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ATTENTION:
CPS Community School Agency Partners
Last week Chicago Public Schools (CPS) issued a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for the Community Schools Initiative. All current community school lead partner agencies and other partners MUST RESPOND to this RFQ in order to be eligible to continue serving as community school partners and provide services within CPS schools.
There will be a pre-submittal conference on March 9. The deadline for submission is March 23 at 10 A.M.
All questions should be directed to Nanzi Flores, Department of Procurement and Contracts, at (773)553-2273 or nflores@cps.k12.il.us. |
Upcoming Events
Month of March
ISBE 21st CCLC Training
The Family and Community Pillars: Engaging Community Stakeholders
See description below
Friday, March 9 Resource Coordinator Luncheon Morton School of Excellence 431 N. Troy, Chicago, IL 12:00 p.m. - 2:00 pm. Friday, March 16 Community School Orientation Bradley University, Peoria, IL 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. Visit our calendar for the training description and to register
Tuesday, March 20
Common Core Training
Chicago History Museum
1601 N. Clark
9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
More info at right
Community Schools National Forum
Join community school and education reform practitioners and advocates to the 2012 Community Schools National May 9-12 in San Francisco.
Watch this short video for a glimpse of what you can expect at the conference.
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General Assembly Budget & Legislative Request
The Federation for Community Schools is finalizing our state legislative agenda for the 2012 General Assembly session. It's important to us that our agenda includes issues, both legislative and budgetary, that align with the priorities of our member organizations. We would greatly appreciate if you could share your policy and funding priorities with us by emailing Jennifer Doeren. Please note, you should feel free to share legislation or funding issues related to any of the community school pillars - academics / extended learning time, health, family supports, and community engagement - as well as broader community issues.
Did you miss our profile on Congresswoman Judy Biggert? Click here to read her thoughts on how schools and communities can best prepare students for a global workforce. |
Community Schools Core Connections Workshop
March 20, 2012 from 9am - 12 noon
The Center for Urban Education at DePaul University is hosting their 4th and final in a series of workshops focused on aligning out of school time programming with the Common Core Learning Standards. At this session, participants will receive:
- Guides for art, culture, literacy, and science extended day learning activities aligned with Common Core standards
- "Blueprints" for fourth quarter units and performance assessments integrating reading / writing / art and emphasizing CRITICAL THINKING
- Parent Workshop Guides
Cost per participant is $25.00. For more information and to register download this Registration Form.
Location for this workshop:
Chicago History Museum
1601 N. Clark St.
Chicago, IL
Parking voucher will be provided.
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Chicago's Community Schools Initiative Featured in Scale Up Guide
Last year, the Coalition for Community Schools published an interactive guide to scaling-up school and community partnerships. Part IV, the most recent section to be published, offers case studies of community school initiatives - including Chicago - that have implemented system building efforts that improve results for children and families.
The profile of Chicago's Community Schools Initiative (CSI) scale up efforts highlights the history of the work in Chicago, beginning with the Polk Bros. Foundation's "Full Service Schools Initiative" (FSSI). Impressed with the impact FSSI had on student mobility, academic performance, attendance, and truancy rates, local foundations and Chicago Public Schools (CPS) partnered to launch the Chicago Campaign to Expand Community Schools which helped support the development of 100 community schools. Today, Chicago is home to the largest system of community schools in the country.
Many forces have helped sustain the city's community schools. The case study discusses the role that the Chicago Coalition for Community Schools, the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration, the Federation for Community Schools, Elev8 Chicago, and, of course, numerous community partners and funders have played in supporting scaling up this model of education.
Read the full case study of Chicago's Community Schools Initiative. |
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Community Schools: America's New Village
Neal Peirce, columnist for The Washington Post Writers Group, recently published an article entitled Community Schools: America's New Village, which ran in February's edition of Nation's Cities Weekly. In his article, Peirce cites research on chronic truancy in high school to support community schools' approach of working with family, health, and child welfare agencies as effective intervention and prevention strategies. Peirce also highlights the community school work in Tulsa, OK and Multnomah County, OR to demonstrate the need for and impact of strong social supports for students and families, particularly the nation's most vulnerable. As the community school movement continues to grow in Illinois and across the country, we hope more attention continues to be given to this highly effective and common sense way of organizing existing resources around students and families. |
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