Earlier this month the first 100 Chicago Public School (CPS) students from Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy enrolled at Richard J. Daley College to take college-level Math and English courses that will count towards both their high school diplomas and associate degrees.  The goal of the program is for students to graduate with both degrees in four to six years.  The students are in the second year of the Early College STEM Schools (ECSS) program, a collaboration between CPS and City Colleges of Chicago (CCC) aimed at providing graduates with the skills they need in the modern workforce with a focus on information technology (IT). 

Goode is one of five CPS schools in the program, which was announced in February 2012.  The other schools are Lake View, Corliss, Michele Clark, and Chicago Vocational Career Academy. Each school has a lead corporate partner - Cisco, IBM, Microsoft, Motorola Solutions and Verizon Wireless - who is working with the schools to provide mentors, site visits, guest speakers, and project-based learning experiences for the students, as well as working with CCC and CPS to provide industry feedback for the technology curricula being taught in the classroom.

"The ECSS grades 9-14 model in Chicago is a testament to the innovation that comes when we combine efforts to bring the best elements of high school, college and industry together to create meaningful opportunities for students," said Stephanie Anderson, corporate citizenship manager at IBM. "IBM is proud to be a partner in this groundbreaking program that is opening pathways to college and career for its students." 

"Our five Early College STEM High Schools are an innovative model, a model that the President has pledged to help scale throughout the country," said Beth Swanson, Deputy for Education to Mayor Rahm Emanuel. "These Early College STEM schools are putting our kids on the fast track to and through college."

These 100 students are the first in the program to fulfill the eligibility requirements to dual-enroll at CCC, including junior standing based on credits completed and scores on the Compass placement test.  In addition, the entire class of 650 10th graders is currently taking Introduction to IT Problem Solving, a college course that has been adapted for high school and is articulated for CCC credit.

For more information, please contact Jason Li.