Meetings
Over
300 parents, students, community members, and educators attended the
March 10 2011 screening of "A
Race to Nowhere: The Dark Side of America's Achievement Culture,"
and principals panel at Kenwood Academy,
5015 S. Blackstone. Sponsored by the schools of HP-K, Hyde Park-Kenwood
Community Conference, Hyde Park Schools Initiative, and the University
of Chicago Neighborhood Schools Program. Follow
up will be scheduled.
The
next meeting of the HPKCC Schools Committee is March 8, 9:45 am with
the principals
Most
schools have "wish lists." Contact the school!
Open
houses etc.
Week
of the Young Child, under National Assn of Young Children will hold
a week of events at St. Thomas Apostle School April 10-16. Info Carol
Perut, 773 667-1142.
_________________________________
Local
Area 15 2010 ISAT preliminary
Only Canter,
Kozminski, Reavis, Shoesmith remain in Area 15 of HPK schools. Harte,
Ray, Murray and Carnegie in Woodlawn are AMPS or in other areas.
Pershing Middle (P) is the gold standard for this area and indeed
mid South middle schools, with Canter and Woodlawn Community not
far behind.
2010 percentage meeting or exceeding (P 83), Canter
80- dramatic improvement, Shoesmith 62, Kozminski 58, Reavis 51,
Price 48
% change from 2009 (Dumas 13%, Pershing 2.5 but
was very high), Canter +4.5, Reavis .5, Kozminski
-2.5, Kozminski -3, Shoesmith -8.
% exceeds (Pershing 18.5), Canter 11.5, Shoesmith
nearly 9, Kozminski 6.5, Reavis 2.
Change in exceeds (Pershing 6.5), Canter 3+, Shoesmith
.3, Reavis .3, Kozminski -.5>
% meet or exceed Reading. Canter % Pershing 83,
Kozminski 60.5, Shoesmith 60, Reavis 59.
Change meet/exceed Reading. Canter 3.5, Kozminski
-1.5, Shoesmith -3, Reavis -4+/
% exceeds 2010 Reading (Pershing 25), Shoesmith
13.5, Kozminski 8, Canter 7, Reavis 4.5.
Change in exceeds from 2009 Reading. Canter 1.8,
Shoesmith 1, Reavis .3, Kozminski -1.
% meets/exceeds Math. (Pershing 83), Canter 75,
Shoesmith 70, Kozminski 60, Reavis 55.
Change in meets/exceeds Math. (Pershing 3) Reavis
2, canter 0, Kozminski -5.5, Shoesmith -8
% exceeds Math (Pershing 19),
Canter 17.5, Shoesmith 6+, Kozminski under 6, Reavis 4.5.
Change in exceeds Math. (Pershing 9), Canter 4,
Shoesmith .5, Reavis -.2, Kozminski -3
%meets or exceeds 20010 Science. Canter leads all
at 85%, Kozminski 50, shoesmith 45, Reavis 43
Change in meets or exceeds Science. Canter leads a 17%,
Revis 7, Kozminski 2, Shoesmith -22.
% exceeds Science. Canter leads at 10%, Kozminski
5, Shoesmith 1.7, Reavis 0
Change in exceeds from 2009 Science. Canter leads
at 4.3, Kozminski .2, Reavis no change, Shoesmith -2.8.
Shorts
and briefs.
Summary
2011.
Kenwood
Principal Elizabeth Kirby and Urban Education Institute head Timothy
Knowles served on Mayor Emanuel's Transition Team. At the end of 2011,
Kirby moved on to served as sw area officer (principal selection was
under way at Kenwood), Emanuel appointed Jean-Claude Brizzard as permanent
Superintendent, and Knowles organization issued several reports containing
skepticism on schools advances over the years and urging more attention
to instruction quality, helping teachers become consistently affective
especially with diverse population, an to more fully engage parents,
community an partners. Emanuel meanwhile appointed a board of businessmen
and strongly skewed to moving to replacement of ever more schools
with charters. Another report indicated many buildings are underutilized
under a new criteria (which drew skepticism). The state passed reforms
including over how schools get built or replaced.
The Lab School's
Early Learning Center on Stony Island got started and a large donation
was received for the arts and performance component of reconstruction
of the main campus.
Murray, completing
realignment of its grades, received funds for physical upgrades. Its
playground suffered arson but was replaced. There was controversy
over some policies.
Ray was among
several schools changing principals (Shoesmith, Kozminski, Kenwood).
New principal Tatia Beckwith received some complaint about stricter
parent and volunteer entrance policies.
Shoesmith continues
incremental growth to excellence under Principal Gates (former asst.
principal) and in conjunction with the volunteer group Friends of
Shoesmith (which in turn has spurred an areawide movement for neighbor
engagement of schools and more arts and physical fitness). The school
was a recipient of grants from SECC for murals and learning gardens.
Kozminski experienced
turbulence with principal removal. New Principal Myron Hester is working
to upgrade the school. Reavis continues to use its large grant to
serve as a wrap-around school though struggle continues.
All the neighborhood's
schools have introduced innovation and increased their collaborations,
as revealed at HPKCC Schools Networking Dinners. A setback outside
the neighborhood was a problematic plan to close/phase out Dyett High
and Price upper elementary schools.
________________
Very
strong exchanges have been seen in the local newspaper about Murray
policies and principal. In part this appears to part of severe growing
pains over restarting 7th and 8 th grades (including need for more
science space) and a wider disagreement in schools over how far down
in elementary and middle schools to go to departmentalization (like
high schools where you go each hour to another class) and requiring
"aides"- AVID type organizing binders and notebooks.
Kenwood
Academy starts principal search. Letter
by Rebecca Janowitz and Walter G. Miller to Herald, Dec. 7, 2011.
[Note, the meeting that started the search was attended by 60 teachers
and 40 community persons and parents.] The LSC is now in interviews
and about to announce a community forum ffor the winnowed 2 or 3.
Schools
are now working to come up with smartest ways to use the growing school
day, especially since the 30 schools with the best plans are promised
additional funds.
Catholic
school enrollment is up, reversing a downtrend in the city, including
St. Thomas and Holy Angels.
Ancona,
like many schools, had a celebration of King Day by having students
research and present as well as special guests talk to the school.
Congratulations
to Murray on selection for capital improvements. Murray gets
$5.5 million for masonry repairs, ADA upgrades, and new windows, roof
unit ventilators, and interior finishes.
For a
sedond yera, Murray won top honors for its food drive with Chicago
Bulls. Naturally,
there have been mutual visits by Bulls to Murray and Murray students
to the United Center.
Elizabeth Kirby,
principal of Kenwood Academy, has been promoted to chief of schools
of the Southwest Side High School Network. Kenwood Academy's local
school council is committed to hiring a worthy successor to Ms. Kirby,
whose service to our school is deeply valued. We have convened a principal
selection committee that includes teachers , parents , community members,
educational support staff and a representative from the Kenwood Alumni
Network. The committee meets regularly at Kenwood Academy and meetings
are open to the public. Meeting dates can be found on the Kenwood
website, kenwoodacademy.org/,
and will be posted at the school's main entrance. A brief school-needs
questionnaire, designed to inform the principal selection process,
can be accessed at surveymonkey.com/s/7LM5CLT.
We invite everyone's participation through Dec. 23. We expect that
many people will have opinions, so please share them. The survey questions
wil also be included in the next edition of the Kenwood Kaleidoscope,
our school newspaper. Responses will be collected at the school's
main office. The principal search committee is co-chaired by Rebecca
Janowitz (community representative) and Walter G. Miller (parent representative).
We are just beginning the principal selection process, but expect
to have three finalists by February. At that time a public forum will
be held where the finalists will be introduced and they will answer
questions from the audience.
Students
from King Prep and UC Charter Woodlawn High School debated as finalists
in citywide Performance Trust debates December 10, 2011.
Akiba-Schechter
2nd graders have organized study around study and tracking of penguins
of Antarctica-- in fact, the Akiba flag flies there.
Kenwood
Band ("Jazz at the Wood) was reported to have really
shown at the 2011 Chicago Jazz Festival 2011.
Lab School
alumnus ('62) Sherry Lansing, who ran 20th Century Fox and Paramount
when they produced 3 Academy Award winning movies in the 1990s, has
given $5 million for the new Performing and Visual Arts Center at
Lab School. This will include a 250-seat state of the art multi-media
theater and facilities for the music, theater and visual arts departments.
Meanwhile, the Lab School is looking for principals for its Middle
and High Schools, its incumbents having been selected to run prestigious
schools on the coasts.
Bleachers
on the Way for Kenwood-- said to be going to be installed over holiday
or winter break.
According
to the June 29, 2011 Herald, the $59K the 53rd TIF appropriated in
May 2010 as its share in the costs of the bleachers and scoreboard
are moving through City council- after submission by Mayor Emanuel
(who visited the school to see quality neighborhood school education),
Finance Committee has approved it. CPS will pick up the remaining
$34 K. There had been an accounting glitch or shortfall in TIF funds.
July 6, 2011 City Council passed ordinance, shepherded by Ald. Will
Burns.
Brotherhood
mentoring project at Kenwood Academy turns students into
published authors of manual, gets national attention and emulation.
Holds a forum at DePaul in October 2011 (Gina Sanchez at 312 325-8375)
Reavis
7th
grader Rashad Thomas-Bland was interviewed and profiled on PBS' News
Literacy Project/NewsHourExtra about his audio report on the impact
of video games on youth. The program brings seasoned journalists together
with middle and high school students for training in how to sort fact
from fiction or non-significant. Rashad found that interviewing with
the right questions the right way to bring out significant information
and get the story hidden within the facts.
Shoesmith
- Eva Nielson suggests taking a second look at the advantages of Shoesmith-
see in alpha run below.
Remember
the plans for an end of the year Shoesmith carnival? Well, it's back,
now as the Back-to-School Shoesmith Community Carnival.
The
carnival will be held, Saturday, September 10 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00
p.m. outside the school (inside the school if it rains). There will
be games, bouncy/inflatable-type fun, music, and food. The big idea
is to bring Shoesmith families, teachers and neighbors together to
celebrate the new school year. And the goal is to raise $5,000 to
fund technology needs at the school.
Volunteer
Help Needed
I know September 10 feels like a long way off, but lots of volunteer
help will be needed that day. Can you let me know if you're willing
to volunteer for a shift?Volunteer time slots:
Set up: 8:00-10:00am
Carnival shift #1: 10:00 a.m.-12:00 noon
Carnival shift #2: 12:00 noon-2:00 p.m.
Clean up: 2:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m.
Volunteer jobs: Ticket booth, Manning an inflatable, Manning a game
booth, Selling food, Face painting.
Help us find more volunteers!
Could you help us find more volunteers--through your networks of friends
and neighbors, your church, any other community groups that you're
connected to?
Let
me know if you can help. And thank you.
Eva
Nielsen
eeniel@hotmail.com
773-548-3649
Little
Black Pearl Art and Design Center (LBP) is again trying to partner
with a school for shared space and program. Options
Laboratory Alternative High School (public charter) will occupy c40,000
sf and continue its mission of using the arts to reach at-risk kids
aged 16-21. Options is a branch of Youth Connections Charter School,
which has 20 schools locally. Options, expected to open Sept. 6, will
be designated a Fine Arts and Technology alternative school serving
ages 18-20, and is accepting applications at optionslab.org or at
LBP for 175 open slots. Principal Shalanda Holmes
recently completed the New Leaders for New Schools principal training
program at Kenwood Academy (where inter alia she shepherded the showing
of "Race to Nowhere" to over 300 residents and parents).
She told the Herald she admires LBP Director Monica Haslip's vision
to serve students who are out of sync with a traditional curriculum
and need to be refocused.
"Arts" as defined in this program includes animation, gaming,
music production, painting, drawing, sculpture, ceramics, and glass
blowing, plus a business commitment-- all students take a two-year
residency with partners such as Nike. The school (presumably through
its parent organization and/or LBP) has also partnered with the University
of Chicago, St. Xavier University, Museum of Science and Industry,
Columbia University, Field Museum, Howard University, and the Art
Institute of Chicago.
Ray chose
a new principal in 2011. Ms. Tatia Beckwith. Beckwith
was a teacher, principal and district and county school administrator
in the western suburbs.
Shoesmith chose popular AP Sabrina Gates. The LSC believes
with Ms. Gates as principal they can keep momentum moving, acknowledging
there were some false starts in the principal selection process. Ms.
Gates has served as a reading specialist in schools and Area 15.
Good news for Shoesmith on another front- composite scores
are up from 63% to 75% at or above standard (goal is 80%+) and attendance
is up to 95%. And they have grants, Friends of Shoesmith, and partnerships
with St. Paul and Redeemer and First Baptist. Extended day with recess
will be started. And the teachers are praised for a "What can
we do!" attitude.
Kozminski
LSC is about to select. 2 of 3 finalists (Myron Hester did not how),
Kimberly Henderson (AP at Stagg) adn Nia Abdulah (AP at Chicago Talent
Dev Charter) answered questions in a forum Aug. 22 2011, particularly
on how the school could become more competitive and attract local
families.
Hyde
Park Day School and the Sonya Shankman Orthogenic School will be building
a new structure at 62nd and Ingleside. Day School principal
Karne Saling is leaving to become 5th grade learning specialist at
the Lab School, so the Day School is seeking a new principal. The
Day and Orthogenic schools are loosely affiliated with the University
of Chicago.
Area restaurants
are helping Dyett High School through the Chicago Botanical Green
Youth Farm (of North Chicago Botanic Garden, Waukegan) program and
partnership with four local restaurants- Graffiti Pizza, Norman's
Bistro , and the two Z&H MarketCafe's in Hyde Park and Kenwood.
Students learned planting and growing, healthy eating habits, and
the outdoors an nature. They learned entrepreneurship by starting
an outdoor produce market they operate under their own business plan
and have become organic produce vendors. Funding is in part from Polk
Bros. Foundation and Quad Communities. The owner of new Graffiti Pizza
(700 E. 47th St.) related to the Herald how impressed she was that
they had a business plan and could offer organic foods at a competitive
price. Proceeds go to student stipends and plants for the 3/4 -acre
farm plot.
Kenwood
Academy students in 2011 set a record with the most Gates Millennium
Scholars from one CPS school (5) ever! The applications with multiple
essay requirements are a hurdle in themselves. Winners are Jenilli
Barrow, Genesis Davis, Anthony Johnson, Akiba Lott, and Destinee Hakmanpour.
Gates cover through doctorate and more support.
Kozminski
students won the Area 15 Battle of the Books for 2011. Teamwork is
stressed.
Canter
Middle School students were recognized for creative poetry, narrative
stories and informational stories in the Area 15 Young Authors competition.
The work demonstrated focus, elaboration, organization, mechanics
and presentation. Citywide is next.
Murray
is making changes to adjust to addition of 8th grade in 2011-12. Murray
is the only HPK magnet and added 7th grade in 2009 rather than feeding
into Canter. Since space and resources required eliminating preschool
(new referred to Ray but Preschool for All is on the cutting block),
Murray held back adding 8th until all the entered preschoolers cycled
into kindergarten. In order to be competitive, Murray insisted it
offer algebra I and eligibility to place out of high school Algebra
I, starting this new year. In order to build a new science lab for
younger students, 5th and 6th graders will shuttle between subject
classes, like students above them do. Science will also be available
to the lower primary students.
Murray
Language Academy, which has a special relationship with Japan, is
collecting relief aid for the Japanese Chamber of Commerce of Chicago.
send
to Murray Language academy, 5335 S. Kenwood Ave, 60615 Attn: Japan
Earthquake Relief fund. Through
April 6. Include your contacts. 773 535-0585.
Ray
is well on its way to principal selection, with a forum planned for
May 11. A 19-member committee is led by PTA member Lisa Samra and
has met weekly to winnow the 40+ applicants to four. Statements will
be given, pre-submitted questions taken, and a feedback form distributed
at the community meeting. In the following two weeks the candidates
will meet with teachers and the committee will visit candidate present
employment.
The committee seeks someone experienced in all the grades and curriculum
an in the classroom, working with students with specail needs, supports
teacher development and community fundraising, work with U of C and
support recess and active parent volunteering throughout the school
day, according to member Dana Roby as interviewed by the Herald.
Kenwood
Academy has not yet had release of TIF grant and CPS match for new
bleachers and scoreboard. Snafus with the city were being addressed
as of March 2011. The funds are said to be about to be released.
Good
News- most of the lost teachers and programs have been restored at
Ray and Murray, including Ray's World Language Magnet Cluster status
and cachet English as a Second Language (the only such offered near
the University of Chicago). Bret Harte and others had only partial
restorations.
Too
disruptive? many teachers and parents in HP schools are fighting the
First Period Breakfast program. They
want the time returned to study and breakfasts be available before.
Details in Schools
Hot Topics page.
Fall
2011, The Cambridge School will move from the old St. James UMC at
4611 S. Ellis to the much more commodious and school-ready former
St. Ambrose School at 1012 E. 47th St.
Woodlawn
UC Charter won the AA division debate championship and two members
are going on to national.
Kenwood
students displayed artwork in Washington before Arne Duncan.
Lab
School's John Lin will perform with members of the Chicago Philharmonic
May 15, 7 pm in Evanston's Pick-Steger Hall. chicagophilharmonic.org,
847-866-6888.
Author
Natasha Tarpley (The Princess and the Frog-Princess Tiana and the
Royal Ball) signs at Shoesmith May 21 at 2 pm.
Collaborations
are blooming (literally). South East Chicago Commission gave one of
the UC Neighborhood Beautification Grants to the Washington Park Conservancy
for a community garden and natural art project at Dyett School.
Kenwood
9th grader Breanna Ward was one of four grand prize winners in CPS
Black History Month 2011 essay contest. Award includes a $5,000 scholarship
to Roosevelt University.
Murray
will join 23 other CPS schools at TECH 2011 in Springfield May 5 2011.
The Fair show to leaders what technology is doing in the schools and
its importance in society.
Shoesmith
Principal Pat Watson will retire at the end of the year. A search
committee has been formed.
Shoesmith
in spring 2011 was awarded a $7,500 U of C/SECC Beautification grant
for a mosaic to be made for the entry area. Chicago Art Partners in
Education (CAPE) will secure the artist.
Also, Shoesmith received an Open Lands Building School Garden Program
Grant. A garden will be designed and built by a rep with the students
over summer; planting will start in fall.
Children's
Folk singer Ella Jenkins visited and performed at Murray in March
2011. Similar Billy Jonas did a workshop at Shoesmith and at St. Thomas
and did a well-attended community concert.
Canter
Middle School student Sebastian Augusthy received a Gold certificate
in the citywide 2011 science fair and will be in the
State Science Fair. Student Karl Germany received a Bronze.
Both are coached by Laura Vroman.
In
March Ray School had a fond farewell for retiring principal Bernadette
Butler and began a public search for a replacement.
Hales
Franciscan won the 2011 Class 2A state basketball championship.
Violence
in, around and en route to schools remains a serious problem. The
week of March 21, 2011 National Public Radio had a series on this.
Sadly, one of the schools discussed was Hyde Park Career Academy.
In Chicago in 2010 there were over 700 incidents and 60 deaths.
Sought
by Shoesmith to supplement Neighborhood Schools and other
Tutors:
The school
is seeking four or five additional people to do literacy tutoring
for low performing students in the primary grades (k-3). The school
has a specific curriculum for tutors to use with these students.
This opportunity requires a 10-week commitment, two 45-minute sessions
per week. The school can work with your schedule and can match you
with children for before, during or after-school time slots. Email
Sabrina Gates, assistant principal, if you’re interested:
slgates@cps.k12.il.us.
Read or Listen
to a Student Read
Shoesmith kids
need to be read to AND need a chance to read to you. If you would
like to commit to reading to a child on a weekly basis at a regular
time (during school is best!), contact assistant principal Sabrina
Gates: slgates@cps.k12.il.us.
Good
News - over 250 books have been donated to Shoesmith's library by
a business or organization and the neighbors' Friends of Shoesmith
is off to a good start.
Congratulations
to Murray Language Academy 5335 S. Kenwood for winning the CPS magnet
school/Midway Moving/Vienna Beef contest to collect food for the Chicago
Food Depository. Chicago Bulls will be visiting the the school (with
goodies and a throw-a-pie-at-the-principal contest), and the committee
in charge will get Bulls tickets.
Ancona
School has found a special way to engage parents-- The Book Club.
Parents say what they are learning about parenting and what kids face
today is eye-opening.
The
Reavis Peace and Leadership Council (a Mikva challenge council sponsored
by Elev8 and Quad Communities) attended the National Youth Summit
of the Dept. of Education held at Howard University in Washington.
Antheus about
ready to go on Bret Harte improvements, concerns remain including
playground shrinkage, construction impact, school still not ADA compliant
Herald, December
1, 2010. By Daschell M. Phillips
Representatives
from Antheus Capital visited a Bret Harte Elementary School local
school council meeting to get comments and answer questions about
its updated plans for the Solstice development. In 2008, Antheus sent
the city of Chicago a proposal to build Solstice in the Park, a 26-story,
142-uit condominium building, adjacent to Bret Hart, 1556 E. 56th
St. Before Antheus could pursue creating the building, the company
had to acquire a small strip of land from the Chicago Board of Education.
The Board adopted the Antheus proposal that would allow the company
to build Solstice but would also repurpose the alley just north of
the school which will lead cars to a new one-way drive path specifically
created for pick up and drop off of students, a new playground, five
additional parking spaces and usage of meeting room space on the Solstice
property by the school. A new plan is now being proposed that includes
a slightly smaller playground area.
Peter Cassel,
spokesman for Antheus, said the company is still in the process of
configuring the new plan. If CPS approves the new plans, Antheus is
expecting to begin work on the alley and school grounds in the summer
of 2011.
Bret Harte Principal
Shenethe Parks said the school was surprised by the news construction
would take place this summer because she thought the process "was
put on hold due to the economy."
"Although
we do not have enough units sold to begin work on the Solstice building,
we are interested in making improvements to the school and the school's
parking lot without regard for condo marketing and making preparation
to the site the Solstice will be built on," Cassel said.
Parks said the
parents and community members at the meeting had concerns mainly about
safety of the kids during construction. "They wanted to be sure
that dust and debris would not cause complications for asthmatic students
and that construction equipment on schools grounds would be secured,"
Parks said. "Antheus agreed to keep the site watered down and
to secure all construction equipment."
.
Herald,
others call for schools help, improvements after talk by
Jacqueline Edelberg (Nettelhorst turnaround book How to Walk to Schools)
Schools providing wish lists, some (such as Shoesmith) holding
open houses for community residents.
(The talk was
at a Southside Parents Network event at Shoesmith. Ms. Edelberg
talked last February at the HPKCC Schools Awards Dinner. Her model
was drawn partially from her experiences with Ray School and applied
to Nettelhorst on the North Side. After the October talk, the Herald
took it upon itself to invite everyone and organizations to a convocation
at the Neighborhood Club November 7, 3 pm. Here is the Herald's
follow up October 27. For wish lists sent by schools, see News
of Schools.)
"Rallying
for schools a job for everyone.
Our announcement last week of a forum to discuss the state of our
public schools -- an our public elementary schools in particular
-- sparked a number of calls to the Herald offices expressing support
for the idea. Our assertion that the community should step up in
our efforts to support public education in Hyde Park seems to have
resonated with parents, local education advocates and other members
of the community. We expected no less from a community that so values
its cohesiveness.
On the other
hand, Hyde Park being Hyde Park, we were not surprised to hear some
grumblings. Why now? Why haven't community meetings been held in
preparation for the event? Has this been cleared with the various
organizations in the community that work with the public schools?
We don't want
to overstate the significance of these grumblings; we do not want
to ignore any community members who feel they have a stake in the
schools already. The fact is that this is part of a conversation
that has been going on at least since our parents, teachers and
administrators marched last spring in protest of proposed drastic
expansions of class size and budget cuts at schools. Even though
-- and in a sense, precisely because -- those cuts proved to be
a political ploy [Herald interpretation], the buzz among parents
and many community members has been around protecting our schools
to the best of our ability from having such uncertainty arise in
the future.
At the forum,
to be held at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 7, at the Hyde Park Neighborhood
Club, 5480 S. Kenwood ave., we will make concrete suggestions as
to how the community might gird our public neighborhood schools.
We will announce a preliminary list of those suggestions -- influenced,
in part, by wish lists we are soliciting from local schools and
publishing as space permits. (Last week, we published a list from
Shoesmith; this wee, Bret harte has submitted a list to be found
on page 8. E-mail g.piemo@hpherald.com
or d.phillips@hpherald.com
to have your school's wish list published next week; deadline is
this Friday, noon.) We are also seeking suggestions from the community
-- write in and have your say. All suggestions will be published
here in advance of the forum. Our suggestions will also be the outgrowth
of conversations we are having throughout the community regarding
ideas to strengthen our schools.
Meanwhile,
the momentum for the event continues to build. The South Side education
advocacy group Southsiders United [Organized?] fo Unity and Liberation
stopped by the Herald offices last week to discuss involvement in
the forum, and the event is officially on the Hyde Park Neighborhood
Club's Facebook page. As mentioned last week on this page, the Hyde
Park-Kenwood Community Conference's Schools Committee is interested
in participating in the event and the Hyde Park Chamber of Commerce
has expressed support as well. We encourage additional groups and
individuals to sign on.
Given the vast
potential resources our community has if we come together as local
store owners, other professionals with areas of expertise, community
organizers, concerned citizens, parents, teachers, members of community
institutions an really all Hyde Parkers with our diverse array of
backgrounds and abilities, our public schools -- all of our public
schools -- should not want for local support as they struggle to
provide the best possible education for our children.
Let's get together
Nov. 7 and hash our how we translate this abstraction into action.
And
adds in editorial of November 3, Take time this Sunday to talk about
education
As the weekend
of th e Hyde Park Education Forum approaches, we are publishing
the third wish list we've received from a Hyde Park elementary school
-- this one from Murray Language Academy. The recurrence
of certain items from these lists suggests to us that there are
clearly needs that our elementary schools have in common. For
example, Bret Harte, Shoesmith and Murray all have tutors
on their wish list. The also share need for some basic office
supplies.
We can certainly
help to address these basic needs as a community. With the rich,
diverse background of Hyde Parkers young and old, we can surely
meet tutoring needs for neighborhood kids. Meanwhile, teh neighborhood's
stories organizing and fundraising prowess is certainly up to securing
some crayons and staplers.
Once we receive
all of the wish lists we are seeking, we will publish them all together,
indicating where there are common needs among the schools. In these
areas, we can begin immediately as a community to improve conditions
at our schools. We should also listen carefully to our neighbors
with current or prospective students in our schools -- they have
the most at stake in these institutions and have certainly thought
long and hard about both the good and the could-be-better qualities
of Hyde Park Schools.
We encourage
the entire neighborhood to come out... to address the state of our
local elementary schools. We will have parents and community leaders
starting the day off with a panel discussion, followed by breakout
sessions where we wil gather the ideas of the community together,
finally presenting all those ideas as the audinece reconvenes as
a whole and considers a plan for action. These ideas will also then
appear in the Herald, where we will continue the conversation.
Public
schools can be a defining element in a community. They can be the
critical factor that draws parents to -- or from -- a neighborhood.
If we can agree that our schools should be a top priority of Hyde
Park, we can bolster an already special and beloved community.
Bret
Harte's wish list:
General supplies (copy paper, pens, pencils, crayons, scissors, staples,
electric sharpeners)
Books for library (science, biographies)
Enrichment for math and science- manipulatives
Spanish program
Materials for English language learners (ELL)
Laptops for each teacher and laptop carts
Interactive white boards for primary depts
iPad for learning centers
Printers
Ink cartridges/toner
Copy machine
Laminator film (cold and hot)
Cp;pr poster printer and paper
Tutors
Sponsor professional development for teachers
Sponsor field trips (transp., admissions
Incentive prizes for Pos. Behavioral Intervention and Supports)
Funding for before school and additional after school programs
Playground equipment
Murray's
wish list
Human
capital
Science
Fair judges (Dec. 9 and 10)
Guest speakers to do lecture series for parents and staff on current
research concerning health, well-being, and growth and development
of school-age children:
Parents with school-age children to apply by December 17, 2010;
Cash to purchase classroom assistants;
Volunteers to tutor, mentor, or coach students in the after-school
program;
Partnerships with local businesses;
Community support with our school-wide fundraisers; and
Community members to attend our Local School Council and PTO meetings
Technology
Needs
Smartboards
for classrooms, Language Rooms and library;
Laptops with Cart for primary students;
Random access memory (DRAM) chips to speed computers;
Apple ipad cart for upper grade students;
Technology Professional Development on topics such as proper maintenance,
networking, diagnosing, servers, and distant learning;
Student-based software for after school program; and
Cash to purchase 6 sets of 2 speakers for smartboards to add quality
sound to lessons;
Webmaster for website
Supplies
Paper; HP Printer Toner; 6 sets of 20 books (about $1700) for our
Battle of the Books Competition starting in November 2010;
Cash for teacher travel to Professional Development
Facility
Needs
New classroom
windows;
New classroom carpets:
Modern furniture of teacher and parent lounges:
New or refurbished copiers; and
Artwork and artifacts for the building
________________________
Kenwood
students are featured in a video, "The Education They Deserve,"
by New Trier High students on the effects of uneven school funding.
Ray
and Kenwood graduate Jeanette McDuffie now owns and directs her own
film company, highergroundfilms.com on such subjects as the initial
reception of Dr. King's campaign in Chicago
A
low education budget is being "tinkered" by the governor.
CPS is finally getting real budget numbers to the schools.
Little
Black Pearl Art and Design Center has reached out mightily into the
schools with its public arts, entrepreneurial, and arts as a deterrent
to dropping out hands-on models. It has also partnered with Prologue
to set up (fall 2010) an alternative charter school for ages 16-21
in line with its special ities, the Joshua Johnston Charter School.
The CPS Dropout Recovery Arts Program has recommended the school and
the Board of Ed has approved. About 150 students will attend in fall
2010, at LBP while is search is made for a suitable building.
Kenwood
joined most of Illinois schools in being unable to keep up with the
accelerating demands of No Child Left Behind. It was placed on the
watch list because of insufficient yearly progress for three years.
Shoesmith
School conducted a test during the remainder of the school year (June
2-16) of limiting traffic on 5oth St. to school drop off and pick
up only for each 15 minute peak periods (morning 8:45-9 am). The
direction will be so as to encourage that kids will get on the side
of the car at the sidewalk. Proper notices are being given. The test
is cosponsored by the Kenwood Park Advisory Council. It was
reported to be very successful.
And...
Parents, the road is hard for child drop off, but the law is clear
on not blocking school entrances or streets. Some parents have been
so rude and such terrible drivers as to drive off other parents volunteering
for traffic control at various schools such as Ray, Harte (see next
item), and Shoesmith.
.
Safer
child drop off and pick up being tried at end of Shoesmith school
year 2010.
Herald, June
2, 2010. By Daschell M. Phillips. The Kenwood Park Advisory Council
and administrators from Shoesmith Elementary School have developed
a new pick-up and drop-of system for parents. The new system will
address the child safety and traffic congestion -- concerns the
Hyde Park community has expressed for more than 40 years. Neighbors
said on school days in the morning between 8;45 p.m. and 3 pm. the
streets around Shoesmith, 1330 E. 50th St., are clogged with cars.
Parents- many who are rushing to get to work or get other kids to
different schools - pull up on 50th and 49th streets, which are
both two-way streets, and let their children out of the cars. They
said kids running across the street, parents stalling or double
parking to make sure their children get in the building safely and
community members trying to get around the traffic makes the streets
surrounding the school, which is connected to Kenwood Park, chaotic
and dangerous places. The Kenwood Park Advisory Council (KPAC) invited
community members, Shoesmith administrators and the University of
Chicago Police Department to a meeting last Wednesday to come up
with an orderly way to handle school day traffic.
"I have
seen so many bad drop offs it's shocking," said Ellen Rosenberg,
wlho lives across from the school on 50th St. "And in teh afternoon
its' a nightmare -- traffic is completely stopped." Julie Marie
Lemon, vice president fo KPAC who lives across from the school on
49th street, said she's also seen some near-mishaps while watching
children dodge traffic to get across the street to the school.
Long time Hyde
Park residents Gary Ossewaarde and Margaret Kennedy said the community
has been trying to solve the Shoesmith school traffic safety issue
since the '70s, but they are hopeful that permanent resources will
be put in place to make pick up and drop off a safe process.
Queenola Smith,
sergeant with the University of Chicago (U. of C.) Police Department,
said for two days she monitored traffic on 49th and 50th streets
and noticed one main element missing from Shoesmith that schools
such a Bret hart, Ray and the U. of C. Lab School possess. "They
have volunteers and parents helping with traffic," said Smith,
who regularly monitors Kenwood High School and Canter Middle school.
She said teh schools also have crossing guards and "some have
two or three depending on the streets the schools are near."
Patricia Watson,
principal of Shoesmith, said that the school once had a crossing
guard but the guard was cut from five days to three days then removed
completely because she was told "the school did not have enough
volume." Second District Crossing guard supervisor Dorothy
Brown was unable to return calls by press time, but 21st District
Crossing Guard Supervisor Linda Heart said evaluations of the number
of students crossing the street and the amount of traffic on street
surrounding the school must be done by a crossing guard supervisor
and a police patrol division officer before a crossing guard is
assigned to a school. Sabrina Gates, vice principal at Shoesmith,
said after seeking advice from Bret Harte administrators, teh school
reached out to teh U. of C. Police department and received temporary
use of four, three-leg barricades that it plans to use to direct
traffic during drop off and pick up.
The meeting
concluded with the group deciding to block the north side of 50th
street between Kimbark and Dorchester Avenues with barricades and
have volunteers direct parents to drop their children off on the
curb near the entrance of the school. The group designated the last
three weeks of school June 2 through June 13 for a trial run of
this process. During the summer months a committee will be assigned
to look into obtaining permanent resources to direct school traffic
on both 50th and 49th streets in the fall.
Kenwood
Assistant Principal Michael Boraz has been selected principal of Lincoln
Park High School.
Murray
won return 7th and 8th grade to the school. What does it mean for
a Hyde Park schools vision or plan? And Canter, which although few
Murray students went there has attendance on the low side. See in
School News. and
Canter.
Meanwhile, questions are asked how Murray can ad 60 7th graders--
needing to do research-- while the library hours are cut in half.
Ray
school needs more neighbors to donate their RecycleBank points to
Ray (40 lbs = 100 points = $10) by March 15 to fully fund the butterfly/Amanda's
Garden with Ace of Spaces Community Gardening and the vegetable garden.
the
kids are really learning a lot. Check with the school and http://www.recyclebank.com.
June
2010: Ray School has made its Amanda's community garden also an outdoor
learning environment and learning space, thanks to help from City
Year (100 Hours of Power) and 50 Deloitte (IMPACT day)volunteers.
The volunteers also enabled preparation of the vegetable garden. The
volunteers also fixed up the baseball diamond, built a maze bench
in the garden, and an outdoor stage for concerts, readings an theater.
Students will sell garden produce for school needs.
The
HPKCC Schools Committee was disheartened to learn that as of November
2009 that Shoesmith, Kozminski and Reavis schools were placed on academic
probation. Reasons
include low attendance ratio and poor scores on one test. The HPKCC
Schools Committee has been in conversation with the school on how
we and the community can help. 77% of Shoesmith students are at or
below poverty level. 80% of the student live within the Shoesmith
district. The schools have been and continue to take strong strides.
Retiring
Ancona School director of admissions, Carol Parham, is honored at
Ancona's May 23 "Every Child a Star" benefit. Among
many of her services to the community is former membership on the
HPKCC board.
Fall
2009: Kenwood Academy Brotherhood mentoring project turns students
into published authors of manual, gets national attention and emulation
From the Hyde
Park Herald December 2 2009. By Daschell M. Phillips
Supporters
and members of Kenwood Academy High School's male mentor program,
the Brotherhood, gathered to celebrate its newly published book,
"The Brotherhood," a mentoring manual, last Tuesday at
a book signing at the school.
The Brotherhood
is an intensive school-based male mentoring program created at Kenwood
Academy, 5015 S. Blackstone ave., in 2004. Its purpose is to increase
the graduation rate of African and Latino males. The group has grown
from 25 members at Kenwood in 2004 to more than 300 members as the
program has established Brotherhood groups at several schools in
the Chicago Public School system, including Phillips High, 244 E.
Pershing Road.
The idea for
the group, which was once called Knights of the Round Table, was
formed by students Kyle McGhee and Howard Stokes, who wanted "to
help freshmen stay out of trouble and focused on education,"
McGhee said. McGhee and Stokes took the idea to Dr. Shelby Wyatt,
counselor at Kenwood, and he agreed to be the advisor for the group.
The Brotherhood
meets weekly after school for group discussions and activities
include leadership retreats and college tours. All of the boys who
have participated in the Brotherhood so far have graduated from
high school, according to CPS.
The Brotherhood
class of 2005 wrote "The Brother's Key" from a student's
perspective, according to Wyatt. Wyatt said his proposal to teh
group in 2005 to write "The Brother's Key," which was
part of an assignment to receive a grant, wasn't well received in
the beginning because it took the boys away from their regular activities.
he said after awhile the boys dedicated themselves to the assignment,
and,once they were done, he took it to one of the English teachers
to have it edited, and she returned it with a note saying, "The
boys corrected it themselves, adn it didn't need editing."
The American
School of Counselors Association, or ASCA, asked the Brotherhood
to expound on "The Brother's Key," which was
a mentoring manual tailored to the Kenwood group, and write
a book that explains how to create a school-based male mentoring
program using the ASCA model of academic, social and career development.
ASCA published the book this year [2009] so that counselors
across the Untied States could implement similar programs.
Derrick Smith,
teacher at the Northern Illinois University, Center for Black Studies,
said when Wyatt called him several years ago looking for a place
for the Brotherhood's leadership retreat, he predicted that the
group would make a great impact on school systems across the country.
At the book signing, Smith told Shelby that the group would
now impact another population of boys. "This is going to the
juvenile system," Smith said.
Smith
said that lack of guidance for African American and Latino boys
"is not just a problem in schools, it's also in the streets,
so we're going to have to take this to the streets.."
The Brotherhood
is not new to outreach work. At the book signing they showed a video
clip from Wilson High School in Long Beach, Calif. The school asked
for help from the Brotherhood with building unity and increasing
the graduation rates of its African American and Latino boys.
The Brotherhood
has also presented at the ASCA conference each year since 2006 attending
meetings in Chicago, Detroit, Atlanta and Dallas, and has been asked
by the group to present a 3-hour workshop in Boston in 2010.
Juan Flores,
freshman at Kenwood, said that by being a part of the Brotherhood
he has already learned a lot about becoming a responsible man. "I
was interested in the group because of its diversity," Flores
said. "I've learned to respect my elders and show courtesy
no matter what the circumstances."
For more information
about the Brotherhood at Kenwood, visit kenwoodbrotherhood.org.
A
testimonial from Jay Mulberry June 11, 2009
I
want to tell my Good Neighbors how wonderful I feel about Ray School.
I go
there every day with a kindergarten student in the morning and because
my wife teaches (taught!) there I spend an extraordinary amount of
time inside. And, since I am a retired teacher and principal, I kinda
can tell when a school is good.
Ray
is good. Ray is great. Every day I walk through I say "this is
a real school where real learning takes place and where there is real
love of children." I have been in scores of schools and very
few give off those vibes.
I am
crazy about the teachers, I am crazy about the administration and
I am even crazier about the parents who not only form a uniquely wonderful
support group for the school exude a contagiously positive spirit.
If you've never been to the Ray Cafe you have really missed something.
What
brought out this sudden motherload of enthusiasm from a proud pessimist
like myself? Years' of experience coming to a head yesterday at Ray
when I spent the whole day and saw nothing but quiet, order, learning
and good feeling the whole time.
So
what's the big deal? In case you missed it, yesterday was the last
day of regular school, the day before parties and picnics and report
cards and vacation. No school is quiet and orderly and filled with
learning and good feeling on the day before the end. But Ray was.
There was no lingering in the halls, no running, no teachers screaming
to keep order, no principal's office full of miscreants, no madness
in the lunchroom, no teachers just "letting things slide",
no calls for security, no principal glowering through the halls and
playgrounds. It was another positive, productive day at Ray and there
was probably not another school in Chicago that could claim that.
I think
that says a lot about our neighborhood school.
.
Does
your school seem to be slighted? Is only the worst side shown in the
media? First
find out what could be better, make sure you're involved and part
of the solutions. But our friend Rod Sawyer goes beyond this and gives
principles for making sure that what's in the media about your school
is (not his phrase) the caviar, not the carp. Basically, you have
to be proactive and feed media your material--the positive and what's
being done about the negative--and that these are the real scoop,
not someone's spin.
Adapted
from the Herald, November 17, 2004:
- Know
what you want your school to be known for and try to have it unique.
- Know
the local paper's education editor and her or him give material--they
can't write about nothing.
- Don't
be discouraged if not all your material gets in--keep trying to
make it appealing.
- Have
parents send in letters, prizes and favorable citations, etc.
- Take
the bad in stride, and if you're going to spin it, do it honestly
and sensibly
Top
Some
independent websites of schools:
Bret
Harte: http://www.cuip.net/schools/harte
Canter:
http:// cuip.net/schools/canter/
Kenwood:
http://www.kenwoodacademy.org
Kozminski:
http://cuip.uchicago.edu/schools/kozminski/
Murray:
http://
www.murray.cps.k12.il.us/
http://
www.artsonia.com/schools/school.asp?id=8033
Ray:
http://www.ray.cps.k12.il.us/
Shoesmith:
http://
cuip.uchicago.edu/schools/shoesmith/
.
Akiba-Schechter:
http://home.earthlink.net/~akibaschechter/
Ancona
Montessori School.: http://www.anconaschool.org
____________________________
Ray
School narrows in on new principal selection, chose Bernadette Butler
in 2007. Who will it be in 2011?
May
11, Wednesday, 6 pm. Ray School principal candidate
forum.
Ray
Elementary (in addition to Shoesmith) is in the process of selecting
a new principal.
They have narrowed the candidates to two finalists who will attend
a public forum on Wednesday, May 11th , 6pm at the school. Community
members are welcome. Please pass this information along to board members.
The selection process is different at each school but this would certainly
give some insight to members who wish to know how the selection process
works. The two finalists are listed below. Questions for the candidates
must be sent in advance of the meeting to Gordon Mayer, gordonmayer@gmail.com.
Deadline for questions is Monday, May 9 by 3:30 pm. Meeting 5631 S.
Kimbark.
Tatia Beckwith,
Assistant Regional Superintendent of Schools, DeKalb County
Since 2004,
Beckwith has coordinated programs to deliver social services to
students and address truancy among other activities in DeKalb County
and demonstrated her ability to successfully navigate the complex
Illinois State Board of Education. Prior to that she was assistant
principal at Highlands Elementary School in Naperville from 1997
to 2003. Before that she taught fourth and sixth graders, as well
as college students.
Beckwith explained
to the principal selection committee that she is looking for an
opportunity to get back to working closely with kids and teachers,
stating "I miss the teamwork, trials and triumphs that happen
every day in an elementary school building." She holds a PhD
in Curriculum and Instruction from Northern Illinois University
as well as a BA in education. She lives in Sycamore, Illinois but
plans to move to Chicago.
Michael Beyer,
CPS Senior Manager, School Performance Management
After teaching
math and science to fourth, fifth and sixth graders in two CPS schools
from 2005 to 2009, Beyer earned his National Board Certification
(recognition for exceptional teachers) and became a resident principal
at Talman Elementary. As the resident principal (a principal-in-training
position), Beyer developed his instructional leadership, helping
to refine instruction methods to fuel a range of measurable improvements
in students' math and other skills. In 2010 he joined the central
office to help run a new initiative, School Performance Management,
which provided tools for teachers, principals, and others to assess
and work to improve students' performance.
An Air
Force veteran, Beyer has a B.S. in psychology as well as an M.A.
in art history and a Master of Arts in Teaching. He is currently
studying to get his Ph.D. He lives in the West Town neighborhood.
He has an extensive personal website highlighting his educational
accomplishments at www.mbeyer.info.
.
Searching
for school namesakes; for whom were local schools named?
Who
are they? From
the Herald, January 26, 2005, with additions
[CPS
seeks living relatives of persons for whom schools are named to serve
as Principal for a day and help build connections to schools over
the generations. Much new information has already been supplied by
Hyde Parkers-and the Murray Principal.]
- Miriam
G. Canter. Wife of well-known area ultra liberal politico
and publisher David Canter, Miriam worked tirelessly in earlier
decades to keep the old Kenwood School going after students moved
to new Kenwood Academy and make it viable as Louis Wirth elementary
and middle school and with her husband were leading supporters of
its conversion into the middle school for the Hyde Park Cluster
of schools. She also worked for establishment and success of Kenwood
Academy. (Louis B. Wirth was a pioneering sociology researcher and
thinker at the University of Chicago who strongly influenced policy,
including as reflected (or ignored) in Hyde Park Urban Renewal.)
Miriam and David are survived by son Evan, who has served as Principal
for a Day.
- Walter
H. Dyett. A
highly popular and influential African American band teacher in
such high schools as Wendell Phillips and DuSable.
- Bret
Harte. Famed short story writer of mid-19th Century California,
probably best remembered for a famous jumping frog of Calaveras
County. At least on living relative is known and is being contacted.
- Kenwood
Academy. OK, it's a stretch, but Kenwood was named for
the Scottish estate of Jonathan Asa Kennicott's mother's family
(to "ken" is to see or divine). They pioneered and built
in Kenwood in 1856. Jonathan's brother John Albert was a horticulturist
and founder of University of Illinois and the U.S. Department of
Agriculture. His son Robert founded the Chicago Academy of Sciences
and explored newly-purchased Alaska with the vim of Louis and Clark
but not the luck. Relatives founded and engaged in the school (then
elementary) and Illinois Foundation for Education. Kenwood Academy
high school was built in the 1960s (designer Aero Saarinen) in part
as a split-off by people who did not want to send their kids to
troubled and crowded large Hyde Park High--actually in Woodlawn.
Hyde Park, once one of the best schools in the country, was originally
at what is now Ray School.
- Charles
Kozminski. When on the School Board in the late 19th Century,
this leading Chicago businessman insisted that a truancy department
be established to enforce the school attendance laws. Highly regarded
by today's principal! Locals in the late 19th century were miffed
that the new school was not named Egandale, after the estate-area
of Dr. Egan. No relatives found.
- Philip
A. Murray. Led the United Steel Workers and United Mine
Workers until 1952. Widow found, hopes are she can come for principal
for a day.
- William
H. Ray. The "Horace Mann of the Middle West,"
this leading educational thinker and principal of the old Hyde Park
High School in the 1880s, died in mid-career. HP Presbyterian Church,
where he was very active, hosted over 700 at his funeral. No relatives
found.
- William
Claude Reavis. Reavis was a leading thinker in the Education
Department of the University of Chicago, his career spanning over
50 years and his bride of the early 1900s dying at nearly 100 in
the early 1970s. Relatives found.
- Beulah
Shoesmith. A
highly revered math teacher at Hyde Park High who inspired many
to become scientists and mathematicians, left her money to CPS for
a school. No relatives found.
By Kiratiana
E. Freelon
Hyde
Park's oldest elementary school, Charles Kozminski Community Academy,
is named after a man who registers only one hit in a Google search.
But that one hit is enough to explain why every Hyde Parker, and Chicagoan
for that matter, should know him. A 19th century state law required
all children in Chicago to attend school for 12 weeks out of the year.
But without anyone to enforce the law, hundreds of thousands of children
still never saw the inside of a classroom by 1888.
It was
then when immigrant businessman and Chicago Public Schools board member
Charles Kozminski requested that a committee be formed to enforce
the mandatory attendance law. Three "truancy officers" were
later appointed to investigate children found on the streets during
school hours.
Lionel
Bordelon, principal of Kozminski Community Academy, 936 E. 54th St.,
recognizes the importance of his school's namesake, even if his students
don't appreciate it. "Right now everybody is [honoring] Martin
Luther King, but we should also include Charles Kozminski," Bordelon
said.
Cynthia
Greenleaf, CPS director of external affairs and research [position
now of Mae Jefferson], wants all CPS students to understand how those
Chicagoans or Illinoisan's with a school names in their honor made
a difference in the city's history. "We want our students to
be curious," Greenleaf said. "We want them to appreciate
that one person can make a difference."
Greenleaf
began to develop a CPS family tree three years
ago, hoping to find a living relative for each of the approximately
300 schools named after significant Chicago business people, public
officials, teachers and superintendents. By October, 2004, Greenleaf
had found the relatives of four Hyde Park area schools: Kenwood Academy,
William Claude Reavis Elementary, Dyett Academic Center, and Miriam
G. Canter [Middle School[. She used resources from each school as
well as the internet. She has yet to find a living relative of Charles
Kozminski.
Once
Greenleaf finds the relatives, she only expects them to do one thing--serve
as a principal for a day of their respective school. "Schools
think it is good to have people come from the outside and talk about
their experience," Greenleaf said.
Kenwood
Academy, 5015 S. Blackstone Ave., bears the name of the neighborhood,
not a person. So Greenleaf decided to search for the neighborhood's
founder Jonathan Asa Kennicott. A simple Google search led her to
www.kennicott.com, Jonathan's great-great-nephew Harrison Kennicott.
The
Kennicott family prove to be pioneers in several areas of Chicago
history. Jonathan Asa Kennicott built a house in a [fledgling] south
lakeshore suburb in 1856 and named it Kenwood, after the home of his
mother's family in Scotland. Asa's brother John Albert Kennicott,
a horticulturist, helped establish the University of Illinois and
the U.S. department of Agriculture. John Albert's son Robert Kennicott
founded the Chicago Academy of Sciences and explored Alaska in the
mid 1800s. "they keep popping up," said Harrison's wife
Katie Kennicott of her husband's distinguished ancestors. "That
family was instrumental in settling Illinois. Mine came over on the
potato bus."
Katie
Kennicott's dedication to foundations like the Chicago Foundation
for Education led her to jump at the opportunity to serve as Kenwood
Academy High School's principal on principal-for-a-day in October,
1004.
Ten
blocks west of Kenwood Academy sits the Walter H. Dyett Academic Center,
555 E. 51st St. which pays homage of one of the most prominent high
school band teachers. The perfectionist taught music to students at
Phillips High School and DuSable High School. His students included
saxophonists like Gene Ammons, Von Freeman, and Johnny Griffith, violinist
Leroy Jenkins, pianist Nat King Cole, bass player Wilbur Ware and
vocalist Dinah Washington. His wife, Gwendolyn Dyett Burkes still
lives in Chicago. Last year the 89 year old participated in the principal-for-a-day
event at Dyett Academic Center. She said she did not expect the board
of education to name a school after her husband in 1972, three years
after his death. "I guess they wanted to reward him for all his
years of service to the board," Burkes said.
Greenleaf
had no trouble finding the relatives of Miriam G. Canter, namesake
of Miriam Canter Middle School, 4959 S. Blackstone Ave. Canter's husband
David remained active in the school as a local school board member
and supporter up until his death late last year. Miriam's son Evan
Canter wants to continue the active participation of the family.
Miriam
Canter helped save the school building from demolition when Kenwood
students moved into their new high school next door. Miriam Canter
and the local school council convinced the school board to preserve
the building for six through eighth-grade students at Shoesmith. Evan
Canter participated in the October 2004 principal-for-a-day ceremony
along with Michelle Obama, wife of U.S. Sen Barack Obama.
He's
quick to brush off the importance of his mother's legacy. "The
legacy should be that it become an excellent school that happens to
have my mother's name on it, he said." In the future Evan Canter
hopes to assist the school in the use of computers and help with fundraising.
But he is willing to do anything to help the school achieve its goals.
"I'll do anything from sweeping the floor to cleaning the windows
to help the school," he said.
These
days local school councils choose the name of their schools,
and Canter Middle School is the only school in Hyde Park whose local
council chose to rename [its] school [-] from Louis Wirth. Miriam
Canter died in 1999 and a her memorial service, [now] former principal
Jimmy Johnson announced that he would initiate the name change from
Louis Wirth to Miriam G. Canter. The council voted to change the name
in 2000. [Wirth was a noted sociologist and social planner at U of
C who challenged many then-accepted notions.]
Greenleaf
hopes that the CPS History Fair Challenge will encourage more students
to learn about their school names. Students who complete a history
fair project on their school namesake for the Chicago Metro History
Fair will receive a certificate and the best project will receive
an award.
The
students are not required to find the relatives of
their school namesakes. It would just be a bonus, Greenleaf said.
"Learning how to research should be more important",
she added. "Finding the relatives is just a little bonus of taking
advantage of important history.."
But
in the meantime, Greenleaf will continue to search for as relative
of Charles Kozminski.
Students
or adults who find living relative for whom schools are named should
contact Cynthia Greenleaf at the CPS Office of External Partnerships
at [773] 553-1547 or email cgrealeaf@cps.k12.il.us.
To
History Fair Page Top
____________________
News
from the schools by alpha listing. Public then nonpublic
.
.
.
