Creating More Routes To High-Quality Education

INCS created Charter Up! to encourage forward thinking and academic excellence. Charter Up! provides charter schools with the opportunity to showcase programs that impact their students and communities and have the potential to be applied in traditional public schools. Each charter school had the opportunity to submit an overview of programs that have helped produce outstanding academic achievements. Participants were encouraged to submit programs/ initiatives that demonstrated creativity or innovation in leadership development, governance, parental involvement, curriculum, enrichment programming and funding. An independent judging panel reviewed the entries and chose five honorees based on their creativity, innovation, impact on student achievement and representation of the overall charter school experience.

We are pleased to highlight the 2009 “Roadmap to Innovation” profiles, a portfolio of program models that are shared with teachers and school leaders at in-district schools as well as within the charter school network.

• Chicago Math and Science Academy - College Path Program
• Civitas Schools - Community Leadership Program
• Namaste Charter School - Peaceful People Tools Program
• Noble Network of Charter Schools - Curriculum and Assessment Program
• Youth Connection Charter School - Grow Your Own Teachers

To learn more about Roadmaps, and how to implement these programs in YOUR schools, visit INCS' website.

Charter Up! Up and Away!

Photo by Anna Bonick

Thank you to all that came out to yesterday’s fourth annual Charter Up! Recognition Ceremony! We had a wonderful event at the Garfield Park Conservatory with a roomful of charter supporters from across Illinois. Nearly 120 school leaders, community members and leaders, students, teachers and administrators, and principals from in-district schools throughout Chicago came to celebrate the honorees and to learn about these successful programs. We heard from guest speaker Jesse Ruiz, chairman of the Illinois State Board of Education about the impact charters have had across the state, and school leaders also learned from INCS very own Steve Zemelman how they can adapt and replicate these innovative programs at their owns schools or partner with a charter school to exchange ideas and work together through the Roadmaps Initiative. Also, a special thanks to CICS Ralph Ellison’s fantastic a capella gospel choir who helped close the event on a “high note”!

Be sure to read our Press Release about the event and learn more about the programs here!