxes Debt Service Grant Expense Insurance Expense Direct Campus Expenses Depreciation & Amortization

66,718,491 2,762,982 1,094,602 3,031,023 2,447,302 2,292,370 199,861 3,316,732

62,604,770 2,141,091 858,871 1,494,092 2,482,730 2,420,484 174,404 78,145 2,660,191

TOTAL EXPENSES

81,863,362

74,914,778

CHANGE IN NET ASSETS

5,903,624

3,074,550

REVENUE Chicago Public Schools Per Capita Revenue & Other Funds Special Services Grant Commitments & Other Contributions Investment Income School Lunch Program (Longwood Campus) Other TOTAL REVENUE

REVENUE FY2012

EXPENSES FY2012

+810 40 70 + +80 +0

+820 30+ 30+ 40+ 80 + 0+

EXPENSES

81%

PER CAPITA REVENUE & OTHER FUNDS

GRANT COMMITMENTS & OTHER CONTRIBUTIONS

SPECIAL SERVICES

OTHER

<1%

INVESTMENT INCOME

82%

OPERATING FUNDS TO EMOs

FACILITIES EXPENSES

DEPRECIATION & AMORTIZATION

ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES

GRANT EXPENSE

<1%

INSURANCE EXPENSE DIRECT CAMPUS EXPENSES

BALANCE SHEET YEARS ENDING JUNE 30, 2012

JUNE 30, 2012

JUNE 30, 2011

7,611,467 5,325,460 7,734,393 220,117 6,590,943 50,169,661 659,388 78,311,430

3,815,729 2,707,877 12,561,783 170,691 7,160,032 47,031,754 645,527 74,093,392

1,499,674 3,359,325 331,003 485,102 300,262 48,493,758 54,469,123

73,765 4,989,130 331,003 560,382 540,262 49,552,447 56,046,989

309,077 23,533,230

931,953 17,114,451

23,842,307

18,046,403

78,311,430

74,093,392

ASSETS Cash Accounts Receivable Investments Prepaids Other Current Assets Fixed Assets Other Non Current Assets TOTAL ASSETS

LIABILITIES Accounts Payable Accrued Liabilities Loans Payable—Current Other Current Liabilities Notes Payable Bond Payable TOTAL LIABILITIES

NET ASSETS Board Designated Operating Surplus/Loss TOTAL NET ASSETS TOTAL LIABILITIES AND NET ASSETS

ASSETS FY2012

�� 64%

FIXED ASSETS

LIABILITIES FY2012

10% INVESTMENTS

10%

CASH

OTHER CURRENT ASSETS

ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE

OTHER NONCURRENT ASSETS

�� 89%

BOND PAYABLE

6% ACCRUED LIABILITIES

ACCOUNTS PAYABLE

LOANS PAYABLE: CURRENT

OTHER CURRENT LIABILITIES

NOTES PAYABLE

PREPAIDS

Note: 2012 figures are based on CICS’s unaudited financial statements for the year ended June 30, 2012. Once the independent audits have been prepared, a complete copy of those statements is available by contacting CICS.

STATEMENT OF CASH FLOW YEARS ENDING JUNE 30, 2012

JUNE 30, 2012

JUNE 30, 2011

5,903,624

2,758,277

3,321,712 (240,000) (6,000) (98,071) 82,199

2,660,191 (253,763) 38 33,071

(2,617,583) (124,453) (35,775) 111,425 (311,617) (75,281) 5,910,180

(969,982) 9,123 (40,360)

(12,538,366.46) 180,426.00 17,329,851.34 (13,860.78) 111,424.55 (6,576,382.91) (1,506,908)

(50,996,644.27) 1,239.40 43,676,929.46 417,996.47 (603,613) (4,871,163.72) (11,771,643)

Bond Interest Income Transfer of Cash: Bond Repair & Replacement Reserve Proceeds from IFF Loan & Loan Costs Bond Interest Payments Capital Improvement Projects CASH PROVIDED BY FINANCING ACTIVITIES

(152,461) 343,520) (81,470) (760,620) 730,538 (607,533)

(157,941) (400,000) 218,625 (747,079) 270,442 (815,953)

INCREASE (DECREASE) IN CASH

3,795,739

(5,423,757)

CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES Change in Net Assets Adjustments to reconcile net earnings to net cash provided by operating activities: Depreciation and amortization Forgiveness of Debt & Bad Debt Expense Loss on sale of investments Loss on disposition of fixed assets Fair Market Value Adjmt. on Investments Change in current assets and liabilities: Accounts & Grants Receivable Interest Receivable Deposits & Prepaid Expenses Proceeds from Insurance Accounts Payable and Accrued Expenses Deferred Rent & Deferred Liability CASH PROVIDED BY OPERATING ACTIVITIES

2,927,405 39,839 7,163,839

CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES Purchase of securities Amortization of investment premium/discount Proceeds from sale of securities Expenditures for assets not in service Purchase of Property & Equipment Capitalized Expenditure CASH USED IN INVESTING ACTIVITIES

CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES

FUNDER PROFILE | ANNE & BILL TOBEY Anne and Bill Tobey have been invaluable friends and supporters of Chicago International Charter School with a demonstrated passion for education equality and the CICS mission. In addition to his support of CICS, Bill is also active in his support of the Daniel Murphy Scholarship Foundation and various cultural institutions in Chicago. Splitting their time between Chicago and Colorado, Anne and Bill are also dedicated to their support of Aspen Public Radio, The Aspen Community Foundation, the Pre-Collegiate Program, English in Action, and the Aspen Institute. The Tobeys’ relationship with CICS began through Bill’s involvement on the board of directors at The Daniel Murphy Scholarship Fund (DMSF). At DMSF, Bill met individuals who were also active with Chicago International Charter School and learned about a CICS initiative to expand access to 21st Century Technology in the classroom.

He saw that CICS was moving the dial. “I can’t help but believe that all the things you’re doing is making things better than the norm for public education.” His reasons for deciding to support CICS were much like those that brought him to DMSF in the first place. Much like DMSF, CICS is also providing high-quality education options for underserved students and families. Bill has stated that he, “support(s) education because unequal opportunities exist. When students have a poor start it deprives us of great minds in the future. We need to reach for every mind that we can. We can’t afford to not do something.” Bill also sees the advantages in the ability of charters to try new ideas and replicate those which are found to be successful. “With new ideas it’s not the same top-down approach. And when ideas do work, they’ll spread.”

Bill would like to see a day when the norm for public education is excellence. “When I joined Daniel Murphy I asked them: Is your objective to go out of business? You should be able to reach the point where you don’t have to provide scholarships anymore, because public education is doing the job it should.” Anne and Bill truly personify the belief that providing a quality education for all students is really an investment in the future of our city, and for that, everyone at Chicago International Charter School is truly grateful.

THANKS TO ALL WHO GAVE GENEROUSLY THIS YEAR $100,000 and above

$1,000- $4,999

$250- $499

In Kind Contributions

Charter School Growth Fund

Accenture

The Adikes Family Foundation

Alternative Garden Supply

Michael & Susan Dell Foundation

Lorraine Arvin

Violet and Anthony Clark

Education Pioneers

John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

Fred Blesi

Ms. Pamela J. Flowers-Thomas

Glencoe PTO

Tom Hayden

Goldberg Kohn

New Schools for Chicago

Chicago Foundation for Education

Deborah Monson

Craig Henderson & Associates

Walton Family Foundation

Debbie & David Chizewer

Target Foundation

Pass With Flying Colors & Discovery Clothing

Tim & Allison Coleman

$10,000- $99,999

Gorter Family Foundation

$100- $249

DonorsChoose.org

The Broad Center

Catherine & Richard Gottfred

Anonymous

Children’s Inner City Educational Fund

Brian Lee Vivian Lee

Academy of Our Lady Alumnae Association

Illinois Department of Natural Resources

Anne Matz

Donnet Downer-Thomas

Matching Gift Companies

Roger S. McEniry

Isabel’s Bowl for Hope

The Boston Consulting Group

Mr. Richard J. Metzler

Naomi Maldonado

Illinois Tool Works Foundation

Thomas Nieman

Homi B. Patel

Nuveen Investments Inc.

ORBA, Certified Public Accountants and Consultants, Jim Quaid, Director

Ben and Ginevra Ranney

PwC

Susan Crown Patty & Craig Henderson Illinois Clean Energy Foundation Grant Program The Mayer & Morris Kaplan Family Foundation Mr. & Mrs. Michael Keiser Donor Advised Fund at The Chicago Community Trust Anne & Bill Tobey

Pass with Flying Colors Ms. Rebecca Steffes Laura Thonn

$5,000- $9,999 Carol Lavin Bernick Family Foundation

$500- $999

Martin & Mary L. Boyer Foundation

John A. Bollero Jr.

Bob & Pamela Delaney Philip & Regan Friedmann The Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation

Anonymous (2) Ben Crist Phil Dodson DonorsChoose.org Nancy Gidwitz & Jeff Grossman

National Center For Philanthropy

Oppenheimer Family Foundation

Mr. & Mrs. Roger Nelson

Tom Spalding Janet W. Nieman The Joseph Valenti Jr. Family Foundation

Robert W. Thomas Patricia & John Zeeman

up to $100 Anonymous Vince Campise Dunbar Alumni Class of 1980 Mary E. Gleason

Board of Directors Lorraine J. Arvin David J. Chizewer President Violet M. Clark Catherine H. Gottfred, PhD Tom Hayden

Jewell Hamilton

Craig W. Henderson Vice President

Victor & Beverly Horne

Gerald L. Jenkins

Anne Kerr

Alberta Johnson

Audrey & Michael Lang

Thomas J. Nieman Secretary

Hagai Livni Richarlena Mary-Taylor Pamela McCarthy Nelson Montanez Tonya K. Myers Martha Polley Brooke Proto Katherine Reing Henry & Peggy Troast Myrtle Terrell Al Wordlaw

Laura Thonn Treasurer BOLD DENOTES FOUNDING BOARD MEMBERS

CommitToCollege

EXPECTATIONS FRANCISCO PAREDES CICS Northtown Academy, Class of 2011 Marquette University Major: Biomedical Engineering

Francisco and his mother, Ina Paredes

I selected CICS Northtown Academy for my high school choice because my older brother went there, and at first it was a tough adjustment coming from a non-charter public elementary school. For one, I had to wear a uniform at Northtown, and I got in trouble for what felt like small things, like having my shirt untucked. It took me until about my sophomore year to realize the benefits—the school’s high expectations developed professionalism in me. To incoming freshman at the school, I’d say, get used to it—this is a reflection of what the future’s going to be like.

in me as I stayed in touch with them through high school, and eventually I was admitted there and they offered me an academic scholarship. It was great because I always wanted to go there, that was my plan.

While at CICS Northtown Academy, I participated in as many activities as I could. Because of my love of sports, I was accepted into the World Sport Chicago Scholar program, and received a $40,000 College Class of 2016 scholarship through the World Sport organization. I also attended all of Northtown’s college fairs, which is how I met a Marquette admissions representative my sophomore year. Marquette took an interest

The hardest thing about leaving home, you find yourself thinking about it and it makes you miss it that much more. I’m really fortunate, though, that both of my roommates have been friends of mine since kindergarten, I know how they are and they know how I am. It’s family away from family and home. I’ve also made friends on my floor and we play sports like flag football together.

FocalPoint | Winter–Spring 2013

I am now in my freshman year at Marquette. I enrolled in the ROTC program—my brother and my dad were both in the military and that played a big part in my decision. I would like to pursue the military beyond college as well. I think the way I present myself in uniform…it’s better, because I had that advantage given that I was in uniform at Northtown.

Biomedical engineering is still my study focus, it’s very math- and science-based, right now I’m taking biology and I think it’s something that I can fall in love with. I know if I put more work into it, I’m going to end up liking it. I feel academically prepared by my time at Northtown—CICS was very strong with math, science, and English, so I am solid in those aspects here. I’m still trying to find a balance in time management, it will take me a while to realize. The thing that I find the most difficult is that everything is more individual, at CICS Northtown you have a stronger support system while you’re learning. Here, if you don’t understand it, the professor moves on without you. So I decided to take tutoring for the courses I find most difficult. I am tutored by people who have taken the class and got an A, it’s a good resource to have. To current high school students, my advice is, don’t limit yourself in what you want to do. Take as many hard classes as you can in high school, and do as many extracurriculars as you can, because when you come to college it’s going to be so hard to fit it all in. Don’t limit yourself so you can have time with your friends. You’ll find time to see friends even with a busy schedule. // Committed to Greatness

Openingthoughts

JAMES NORRIS CICS Longwood, Class of 2006 DePauw University Major: Communications

I started at CICS Longwood in 4th grade, the second year it was open. I was referred by a friend, and I had a sister who was a year above me in school. Like a lot of guys who went through the CICS Longwood mentoring program, I started out as kind of a trouble maker, I would get sent to the office. Mr. Lang, the founder of the male mentoring program which was just forming at the time, started giving me certain tasks, which taught me responsibility. The mentoring group started out with about 5 of us. We’d reach out to the guys who were getting picked on or having a hard time. It would be in your behavior plan that if you messed up, you’d have to come to the mentoring group. The mentoring group was an outlet, a chance for a bunch of guys to come together and work through life. One of Mr. Lang’s key ideas was to break the stigma of who’s cool, wanted to bring everybody together and have it just be young black men coming together to discuss our issues. I think he figured, even though you all are different, you’re probably dealing with the same issues. It really helped. In terms of academics, I always figured myself to be a self-starter, I wanted better, so I was always pushing and fighting to participate in more, perform better, I knew I couldn’t afford to go to college without it. But halfway through my freshman year, my mom moved us to Mississippi, just when football was getting started and my grades were looking up. I was able to move back with my grandma junior year, I liked it better in Chicago and at Longwood. I figured I could stand out amongst a smaller group of students at Longwood. I finished junior and senior year as an athlete and graduated as the salutatorian.

FocalPoint | Winter–Spring 2013

When I started to research college cost and options, it hit me just how big it was to get a scholarship—that’s the only way I could afford college. My college counselor Dr. Purham nominated me for a Posse Foundation scholarship. She was there to guide me through the entire process. She actually picked DePauw for me, she’d do that with all of her students, according to their personality and learning style. CICS Longwood was a small community so DePauw was a natural fit. While in college, I explored my options in terms of major, knowing that I liked working with kids and working to improve the community, I decided to study communications and get my paraprofessional certification. In January 2011, I applied for a position to work at CICS Longwood with the AVID program, which seeks to push A/B students to the next level. A key part of the program was visiting colleges—if you introduce a high school kid to current college students, you help mitigate culture shock in the future. We’d advise our students on which questions to ask the college admissions counselors—don’t ask about parties on campus, ask about the importance of note-taking and time management. It’s one thing when they hear it from you, it’s another when they hear from someone who’s living it. Because of trips like this, the AVID program started becoming popular, so we opened a new section and I got some student teaching experience. We took them to Notre Dame, University of Illinois, Marquette—every school they go to opens their eyes: Get your GPA up and you could possibly be in their position one day. Now I’m a SPED paraprofessional with 10th graders, and I also help coach the football team. I’ve learned a lot about myself, I like coaching, I like to work with kids—they’re smart but they need people to encourage them and get them work through their issues, to gain confidence speaking in class, and looking adults in the eye. It will be a challenge to get the mentoring program started again, but it’s been in discussion, amongst myself and a few of the campus leaders. The freshman and sophomore students have been asking. Time will tell—I’m still trying to tease out what the best thing is but I know I want to give back. //

“I feel academically prepared by my time at Northtown—CICS was very strong with math, science, and English, so I am solid in those - Francisco Paredes, Class of 2011 aspects here.”

Committed to Greatness

do you think some children are worth more than others? ...sAdLy, ILLInoIs does. same Children. different Funding. Under current law, districts can fund charter school students as little as 75% of what they fund traditional public school students... And they are.

1,000= $10,000 7500= $7,500 TRADITIONAL PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENT CHARTER PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENT

Chicago Public Schools underfunds more than 50,000 children, whose demographics mirror those of traditional public schools. Help us change that.

support equitable funding legislation.

Chicago charter schools serve a higher percentage of low income students and a comparable special needs population compared with traditional public schools. LoW InCoMe

850= CHARTER 910 = 91% TRADITIONAL

85%

MInorIty

900= 980= 98%

Like Public Means Public on Facebook. Encourage elected officials to support whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s right.

90%

sPeCIAL needs

120= 12% 120= 12%