Grant dollars allow CPS to boost Community Schools initiative

New grants to be used over five-year period

158 schools now will offer programming for students, adults.

September 22, 2009

Chicago Public Schools has been awarded more than $17 million in grants to maintain and expand its Community Schools Initiative, the largest such program in the nation.

The two grants from the Illinois State Board of Education will allow CPS to provide participating schools with the resources to implement academic instruction, cultural enrichment, social and emotional support, and adult programming at schools during afternoon, evening and weekend hours.

The grants, part of the U.S. Department of Education’s 21^st Century Community Learning Centers (CCLC) program, will be spread over five years and will allow the number of Community Schools in CPS to grow to 158.

The first of the two grants, for $6.27 million, will expand programming to nine high schools that will be new to the Community Schools Initiative. These include Fenger, Raby, Robeson, Spry Community Links, Tilden, Uplift and Phillips high schools, along with the School of Technology and School of Leadership at South Shore.

The second of the grants is for around $11 million and will continue programming at 22 existing 21st Century CCLC schools: Armstrong, Bethune, William Brown, Burroughs, Chavez, Crane, Greeley, Harper, Johnson, Kohn, Libby, Mayo, Sabin, School of the Arts and School of Entrepreneurship (South Shore), Sherman, Smyth, Sumner, Whistler, Whittier, Williams and Yale.

This grant will also provide programming at three new schools: Fulton, Howe and Whitney.

“In a tight budget year, these grants will allow us to continue to expand important school-based programs that create closer links between our district, students, parents and the community,” said CPS Chief Executive Officer Ron Huberman.

“The CPS Community Schools Initiative strives to make our schools the center of their communities. Through this initiative, our schools can become places where students and families feel welcome to come and learn skills, take advantage of social and medical services, or to engage in enrichment programs for personal or professional development.”

For students, the CCLC grants support creation of community learning centers that provide academic and enrichment opportunities during non-school hours. This aspect of the program is particularly aimed at students who attend high-poverty and low-performing schools, and is designed to help students meet state and local standards in core academic subjects, such as reading and math; also, to offers students a broad array of enrichment activities that can complement their regular academic programs; and to offer literacy and other educational services to the families of participating children.

Families can receive medical and dental care, counseling services and adults can take job training courses and take advantage of such opportunities such as computer and technology training at times more convenient to their schedules than during the school day, such as evenings and on weekends.

“These schools become the hubs of change in their communities,” said Erica Harris, Officer of Extended Learning Opportunities for CPS. “The variety of programs that are offered have a positive impact, and help remove the many barriers that can prevent students from learning.”

Each participating CPS Community School must partner with a not-for-profit institution or agency with a proven track record of providing successful educational and related activities that enhance the academic performance and development of CPS students.

All out-of-school time (OST) programs offered through these partnerships must relate to and support the school’s academic programs. Each Community School has a full-time resource/site coordinator and an advisory group that includes teachers, parents, the school principal, community members and a representative from the partnering organization, along with other key school and community stakeholders.

The benefits of the CPS Community Schools Initiative are further supported by data from a March study. For example:

Students new to the initiative participating in the typical number of days of OST programming had higher attendance rates (93.4 percent) than non-participants (92.6 percent).
The average CSI student participant gained .9 scale points more (14.1) on the Illinois Standards Achievement Test reading component than non-participants (13.2). Translated into instructional time, CSI added an impact of .7 months of regular school day reading instruction.
The average CSI student participant gained .8 scale points more (12.5) on the ISAT math component than non-participants (11.7). Again, CSI added the impact of .7 months of regular school-day math instruction.

“These results provide evidence that students attending CSI programs benefited in their reading and math achievement and had better school-day attendance,” Huberman said. “Additional study results found students in CSI programs had better behavior and a more positive perception of school climate.

“All told, the Community Schools Initiative is having a positive impact and we are pleased that we are able to not only continue its programming, but to expand it as well.”

A team from the CPS Department of External Resources worked with the Office of Extended Learning Opportunities to submit the successful grant applications.