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 schools spend more time on task

Representative LaShawn K. Ford poses with KIPP students

Almost all charter public schools have an extended school day and year. There are three charter schools that are year-round: Alain Locke Charter Academy, Namaste Charter School and L.E.A.R.N. Charter Schools. But even those that aren’t year-round have an average of 45 more minutes of instruction a day, compared to traditional public schools. For instance, a KIPP Ascend charter school student spends nearly 70% more time in school than a typical CPS student.

There was an article today on NBC called “Back to School, Already?” about Chicago Public School students involved in the Track E program, where students have the same number of school instructional days, but vacations are interspersed throughout the year into shorter, more frequent breaks. This minimizes “learning loss” for kids who otherwise would be out of school an entire summer.

“The district is expanding its year-round school program this year, more than tripling the number of schools that operate on the so-called Track E calendar. On Monday, CPS officials, including CEO Ron Huberman, went door-to-door, handing out backpacks and other school supplies while reminding parents that school starts far earlier for their kids this year."

Whereas Track E is a re-allocation of time, charter schools routinely provide students more individual attention and more time on task. These are a few of the great freedoms charter schools have that allow them to structure and support the needs of both students and teachers.

Illinois Mayors Meeting: Highways to Higher Achievement

The first-annual Highways to Higher Achievement: Illinois Mayors for Educational Excellence luncheon was held to urge mayors, municipal and civic leaders to reengage in education to improve the health of their communities and determine how charters can be a part of that improvement. We had over 40 guests in attendance including the Mayor of Rock Falls, David Blanton, Oak Park Village President, David Pope, Chris Ward, Illinois State Board of Education, Kevin McGrier, Broadview Trustee. We would also like to thank our INCS Board Members, Beth Purvis and Ron Giles for attending as well. We were welcomed by Tom Thanas, Joliet City Manager, who discussed how the revitalization of downtown Joliet was driven by innovation and partnerships, the same intentions and relationships that engendered charter public schools.

From INCS Board Chair David Weinberg and NACSA President Greg Richmond we heard the words leadership and opportunity. During the keynote address, Mayor Larry Morrissey of Rockford showed how taking the opportunity to lead can bring about real change in your community especially if you re-engage with education.

We hope the result of this meeting will be the re-engagement of mayors, municipal and civic leaders in the education process in their communities. Mayor Larry Morrissey has lent himself to this cause and shared the guidance and encouragement necessary to mobilize communities. INCS is available to support communities with resources and information needed to identify if charter public schools are one of the options leaders might want to use for improving educational options in their communities.

Check out the slideshow of the event!

2009 Charter Up! Video

Watch the video on this year's Charter Up! Honorees. And be sure to check out the Roadmaps to Innovation initiative!

Youth Connection Charter School: A Drop-Out Case-Study

"Each year in Illinois, close to 30,000 students drop out of school. At any one time, there are over 100,000 Illinoisans between the ages of 17 and 20 who are out of school. The consequences for these youth and for the state are dire: the unemployment rate for high school dropouts under age 20 is close to 70% and those dropouts who do work earn far less than high school and college graduates."

That is from Sarah Lieberman Weisz, author of Success with Drop-Outs, a new tool commissioned by INCS, that provides case studies on Illinois charter schools by independent authors. The first case study is on recent Charter Up! honoree Youth Connection Charter School (YCCS).

One of the first schools to open, YCCS was chartered in 1997, and has been a pioneer for supporting students aged 17-21 who have dropped out of school. They serve as an excellent model that has inspired similar charters statewide with their community-based programs and innovative educational services.

Learn more about the successes of YCCS and drop-out recovery by reading the case study.

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!

2009 Charter Up program descriptions

Here are brief descriptions of the 2009 Charter Up! Honorees. Charter Up! gives Illinois charter schools an opportunity to celebrate their innovation, passion, and successes with each other, as well as bring public awareness to the experience of charter schools and the positive outcomes they create for children.

In addition, Charter Up! honorees will have the opportunity to serve as a model for other in-district schools through our Roadmaps to Innovation initiative, a school-to-school mentoring program between charters and other public schools that gives each school a chance to collaborate and innovate.

To learn more about these programs, come to our award ceremony on June 2nd at the Garfield Conservatory. Contact INCS' Mireya Vaca at mvaca@incschools.org or for details.

Chicago Math & Science Academy
College Path Program
The CMSA College Path Program was created to support CMSA’s mission for all students to attend college. Goals of the program are two-fold. First, tracking student academic progress, and second giving all students exposure to the college experience. Program provides student one-on-one time with a College advisor, a college readiness class and SAT preparation retreats. One hundred of CMSA’s first graduating class in on track to graduate and attend college.

Civitas Schools (CICS Ralph Ellison, CICS Northtown, CICS Wrightwood)
Civitas Community Leadership Program
The Community Leadership Program is an initiative that effectively and strategically guides students in the development of their leadership and diligence skills. Various facets of this program address all members of the school community: students, staff and parents. All three parties are involved in the process. Parents participate in interactive workshops, staff teaches the importance of community service and students evaluate their strengths and areas of growth.

Namaste Charter School
Peaceful People Tools
As part of its holistic approach, Namaste considers the socio-emotional development of its students crucial to their overall success in school and in life. Peaceful People Tools teaches students about space awareness, self-control and stress management, managing anger, building empathy, proactive interventions and conflict resolution. It is evident through internal and external evaluation that Namaste’s Peaceful People Program leads to students being on task for greater periods of the day during academic instruction.

Noble Network
Curriculum and Assessment Program
The Curriculum and Assessment Program provides a structure for designing and measuring the teaching and learning that occurs at all Noble campuses. The gathering of this information encourages the sharing of best practices. Assessment data is the basis for quarterly network-wide and frequent campus-based professional development, conversation and collaboration among and between teachers, principals’ work with teachers and the superintendent’s monitoring of consistent academic growth throughout the Noble Network.

Youth Connection Charter School
Grow Your Own Teachers & Peer Advocates
Grow-Your-Own Teachers & Peer Advocates was established as a community-based answer to the challenge of finding and retaining a qualified teaching pool for high-need schools. YCCS’ initiative offers parents, volunteers and supporters with the opportunity to become certified instructors in their preferred school. Through a partnership with Chicago State University and a peer advocates program this program is a proven success.

Generation INCS: a note from our spring intern

Each year, as part of our internship program, Generation INCS, we recruit one to two charter school students to come to our office a few hours each week to experience working in a nonprofit environment. Some of their responsibilities include:

Assisting advocacy, communications, and school supports teams
Conducting research reviews of national charter reports, and
Updating data and information

Our current intern, Jasmine, graciously allowed us hone some of her technological skills and write a blog for us. Here are her words about her school and her experiences:

My name is Jasmine Lumpkins, I’m a sophomore at Young Women’s Leadership Charter School (YWLCS). I have attended YWLCS for about 2 or 3 years now. At first I couldn’t believe that I actually had to attend an all-girls school. My first impression was that there would be too many girls, and lots of drama. But I quickly came to the conclusion that I was wrong. So far, my experience at YWLCS has been a great opportunity because I get to experience many different things that many other schools don’t offer. YWLCS wants their students to expand their minds, to make and achieve higher goals. I’m glad that YWLCS offered me a chance to gain real work experience with the Career Field Experience program, which is also known as Internship. Without this I wouldn’t have had a chance learn about working with the Illinois Network of Charter Schools, what it’s like to have a job, work with people in an office area, and to learn more about how charter schools work. Now I know that, I can always reflect back on what I can do now that I couldn’t do before.

We're very happy to have Jasmine on board this Spring and appreciate the work she's done for us so far. To learn more about Jasmine's school, check out their YouTube video:

2009 Charter Up! Winners

Announcing the 2009 Charter Up! Winners

The Illinois Network of Charter Schools is happy to congratulate this year’s Charter Up! winners:

Chicago Math & Science Academy - College Path Program

Civitas Schools (CICS Wrightwood, CICS Ralph Ellison, CICS Northtown) - Community Leadership Program

Noble Network of Charter Schools - Curriculum and Assessment Program

Namaste Charter School- Peaceful People Tools

Youth Connection Charter School- Grow Your Own Teachers

Thanks also to all the schools that submitted an application. We received many great submissions highlighting successful and innovative programs that are making a substantial difference in the lives of their students and communities. Please join us in honoring the selected schools at our fourth-annual Charter Up! Recognition Ceremony, June 2nd at the Garfield Park Conservatory. To RSVP, please email Mireya Vaca at mvaca@incschools.org or call her at (312) 235-0798, ext. 17.

Check back soon for more detailed descriptions of the programs! Or view last year's winners in this short video:

If you can't see the embedded file, click here to view the videos.

Meet the Charter Schools Reception

Last week, INCS held our second “Meet the Charter Schools” Reception, which is part of the College for All Cooperative (CFA) and was designed to:

• Introduce colleges/universities to charter public schools as a new market for college recruitment
• Provide the opportunity for colleges/universities to learn about the distinctive character of individual charter schools that are part of CFA
• Foster connections between colleges/universities and charter schools.

There were 34 representatives from 31 colleges and universities in attendance, from Illinois, the Midwest and beyond. The CFA schools that participated were: CICS Northtown, CICS Ralph Ellison, DuSable Leadership Academy, Youth Connection Charter School, Noble: Pritzker College Prep, Noble: Gary Comer Campus, UNO, Catalyst, Galapagos, Perspectives and Chicago Math and Science Academy. Thank you all for doing a great job of presenting your schools and for highlighting the distinctive traits that make charters so unique, innovative and focused on strong college-going cultures.

One college representative said that the highlight of the event was, “Actually meeting the people whom help shape students' futures. It is an impressive collection of some of the best and most passionate education providers I have ever met.”