For Chicago Public Schools students, what is appropriate clothing is a huge issue. While about 80% of CPS schools have a dress code or uniform policy, students themselves usually have very little say in decisions about what clothing is considered appropriate at school. In CPS, school rules about clothes range from simple guidelines like white tops, navy bottoms, to…
Fernwood Elementary: A Hidden Gem in Washington Heights
We have the impression that many schools on the South Side of Chicago are trash, when in actuality, there are some amazing schools in our communities doing amazing things. Fernwood Elementary School in the Washington Heights neighborhood is one of them. I recently had the opportunity to tour the Level 1+, predominantly Black and low-income school and speak with the…
City Clerk’s Office Features CPS Student “Wall of Hope Not Hate”
CPS students created an art show on countering gun violence and anti-immigrant hatred. This week, the City Clerk’s Office hosts the Student Wall of Hope.
Here’s How Richards Helped Nahshon Williams Take Her Love of Cooking from a Hobby to a Career Path
Nahshon Williams didn’t know Richards, her neighborhood high school, had exactly the program she needed to turn her love of cooking into a career.
Richards’ José Guzmán Explores Electricity
Jose Guzman’s hustle and drive got him a job with a general contractor. He’s now planning to pursue training as an electrician.
Salvador Torres Takes A Career Road Less Traveled: Nursing
Salvador Torres plans to join the tiny ranks of Hispanic men in nursing. But first, he hopes to join ranks of a different kind–the Marines.
Webster Elementary’s Khalid Oluewu
Chicago Public Schools graduate Khalid Oluewu, now principal of Webster Elementary in North Lawndale, likes to offer his own story as living proof of what is possible for his own students. Growing up in a low-income, Nigerian-American, single-parent home in Uptown, Oluewu learned responsibility very young. As a student at Arai Middle School (now Uplift High School), Oluewu got his…
Cather Elementary Dreams Big for Health and Academics
“If you have a healthy mind, you can learn,” says Cather Elementary Principal Wanda Carey. And a healthy mind usually comes with a healthy body. So, at Cather, Principal Carey has been working hard on both health and academics in her eight years of leading the school. You could argue that Cather’s work on building a school for healthy bodies…