Community hiring event for new Englewood high school #6wardchicago

You might have seen this on our ig page and what you see below is from Worlee's Concerned Citizen's of Chatham fb page. There will be an embed of the flyer below. This new south side high school is for the one to be built on the site of Robeson High School at 6835 S. Normal Blvd.

Community Hiring for New Southside High School

• Friday, April 6
  Kennedy King College
  740 W 63rd
  10:00am-4:00pm

• Friday, May 11
  Ujamaa Construction
  7744 S Stony Island
  10:00am-4:00pm

Call the Public Building Commissioner at 312.744.3090 or visit their webpage pbcchicago.com

Sorry for this late notice on this blog of the hiring event here's hoping you have some time to go Today. If not then you have some time for the May 11th event on Stony Island. Also note that this event was posted to Concerned Citizens of Chatham, The Sixth Ward's fb and ig pages since earlier this month.

Chance The Rapper names CPS schools receiving $10K

In addition to $1 million he's donating to CPS school after his meeting with Gov. Bruce Rauner to discuss the schools, Chance the Rapper is also donating $10,000 to these schools.

• Charles Carroll Elementary
• Clemente High School
• Fenger High School
• Hirsch High School
• Juarez High School
• Mahalia Jackson Elementary
• Nathan S. Davis Elementary
• Orr High School
• Robeson High School
• Oliver S. Westcott Elementary

These donations are from Chance's Social Works Chicago non-profit. According to WGN:
"The one million dollars is not meant to cure the $215 million CPS funding shortfall, but to call attention to the political feud in Springfield and how it affects communities."

You're also encouraged to visit the Social Works website and make a donation in addition to Chance's donations.

Shedd School as seen in December

Shedd School as seen in December 2016

The issue of Shedd School came up at the last of this year's community meetings with Ald. Anthony Beale in October. There is interest in re-opening Shedd as a school and Beale's response was to a written question posed by a resident in attendance.

Unfortunately it was noted at the meeting that Shedd was closed because of declining enrollment. While the question noted an increase in children in the community Beale suggested that it still isn't enough to justify reopening that former school. If it were to ever re-open there may have to be consideration of bringing in students from outside of the neighborhood.

In the meanwhile the school remains for sale as there are signs on the building as I saw from this past summer, pictures were shown on our ig account. Beale pledged to let the community know of any bidders on the property.

A photo posted by The Sixth Ward (@thesixthward) on Sep 2, 2016 at 5:57pm PDT

DNA Info: Englewood Schools Closed in 2013 Eyed for Numerous Uses

Elihu Yale School 7025 S. Princeton Ave

Some good ideas for the six empty elementary school buildings that dot the landscape in Englewood. Hopefully those buildings and others around the city don't remain vacant & unused for the foreseeable future. We mentioned this event last Thursday.

When Chicago Public Schools closed 50 schools in 2013, six Englewood schools were shuttered, and now residents want to see those empty buildings used to benefit the community.

One idea was to create a Bernie Mac production center. The late entertainer, whose real name was Bernard McCullough, was an Englewood native.

A Bernie Mac center at one of the schools would "allow students to see that careers in entertainment are also behind the scenes and not always on stage," said Asiaha Butler, president of the Resident Association of Greater Englewood, which organized a Friday retreat on the shuttered schools issue at Lindblom Math & Science Academy High School, 6130 S. Wolcott Ave.

Another idea Lindblom Principal Alan Mather had was to reopen the former Charles Earle Elementary School, 6151 S. Hermitage Ave., as a new elementary school. Mather said he would present his proposal to CPS in the next few weeks.

"Let's see how the proposal goes first before we get into specifics," Mather said. "But I envision having students in kindergarten through sixth grade at the school."

The other five school buildings are Elihu Yale, 7025 S. Princeton Ave; Daniel Wentworth, 6950 S. Sangamon St; Benjamin Mays, 838 W. Marquette Road; Arna Bontemps, 1241 W. 58th St; and Granville Woods Math & Science Academy, 6206 S. Racine Ave.

Other building uses suggested by residents were a shopping mall that would include Englewood businesses, a grocery store, a business park, a wellness center, a family entertainment center, a bed and breakfast, an urban farm and a museum dedicated to Englewood's history.

You can find more photos of this event at RAGE's official website.

Gaper's Block: "Englewood! Those kids are animals"

Now before you recoil over the title for this post, take a read over at Gaper's Block Mechanics. A teacher who works in Englewood recalls the outpouring of support from his students after a miscarriage. He starts off with recalling a convo on the bus and saying that a fellow rider referred to Englewood's people as animals. The card you see above shows that his students aren't so-called animals!

Speed cameras coming to Abbott Park near end of September

According to the Chicago Tribune with an explanation of this program:

Just as most Chicagoans were heading into the holiday weekend and tuning out the news, Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced the full list of 50 locations where the city will put up ticket-issuing speed cameras near parks and schools by the end of the year.

The Emanuel administration previously had announced 12 of the locations where one or more of the cops in a box will be keeping an eye on motorists during school and park hours. A news release issued Friday afternoon includes the other 38 sites. Each camera, like those already up, will trigger warning tickets during the first 30 days. After that, drivers exceeding the speed limit by between 6 and 10 mph will get $35 tickets in the mail. Those exceeding the limit by more than 10 mph will get $100 tickets.

Near parks, the cameras will be active when the parks are open, generally from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. seven days a week. The speed limits near parks is 30 mph.

Near schools, the cameras will be active from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on school days. From 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., the speed limit in those areas is 20 mph when children are present and 30 mph when they are not. From 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., the limit is 30 mph.

Under state law, the city can install the cameras at up to 300 schools and parks in designated safety zones. A Tribune analysis showed they could cover nearly half the city.

The article contains the full listing of all locations where these cameras are expected to be installed.

Hat-tip Uptown Update.

What is drawn out of the 6th ward...

Below is not only a map of the new 6th Ward provided by Greater Chatham Alliance which is expected to come into effect in time for the 2015 municipal elections (assuming no legal challenge to the newly adopted map is forthcoming), it also contains what is effectively drawn out of the 6th Ward as a result of the ward remap. We already know about the neighborhoods but not about the schools (such as Harlan High School, McDade Classical School or Chicago State University), the businesses (such as Illinois Service Federal & PNC Bank), or even the parks (such as Abbott and Tuley Parks).

New 6th Ward Map

Tuition-Free EMT Training For Working Women

The Industrial Council of Nearwest Chicago (ICNC) is now accepting applications for EMT training.

Who qualifies for this program?

To qualify, you must be a working single woman earning between $10,000 - $40,000 per year
and living in the city of Chicago. It is also important that you have a clean record, both criminal
and driving.

Additionally, you must be fluent in English, have good basic math and reading skills and be able
to work legally in the United States.

Application Process:

1. Online Applications accepted -Now
2. On-site assessment at ICNC - late January to mid February
3. On-site interviews at ICNC - February
4. Pre-class starts - March 2012

The link for the on-line application is:

http://www.icnctraining.org/index.html

YoChicago: All about Chicago's Chatham neighborhood

[VIDEO: PART 1, PART 2, PART 3, PART 4] Worlee Glover drove Joe Zekas of YoChicago around Chatham earlier in the past week. They started at Mather's at 83rd & Wabash and took a tour around Chatham's tree lined streets. We saw some of the modernist homes in there in addition to the unique blue replica of the White House near 84th & Michigan. Also Worlee and Joe drove by Cole Park and saw the memorial there for the late Officer Thomas Wortham (described as one of our community's future leaders). As well as driving by St. Mark's Methodist Church (8441 S. St. Lawrence).

The first video is an introduction which basically sets up the lay of the land. Part 2, a question about whether or not the younger generation will return to this community was asked by Joe Zekas during the course of the video. Part 3 an important question about the role of churches in Chatham. Part 4 has a lot of talk about the parks and neighborhood schools.

The YoChicago videos with Worlee are below. Expect there to be three more videos before this series is done with YoChicago.

Special note, I was very curious about this store called Flawless at 87th & Rhodes. This is where Part 4 ends and while not much was said about this "boutique" we know a lot more about the building in which it is located. Also it's right across the street from Ald. Sawyer's service office.

ChathamNOW: Blog Question

Check out this blog question from the new Chatham neighborhood blog, ChathamNOW:

Do you think with the influx of Mexican-Americans into Chatham as the newest residents that St. Dorothy's School may have a majority Hispanic student body by 2016? Leave your comments on the comment line.

The blogmaster there may well have been a writer for the CAPCC blog, so this question may seem similar to many you have seen there.

BTW, if you're working on a neighborhood blog or otherwise is a blogger who live in the 6th Ward or surrounding areas we will be very happy to link to you.

OPEN BLOG: Alumni returning to their elementary and secondary schools

I made visits this week to visit the LSCs of both of my alma maters on the elementary and secondary levels. Oh yeah, this post doesn't leave out those of you who have experience at the middle school or junior high school levels.

Questions: Have you returned to your old elementary or secondary schools? Have you chosen to volunteer when you're able to do so?

Chicago readies health care high school

You know this was the first year for a magnet engineering program at Harlan, perhaps in some of our neighborhood schools we could include a health-care profession program as well. Who says we should only institute such programs in newly constructed high schools?

Chicago Public Schools this fall will open the city's first charter high school specializing in health care, a move local hospitals hope will help relieve chronic workforce shortages.

The school, which recently used a lottery system to enroll a freshman class of 160, will have a heavy emphasis on math and science. Juniors and seniors will be able to earn credits by shadowing hospital workers and interning as assistant nurses and in other professions.

Planners aim to prepare students for health- and science-related college programs and certify them for entry-level jobs in health care, such as pharmacy technicians or assistant physical therapists.
...
The Instituto Health Sciences Career Academy will set up shop temporarily on the Chicago campus of National-Lewis University, at 122 S. Michigan Ave. It will seek a permanent site in the Pilsen neighborhood.

Instituto del Progreso Latino and the Metropolitan Chicago Healthcare Council, a trade group of hospitals and other medical providers, applied to CPS to form the school. It’s one of nearly 100 city schools formed under Renaissance 2010, the city’s six-year-old plan to open innovative schools in poor neighborhoods.

Teachers union files motion to block school overhauls

Sun-Times:

The Chicago Teachers Union filed an emergency motion today, seeking to block Chicago School Board members from voting tomorrowon overhauling Deneen and McCorkle Elementary Schools.

The union based its complaint on both schools inclusion in an innovative program, called the Teacher Advancement Program, that resulted in the district receiving a $27.5 million federal grant.

Staff at both Deneen and McCorkle voted to join the TAP program for four years, and Chicago Public School officials would be violating this four-year deal by handing Deneen over to a not-for-profit management company and consolidating McCorkle into another school that has not joined TAP, the union's motion stated.

Under the TAP program, teachers agree to have their pay tied to the performance of their students. In Chicago, they get bonuses if students make nearly the same or better gains compared to similar students systemwide on state math and reading tests. The program also offers teachers extra training and quick feedback on their teaching techniques.
...
Deneen, in the Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood, joined the program just this school year, according to the CTU motion, and has not “had the opportunity to be judged fairly and equitably."

Deneen was selected for TAP because it was underperforming, and for it to be taken over by a not-for-profit operation "prior to its completion of its first year violates the good faith and fair dealing principals found in every Illinois contract," according to the CTU motion.
...
A hearing on the emergency motion for a temporary restraining order is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. today before Chancery Judge Leroy Martin, a CTU spokeswoman said.

CPS spokeswoman Monique Bond said the school district remains committed to the TAP program, but she stressed it is "in a pilot phase."

"It's not a silver bullet in and of itself for school turnaround, but, rather – part of a more comprehensive strategy," she said. "Therefore, we don't advocate that it become an exclusionary criteria for school closing."

CTU President Marilyn Stewart joined staff, parents and students outside both schools this morning as advocates protested the planned upheaval of their schools.

Tomorrow the school board is to vote on whether or not to close Deneen. If you plan to be at that meeting I would appreciate anyone e-mailing us to report what was discussed at this meeting.

CPS Fears $267 Million Shortage In State Funds

A report by Mike Flannery:

A big battle over budget cuts looms over the Chicago Public Schools. It could mean layoffs for hundreds of teachers. It could also mean that dozens of innovative and popular charter schools will be forced to close their doors. CBS 2 Political Editor Mike Flannery reports.

Sources tell CBS 2 that state education funding payments to the Chicago Public Schools are four months late and $120 million behind. CPS fears the state could come up $267 million short by the end of this school year. Next year could be far, far worse.

Among programs on the chopping block, sources say: all after-school programs, early childhood education, bilingual education and some sports programs.

Read the whole thing or watch the video!

BTW, a bit of a sidenote but I was at the Aldermanic meeting last Thursday with the Chief Administrative Office of the Chicago Public Schools and they recommend that Gillespie Elementary be taken off the turnaround list. Not yet sure what this'll mean for Deneen that still have Save Deneen posters in the windows.

Hopefully these lean financial times won't affect those schools in any adverse way.

ALSO, well this part is upsetting only because CTA is in the same boat!

Chicago Teachers Union President Marilyn Stewart says of the proposed hundreds of layoffs, "It's devastating. I think they're devastating public education as we know it."

CBS 2 has learned that Schools CEO Ron Huberman will be asking the Chicago Teachers Union for contract concessions, or else he'll have to lay off hundreds of its member teachers.

Stewart said our report took her by surprise. She insisted the union would absolutely not give back any contract concessions, even if hundreds of teachers lose their jobs.

"The teachers union will give no concessions," Stewart said. "No concessions. Next question!"

What do you think? Is this mere posturing with the teacher's union giving in at some point? Isn't it just better to just say in the face of layoffs that the school board and the teachers union will continue to negotiate?

This aspect is even more problematic I would imagine:

Marilyn Stewart's tough talk reflects the internal politics of the teachers union. Older veteran teachers control the union. And as they contemplate retirement in the next few years, they vehemently oppose pay cuts and also oppose giving taxpayers any break in the amount that's supposed to go into their pension fund.

I hear the groans right now!

A less than positive review of Deneen

You can also find this in the 6th's EveryBlock feed:

Deneen and it's staff and Principals are horrible!! They have 2yrs. of low academic performance and they allow students to be bullied. They are up for a turn-around. I hope the B.O.E. decides wisely. Our children's futures are at stake. Out with the old and in with the new. Change needs to happen quickly at this school.

Anyone else want to chime in?

Should our neighborhood schools have fundraising organizations?

Cross-posted at my other blog, John G. Shedd Public School. 

I've been wanting to do a post about this for a while. At least in terms of finding ways to connect our neighborhood schools to the surrounding community. If there was a way to do that then hopefully we can provide for public school students better than any public source of funding or even any politician can ever promise. Therefore I provide this example expounded below.

South Loop School is an elementary school with two branches located @ 1212 South Plymouth Court with a branch @ 1915 South Federal Street.

Here is a description of this organization:

Friends and Family of South Loop School

Friends and Family of South Loop School, Inc. is a non-profit 501c3 organization established to enhance the educational experience of students at South Loop Elementary School. Our primary mission is to provide funds for resources not available through the normal school budget but required to operate a successful school. In the past Friends and Family of South Loop School, Inc. has enriched the learning environment at South Loop School by paying for additional classroom resources such as teacher assistants to help increase staff to student ratio, a new science laboratory and new mobile lap top computers.

With this in mind we ask that you consider being a sponsor at our annual spring benefit. We have a few options that provide flexibility for your budget. Your company will have prominent name recognition in gratitude for your support.

Your Support Is Important

Private funding plays a key role in the success of our students. While federal, state and local dollars provide some of the public school's operating expenses, it is not enough to provide access to excellence that our students deserve. With the contributions from parents, friends and local leaders like you we are able to make South Loop the school it is today. With this support, South Loop has seen an unprecedented increase in achievement from 34% of students at or above state standards to 85% in just 4 years time.

Harlan Community Academy is close to an organization such as this, but it's in fact the alumni association.

Either way there has to be a way to connect school faculty, students, neighbors or even alumni to a particular school whether on the elementary or secondary level. Especially for the purposes of enhancing the education experience for our public school students and for the purposes of raising money so that they will be successful they further they go in the educational careers.

For high school, it might be important if our young people expect to go to college. Perhaps the surrounding community can help to raise scholarship funds so that they may not only afford to go to a university, but so that they wouldn't have to depend on student loans.

In any event what could such an organization do for our neighborhood schools other than enhancing the level of instruction or achievement at the schools? Do you think this is a good idea?

UChicago students need help on study of Deneen Elementary

I got this e-mail today. Looking for parents of Deneen students, Deneen alumni, and people from the surrounding community.

Levois,

I saw your post on The Sixth Ward about neighborhood schools and was wondering if you know anything about Deneen Elementary? I along with 3 other members of my class are doing a school study on Deneen and trying to see how it functions in relation to parents and the surrounding community. Additionally, if you know anyone who is a parent of a Deneen student, we would love to get their perspective.

Thank you in advance for any help you can provide.

Maggie Claudy
University of Chicago
Urban Teacher Education Program

PS: I've attached a copy of our director's letter describing the project in more depth.

This student is working on a rough draft of their research paper right now, but needs any information provided to them before they have to turn in their final drafts by December 7th. Our contact e-mail as always is thesixthward [AT] 1chicago [DOT] net (please remember to change brackets with @ and the dot or period punctuation) but it's also in the sidebar, please respond by sending this blog via e-mail and any information you have for her will be forwarded to her!

EDIT: You can send comments to her directly @ DeneenStudy [AT] yahoo [DOT] com she is further seeking

In addition to the perspectives of parents with currently enrolled students, we're interested in hearing from former students, former or current teachers, anyone who has an opinion on Deneen.

We also welcome anonymous contributions.

Help a college student out! :P

ARCHIVED NEWS: Making It - The story of Chatham part 3

This one is entitled "Chatham invests in education:Parents believe that learning holds key to children's future Series". You can probably already tell what the point of this article is, education.

During the very brief life of this blog one of the many issues that was worth exploring was education especially in the public schools. My only frame of reference was attending neighborhood schools back in the day.

This story again focuses on the relationship between the black middle-class and black lower-class:

Emphasis on education in Chatham has been described as "almost ruthless." The Rev. Michael J. Nallen, pastor of St. Dorothy's Church, said education for Chathamites is "almost like a god."

The teens seemed to agree. All were planning on college, and on business or professional careers, from computer science to electrical engineering.

"The opportunities are out there," said Tonya Berry, 18. "If you know what you want to do in life, there shouldn't be anything there to stop you - whether you're black or purple or whatever. You just have to work hard at it, and believe in what you want to do."

"It's not going to be easy," said Kenneth D. Daniel, 16. "But I feel if I just stay determined and don't let bad times get the worst of me, with a lot of hard work, I can make it. A lot more doors are open. And I've found, over the years, that if I put my mind to most anything, I can get it accomplished."

"If I start out on the right foot, I can make it on my own," said Yvonne Cotton, 14.

"It's going to be really tough," said Darrin P. Golden, 16. "At school they tell me that with a college degree you still might end up working in a grocery store. But I plan to make a lot of money. And I know I can. Times have changed a lot, from what my elders tell me. I don't feel it's open. It's going to be a challenge for the rest of my life. But I'm sure I can make it."

"I can see myself making it in electronics," said Dan Hayes, 15. "If you believe you can make it, you can do it."

"It's like my father always tells me," said Arthur Fykes, 17. "If you want to do something, you can do it, no matter who's there to try to stop you. Just go ahead and do it."

"You don't have to work twice as hard," said Lloyd H. Rice, 16. "Because your parents have paved the way for you to get an education. My mother tells me how hard it was to strive for goals in the South and all that stuff. So I think it's easier now, because our parents paved the way."

"I expect to work twice as hard," Golden said. He split a grin and added, "That's because I plan to be twice as good."

In at least one sense, these are all typical children of Chatham's upwardly mobile middle class. All seven are students at Catholic or private high schools. And that's cause for concern in some quarters, on two counts.

Chatham's parents are supposed to be role models for poor black adults. But what about the children of the poor?

The original idea behind school integration was not to have black children going to school with white children. The idea was to have poor children going to school with middle-class children whose values would somehow rub off. And that won't happen in Chicago if middle-class black parents insist upon sending their children to middle-class schools, including public magnet schools.

There's also a question of how hard a new generation of Chatham parents will work to improve their community if they're not involved in the public schools.

The parents understand this. And they regret it, they'll tell you. But they will put their own children first. And that includes Chatham parents who teach in Chatham's own public schools (which are above average). They bus their children to elite institutions. "Parents will pay any price," Father Nallen said, "because they realize education is the key to upward mobility."

The article goes from education to eventually the issue of crime. You kind of see a very pro 2nd Amendment aspect of protecting Chatham from the criminal element here:

Chathamites cooperate fully with the police. But they're also prepared to defend themselves, if necessary. Clementine Skinner, a 70-year-old widow, recalled the days when the major South Side gangs were forming, in the early 1960s, and she said:

"They came into this area offering `protection.' People met them at their doors with pistols and said, `This is our protection. You come back here, and we'll blow your brains out.' So they left Chatham alone. And that was very early in the game. If you stand up to these characters, they're just chicken."

Some would not approve of this talk, of course this lady was talking about what happened in the 1960s and then the culture was a little different than it is now.

Towards the end the article turns to politics as it was back in 1986.

"Chatham was the base of the black independent political movement," said political strategist Don Rose. "The middle-class people who moved in were economically independent of the Chicago machine, and they were the first people to rebel against the old politics. They elected one of the first black independent aldermen, Bill Cousins, back in 1967, and their neighborhood council was one of the pillars of the civil rights movement. They're the heart and core of Harold Washington's support. They register and vote - with vigor."

"They're thinkers," Nallen said. "They're sophisticated and educated and they think for themselves. They may not vote for you. But they're going to vote for somebody. They're people who take their civic duty seriously."

The 6th Ward that includes Chatham gave Washington his biggest majority in 1983, said Ald. Eugene Sawyer. But you'll hear some pointed criticism of the mayor's performance. His links to influence peddler Clarence McClain, in particular, grate on Chatham's sense of middle-class respectability. ("Lie down with dogs and you get up with fleas," Skinner said.)

"This is a community that's clearly expressing its concern," Rose said. "But I don't think Harold has lost his support. I think you're getting sympathetic criticism. And people shouldn't confuse that with disaffection."

Read the whole thing! There's a lot of material here!

Do we really care about education?

I attended my child's report pickup session today at Burnside Elementary . Based on conversations with several teachers about 50% of the parents attended. What was the attendance at the other neighborhood elementary schools?

Recently, we have had several CPS High Schools in the news, Fenger H.S.because parents were concerned about their children's safety and Robeson because of the number of pregnant/mothers female students.

In this report, there are nine CPS high schools on the list. How many parents came out and picked up their child's report card at these schools?

Worst Public High Schools in America

Ex-stickup man teaches kids to stay out of jail

The school referenced in the article used to be housed on State Street; you can see a remnant of the sign on that building.

Ex-stickup man teaches kids to stay out of jail :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Mark Brown

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