News of Kenwood Academy, Chicago

Brought to you by the Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference, its Schools Committee and website www.hydepark.org and is not by Kenwood Academy or Chicago Public Schools. Join our Schools Committee/contact the chairman. Join the Conference: your dues help us do our work as a member-responsible neighborhood association. Contact the Conference.

This page presents material about Kenwood and its programs. Material comes largely from the school, media features, and discussion at school open houses and council meetings.
Kenwood's website: http://www.kenwoodacademy.org.
See commentary on how Kenwood forges ahead in 2008.
Kenwood raising the bar in '09: by former LSC chair Cynthia Liberty.

Kenwood's LSC now meets 2nd Tuesdays, 6:30 pm, library.

LSC winners April 2010:

Parent: Walter Miller (177), Chuck Smith (164), Ismail Turay (135), Rowena Haymer (125), Kenety Gee (122), Connie Straughter (95)
Community: Camille Hamilton-Doyle (213), Rebecca Janowitz (194)
Teacher: Elizabeth Brown (47), Adam Kubey (45)
Student: Methuselah Gee (393)

KENWOOD ACADEMY TWO-YEAR SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PLAN (SIPAAA).
View/print pdf of flyer about Kenwood Academy and Kenwood SIPPAA.
See on budget and perceptions.

Assistant Principal Michaiel Boraz has been selected Prinipal of Lincoln Park High School.

There were slightly different visions for dealing with the distressful budget circumstances, one stressing saving as many teacher positions as can b, the other saving essential support for students. With student support for the latter, the tilt is in favor of the latter, and trusting the school administration.

June 12 is the date for Kenwood Academy's golf outing to save the sports programs. At Joe Louis Golf Course in Riverdale. Call C.D. Rodgers at 773 220-0238, cdrodgers1@cps.edu.

Volunteer speakers are needed to motivate high school students and tell them how you reached your career or other dreams. June 15, 9:30-11:35 am, Kenwood Academy Decision of the Decade Career Fair. Contact ASAP Debra Reid at 773 535-1370 or dareid@cps.edu.

Discussion of interactions and relationships between Kenwood and the community (including ideas from open house discussion between residents, businesspersons, teachers, students, administrators) and assessments of the state of the school, and info about the principal search, are found in the Kenwood section of News of Schools, and other hydepark.org pages referenced there. 

Kenwood Academy's digital kiosk. Gary Ossewaarde

Kenwood Academy views. Gary Ossewaarde

 

 

Kenwood Academy High School

5015 S. Blackstone Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60715. 773 535-1350, Fax 773 535-1408.
CEEB Code: 140-917.

Elizabeth Kirby , Principal
Colleen Conlan, Tam Boston Hill, Ph.D, William McClellan, Assistant Principals
Student body c. 1700
Att. area: Cottage-Lake, 47th to 59th

Kenwood Academy

Kenwood Academy

 

 

In this page:

Events and meetings

Local School Council meets now 2nd Tuesdays at 6:30 pm in the Library.

July 30- Kenwood Academy all-class and community reunion celebrating 4 decades of excellence. Starting 5 pm. 5015 S. Blackstone.

More parents are always needed to help out in the school and to cheer on their kids in their events and games. A parent or caregiver's involvement in a school and the lives of the children makes the difference. There are also many committees parents and others can serve on. Find out about the PAC.

SIPAAA (school improvement planning for advancing academic achievement) was passed by the LSC in May 2010. This plan sets school goals and determines use of resources over a 2-year period.
SIPAA represents the voices of all contributing stakeholders- students, parents, teachers, community members -- all stakeholders are welcome.

Over the Kenwood SIPAAA, there were slightly different visions for dealing with the distressful budget circumstances, one stressing saving as many teacher positions as can be saved, the other saving essential support for students. With student support for the latter, the tilt is in favor of the latter, and in trusting the school administration. The SIPAAA, passed by the LSC, becomes a living document July 1, from that time adjustments are possible.

Herald coverage of the May 1 meeting and more, May 5, 2010. By Daschell M. Phillips

Funding allocation for teaching versus non-teaching positions was discussed Saturday during the Kenwood Academy High School local school council's School Improvement Plan for Advancing Academic Achievement (SIPAAA) budget town hall meeting last weekend.

Due to state budget cuts and Chicago Public Schools' $1 billion deficit, public schools must cut funding from $770 to $735 per child and boost class sizes to 35 students per class. CPS has also mandated Kenwood, 5015 S. Blackstone Ave., to close 11 teaching positions. The school is expecting to lose three teachers to retirement but must chose which remaining positions it will close.

Elizabeth Kirby, principal at Kenwood, said no decisions have been made on which teachers will be cut. "The fact that we have to cut four or five is going to be hard for us next year," said Kirby, who said she highly anticipates that the state will give teh schools more money and the positions will be back open.

Community members were concerned with the local school council's or LSC, budgeting of a high number of security guards and other student support staff and wondered if that was at the expense of keeping teachers.

The SIPAAA budget, roughly $1.5 million of the school's $13 million budget, is set by the LSC each year. According to Kenwood's projected budget, $71,000 is spent per teacher, one in math and a new position this year for science; tow On-Track support staff members are paid $74,000 each a year and the security budget includes $288,0000 in salaries for six guards and a additional $83,000 for overtime and special events.

Cynthia Leung, a teacher at Kenwood, said, "It's important to protect and support teachers because if there are no teachers, there is no school. Kirby said that the cutting of the teaching positions were an order from Chicago Board of Education and "if we don't choose which positions get cut, the board will come in and choose who goes."

Aileen Gamez, assistant principal at Kenwood, said she is thankful that CPS called for teacher cuts and not for security cuts because that would not benefit the school's climate. Each year there are a multitude of reports of school violence, many resulting in the death of CPS students. So far, none of these incidents have involved Kenwood students. Kirby said the school wants to continue to take preventive measures.

Students and parents spoke out in support of the freshman and sophomore On-Track coordinators and Michelle Jackson, Inez Jones and teh postsecondary coach Julie Stanton to assure the community that these student services are as equally important as having teachers in the classrooms.

In response to the high dropout rate among CPS students, the Freshman On-Track program was developed to provide tutoring and study support and to help students understand the quarterly and class credit systems. The Sophomore On-Track program was recently added as a continued support targeting second year students, and the coach helps students with the college enrollment process.

Ashaki Howard, junior class president at Kenwood, said losing the On-Track coordinators goes against the school's goals, described in the motto "Our Mission is College." "If we don't have them, we don't have college," Howard said. So losing them is not an option."

Rakia Davis, sophomore at Kenwood, said she was a good student in the 7th and 8th grade at Kenwood Academy, but once she came to the high school, Jackson helped her to become an excellent student by motivating her to improve her attendance and turn in her homework, and Jones helped her by challenging her to take advance placement classes. Since working with them Davis said, "my GPA increased from a 3.0 to a 4.24."

Shannon Gray, parent of a sophomore and senior at Kenwood, said losing the On-Track programs would be a huge disservice to the school because many of the students wouldn't know about the post secondary opportunities available to them if it weren't for the On-track programs. Gray reminded the community that recent Kenwood graduate Derrius Quarles, who received national press recognition for being awarded over $1 million in college scholarships, wouldn't have done it without the help of the On-Track coordinators.

Sheila Wesonga, president of the parent advisory council (PAC) at Kenwood, said teh debate between supporting teachers versus non-teaching staff may be averted if teh LSC goes after the Title I funding they were supposed to receive from the state earlier this year. "I'm surprised to find that Kenwood did not get funding for teacher," Wesonga said. "The PAC received its funding, so it is my understanding that teh school wil get it for teachers." In April 2009, the U.S. Department of Education announced that Illinois would receive $1.4 billion as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Kenwood was awarded Title I stabilization funding in which 95 percent would go to the school for teachers adn 1 would go to the PAC for parent involvement projects. PAC received its funding in February but, according to the LSC, Kenwood has not received its part of the funding. LSC President Ismail Turay said the LSC was not aware that they were supposed to receive the funding and would investigate.

Herald editorial May 5 2010- Sorting the facts at Kenwood

Rumors were flying across the neighborhood last week about Kenwood Academy's budget for teh upcoming year. Kenwood's principal, Elizabeth Kirby, had planned a Saturday town hall meeting to coincide with the local school council's completion of its portion of the school's budget last week. Talk on the street was of a swollen administrative budget and teacher layoffs.

The reality, it turns out, as is so often the case, is not quite in line with the gossip surrounding it. Two unrelated events coincided to create the appearance of a problem. CPS CEO Ron Huberman has instructed all Chicago public school principals to write budgets for the next year that assume 35 students per classroom in them, just like every other public school in Chicago. Meanwhile, the staff supported by the budget is clearly perceived by the dozens of students who attended Kirby's Saturday morning meeting as invaluable to their development. really, that should end the matter -- anyone working in teh schools who is beloved by students deserves the support of the community.

Kirby suspects Huberman's directive is political, that making the threat of packed classrooms will inspire parents and others to contact their political representatives and pressure them to get COS teh money it needs to close its budget gap. We are inclined to agree with her. The intersection of public education and politics is an ugly one. We might wish that using our young people to score political points would be beneath our elected and appointed officials, but that's just not the reality.

We applaud the parents and community members that are beating the drum to get their neighbors to support local public schools. These schools are a critical resource in our community, and everyone is affected when they are victimized by politicians and bureaucrats. Let's keep our eye on them.

Kirby has proven an effective principal in all sorts of ways. She's asking us to accept her judgment about how best to budget for the school and handle CPS politics. We have every reason to trust her. We should.
Index.

Alderman Preckwinkle says budget crisis not a reason to cut support at Kenwood (although others say keeping teachers first it the top priority and consolidating tasks should be tried, like fewer asst. principals not teaching could buy more teachers fort the buck).

Hyde Park Herald May 12 2010- by Ald. Preckwinkle

Everyone who is concerned about public education has watched the current round of budget cuts at the Chicago Public Schools with deep frustration. I share th is concern not just as an elected official but also as a former teacher and the grandmother of current CPS students.

Kenwood Academy is a particular focus of concern for me because of what the school has been able to accomplish for a large and diverse student population. Kenwood provides a fast track to academic excellence for students entering its Academic Center program. The test scores posted by the 'preppies', seventh and eighth graders, could not get any higher. (All of the Academic Center students meet or exceed state standards.) Students entering through this program go on to excel at Kenwood. Other students enter though the school magnet program that requires strong test scores. Still other students enter because they have graduated from the eighth grade and reside in teh attendance area.

Some students enter Kenwood insufficiently prepared for high school. But they still have a meaningful opportunity to succeed. Kenwood has put programs in place to retain male students, to encourage mid-tier students to tackle harder classes and to keep students on track to graduate.

Many of us have been disappointed by CPS' failure to lower class size. Many Hyde Parkers who choose private schools cite class size as a major factor in their decision. Ironically, class size is higher at some of our best performing elementary schools than it is at some of the lower performing. Traditionally, schools such a Ray and Murray do not qualify for the funding streams that have been used to lower class size in other schools. The large classes have not limited student achievement, but they are still a legitimate concern.

Looking at the high schools, we see that the teacher/student ratio is important and deeply affects teh quality of life for staff and students but it is not the only factor influencing student success. Regardless of class size we need effective teachers and effective support. Supports include professional development , clerks adn miscellaneous staff to help around the building with things like copying, help control students during periods and in the lunch room, extra security guards, freshman an sophomore on-track coordinators, computer leases, a post-secondary coach and college test consulting.

Using discretionary funding to retain teachers could improve the ratio by one or two. But would also wipe out all funding for the desperately needed supports for students and teachers. Completely removing all supports would do far more damage than allowing the ratio to increase slightly.

The current administration at Kenwood is committed to making the effects of the cuts as small as possible. Elizabeth Kirby is the principal of Kenwood Academy. Kenwood has more than 1,600 students. Nevertheless Ms. Kirby teaches African history. Mr. Boraz, an assistant principal, teaches an AVID section. I deeply respect the AVID program which, if properly implemented, provides mid-tier students with a clear path to academic achievement, the honor roll and college. The other assistant principals and certified staff are also prepared to pick up classes next year if need be.

Chicago is full of high schools with less than three hundred students whose administrators would never consider teaching a class. Kenwood's administration actually believes that teaching is the most important activity at a school and acts on that belief. They expect to be teaching more classes this fall if more funding does not come through.

Let's work together to support student achievement. You can help by supporting Kenwood's 1st Annual "Save Our Sports" Golf Outing at Joe Louis Golf Course in riverdale on June 12. For more information contact C.J. Rodgers at 7873 220-0238.

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The 53rd St. TIF Advisory Council voted May 10, 2010 to help with new risers, scoreboard for the Kenwood gym

Hyde Park Herald, May 12, 2010. By Sam Cholke

The 53rd Street Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Advisory Council committed May 10 to paying for new bleachers and a new scoreboard at Kenwood Academy. "They already have half the money; we're competing the whole pie," said Howard Males, chair of the board.

In total, the council approved $51,200 for Kenwood Academy, 5015 S. Blackstone Ave. Chicago Public Schools has already committed $35,000 towards the bleachers. The council will cover the entire $7,910 for a new scoreboard [for a total of $59,110].

Kenwood Principal Elizabeth Kirby said she requested the funds because the bleachers were becoming unsafe and the scoreboard was nearly unusable. "You have to avoid a splinter when you sit on them,"Kirby said of the bleachers. The council voted unanimously to approve the funding for Kenwood.... Top

Kenwood received "Silver" rating from US News and World Report in 2009. The School is going for gold:

A full press is on to identify children having trouble and what the real issues are-- full social and environment as well as academic approach ("wrap around"), with everyone including parents at the table. The school is also working to get at the bottom of issues as they arise, from attendance to this or that aspect of grammar where a particular child, classes, or the student body as a whole are having difficulty.
Freshmen on track is at 89% and a full press is on, also with sophomores. Students are engaged to stay after school for extra help and put with a teacher with whom they have rapport.
Some barriers: effective transportation/CTA to get kids to school on time, including with cuts coming in February. The state wants the school to recruit more students with disabilities.

Some reasons why the 7-th 8th grade Kenwood Academic Center has 100% at or above standards and students ace the ISAT. Ranked Number 1 in Illinois in 2009.

The enter has 189 students offered an advanced curriculum and opportunity to earn high school credits, participate in select high school activities. 82% stay at Kenwood in part because excelling Kenwood high school students can take U of C courses--and the Academic Center students are ready for that. The city has 6 academic centers. Director is Jennifer Hey-Lewis, who says the secret is not just selection (which was eased a bit last year because of swine flu) but high expectations, including college as the mission. Selection criteria include maturity, scoring in 70th percentile on tests, good grades and attendance.

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Successes reported at March 2009 CIPAAA town meeting

Kenwood Academy High School Continues to Raise the Bar

From the July 2009 Conference Reporter. By Cynthia Liberty, Chairperson, Kenwood Local School Council

The 2008-2009 school year has come to an end and during the school year Kenwood Academy has been keeping track of progress and making plans for next year. At a recent Town Hall meeting, members of the LSC, school leadership, teachers, student, parents and community members met in an open forum to review data, celebrate accomplishments and determine needs to establish priorities and begin to set goals for school planning.

At the meeting, progress was reviewed and reported around four key areas that had been targeted for monitoring. Kenwood teachers and students have been working to focus on instruction and student achievement in both literacy and math, as well as on supporting freshmen “on track” and on enhancing the learning climate by personalizing learning and expanding student opportunities.

Instructional initiatives at Kenwood have been focused around Student Engagement. Teachers have been collaborating to learn new strategies and enhance their practice in order to keep students engaged and active in learning. Teachers have also been active observing and in dialogue with one another about effective practices that keep students using data and shaping their classroom instruction around specific learning needs of students. The success of these initiatives has been demonstrated by practice tests and student scores which show Kenwood on-track to meeting the school-wide goal as measured by the PSAE.

The 7th and 8th grade program is optimal size and the percentage of 7th and 8th graders scoring at the “meets or exceeds” level is 99.7%. Kenwood retained about 82% of Academic Center students for the 9th grade. New ways to measure real skills and levels are being sought.

Kenwood’s Freshmen On-Track Lab has provided additional support to students, and has resulted in a Freshmen On-Track rate that is one of the highest in CPS. Throughout the year, students have been supported by Intercession, bi-weekly course team meetings, additional staff, as well as regular reporting of attendance and grades in order to make sure that Kenwood students are making progress and are successful in classes. After the first semester, 90.1% of freshmen were on track to graduate from high school. Kenwood has continued to support students and provide for a safe learning environment, and student misconduct continue to decline.

In addition to the review of instructional priorities, a focus on freshmen, and a review of data that shows that students are on-track to success, the Kenwood community also celebrated the accomplishments of students in the Academic Decathlon, Mikva and civic leadership finalists. The Broncos football and basketball teams were successful, the track and field teams continue to amaze us with win after win for both individual competitors and team events and in volleyball both our varsity and junior varsity teams made it to the state playoffs. Kenwood’s Music Department has won a host of honors and made lots of appearances and the Jazz Band represented us well at the Chicago Jazz Festival.

The Mission of College continues and Kenwood’s Graduating Class of 2009 has already received over $10,000,000 in college scholarship money.

Kenwood continues to raise the bar of expectations for students and staff, and as they approached the end of this year, the progress reporting and planning for next year had already begun.

Kenwood Academy accomplishments, challenges as reported at the CIPAAA meeting March 30, 2009.
Gary Ossewaarde

A key transformative accomplishment is success with Freshmen on Track. This is funded and run from the outside and is seeking continuation grants. It concentrates on interventions to keep Freshmen meeting the benchmarks in this critical year and maintaining retention, especially of boys—in most schools they drop out in 9th or 10th grade so that senior classes are almost all girls. Much less so at Kenwood. In 2008 at Kenwood, percentage on track is 76.5 v. 66% and in 2009 is 91% (will drop as this is only March). Despite that only a fraction (c. 120) of the Freshman class (444) had Kenwood experience through the Academic Center (grades 7-8).

Also successful in keeping boys retention up was moving around major course progression, such as having biology in senior year (lots of boys quit when biology was in the 10th grade).

The Academic Center (grades 7 and)—all the students scored at least at grade level—new ways to measure real skills and levels are being sought. The program is a optimum size, even if more space were available, as smallness is the key. The Center and its students are now more a part of the whole school. There were many winning students and teams—science and history fairs, Future Cities, debate, sports. 83% went on to Kenwood 9th. Needs: smart board, new science lab, white boards (school wide).

Kenwood students won more in scholarship money than in any other CPS high school last year and that was without a Gates scholar. This year there is a Gates (unlimited, cream of the crop) scholar. There are two Posse winners and the most Siemens winners. Kenwood has the highest percentage of “FACA” completions including 100% in the AVID programs. A group of Juniors won a trip to tour colleges and do community service projects in Philadelphia in May.

* Remind parents etc. to contact legislator offices to apply for General Assembly scholarships.
Students had major accomplishments including 2nd round in Academic Decathlon, Mikva civic leadership finalist, Latin and other language competitions, Drama Starz. Kenwood has sections in college level calculus and statistics.

There was much professional development and reduction of staff and student “deficits”. Still needing additional work—behaviors (steady drop in incidents, esp. serious, but not thefts (I-pods, cell phones), creating less restrictive environments with self-contained classrooms, more computer training—including starting over for new students whose families generally don’t have access to computers and internet. Attendance is improving. The school needs many more computers and printers, including for the library and media center. Vertical and horizontal coordination of learning, and planning, are strong. Scores are making progress. Counseling is strong but still has needs.

Herald April 8, 2009, Misconduct in Kenwood on decline. By Daschell M. Phillips

Kenwood Academy held a town hall and school review meeting last Monday to discuss the school's accomplishments and future goals. "The purpose of this meeting is to inform our community of progress toward priorities and receive feedback from departments on their needs," said Elizabeth Kirby, principal of Kenwood Academy, 5015 S. Blackstone. Ave.

Although there have been constant reports of school violence throughout the city, Dean of Student Intervention Karen Calloway said that Kenwood's misconduct numbers were down for the year. Between the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 school years the overall total number of misconduct cases decreased by 24 percent, said Calloway.

However, the number of thefts has risen from seven to 16. Kirby said the students are constantly warned to be more cautious with their valuables -- especially in this economy. "Students don't use the locks we've provided for them in P.E., or they just toss their bags on the floor and walk away," said Kirby. "The good news is that the dean's office has great recovery rates.

The percentages of students scoring above 20 on the ACT subtests in 2007-2008 are 34 percent in reading, 34 in math and 48 percent in science. The students's scores in fall '08 dropped to 25 percent, 22 percent and 17 percent respectively. The spring '08 numbers rose to 36 percent in reading, 28 percent in math, and 32 percent in science, which puts the school closer to its goal of having 39 percent of the students score above 20 in reading, 39 percent in math and 53 percent in science.

Between February 2008 and February 2009 attendance rates rose form about 74 percent to abut 83 percent. The new lunch policy instated last August, requiring students to have at least a 3.0 grade point average, no Ds or Fs on their report cards, and a 95-percent attendance rate in order to dine off-campus, may have played a role in the rise of attendance numbers.

Lynette Lu in April 29 Herald: Kenwood High is on the rise

As a community member and attendee of the Kenwood Academy Town Hall Meeting, I was pleased to see that there are improvements at the school that were reported in The Hyde Park Herald (April 8, "Misconduct in Kenwood on Decline"). There are some additional important and encouraging points that didn't make their way into the article.

for example, 83 percent of the accelerated learning students in the Academic Center enroll at Kenwood. These gifted students are choosing to stay at Kenwood rather than going to schools such as Walter Payton or Whitney Young. With support programs in academic and social areas, Kenwood's On-Track to Graduate rate has increased from 66 percent to 75 percent, and now to 90 percent. New courses, such as Mandarin Chinese, have been added. Kenwood graduates earned more than $6 million in scholarship money last year, and staff members regularly provide the support that students and parents need to find and qualify for scholarships and financial aid.

ACT scores are increasing, as the article reported. The percent of students scoring above the state average is taken from the April test administration for 11th grade students and thus each year shows the scores for as different graduating class. Each year, posting improving scores is a positive accomplishment for the school. Equally positive is that those scores taken in the fall do not necessarily indicate a drop, as reported in the article, but rather, baseline data. In the spring improvement over these baseline scores demonstrate the preparation, teaching and learning that have occurred at Kenwood during the school year.

Kenwood is still working to improve, but it is on the right track. The school is fortunate to have a motivated and energized principal, Liz Kirby. Her administration, faculty and staff are talented and dedicated. There are involved students, parents who support the school and its programs, and community organizations and individuals who give of their talents, finances and time. As a community that values education, we can applaud Kenwood for its accomplishments and efforts, and find ways to support our neighborhood high school.

Why the Freshman On Track program at Kenwood is so important

Students love Kenwood program. April 29 2009 Herald. By Daschell M. Phillips.

The Freshman On-Track program at Kenwood Academy held its second and third quarter achievement breakfast last Tuesday, awarding more than 100 students. Parents sat proudly... in the school's King room... Thanks to the ... program, their children beat the odds and made the honor roll for the second and/or third quarter this year.

As Freshman On-Track Coordinator Michelle Jackson called out the name of each student and passed them a certificate, parents clapped, took pictures and recorded the special moment. Students also cheered each other on during the ceremony. Although this is not graduation day, the parents whose children have met or exceeded standards for their grade level feel thankful.

"I have an older daughter who came here in 7th grade and each year her friends dropped out one by one and she also didn't graduate," said Adrienne Pinkney, who attended the honors breakfast with her youngest daughter Kamille. "If this program was here back then they probably wouldn't have dropped out. I applaud Principal [Elizabeth] Kirby for bringing this program in because if you don't reach them as freshmen then you lose them."

according to a five-year collaborative research project with the Chicago Public schools (CPS) Graduation Pathways Office and the Consortium on Chicago School Research, which was released last yer, half the students who enter a CPS high school don't graduate. "There are 100,000 -- a small city -- of students who have dropped out," said Carmita Vaughan, chief of staff of the Office of High Schools and High School Programs. "If we can intervene early in the process's, then we can get them back."

After monitoring the outcome, the team recognized ... patterns that revealed which students were at-risk of dropping out: Students who are over age when they enter high school, students who miss more than 20 days of school their freshman year, students who fail two or more core classes in their freshman year adn student who have fewer than five credits by the end of their freshman year.

Based on their finding the team recommended that the school board adopt several retention programs including the Freshman On-Track program -- formally the Step Up program -- which includes a four week summer program for students between 8th an 9th grade and credit recovery programs.

All incoming freshmen at Kenwood, 5015 S. Blackstone Ave., are a part of the Freshman On-Track program, which is led by Jackson and Freshman On-Track Facilitator Inez Jones. There are currently 444 freshmen in the program. Jackson said the three components of the program are prevention, intervention and credit recovery.

The honors ceremony is a part of the prevention process for freshmen, whose first experience with their new high school began with Freshman Connection, an 8-week program that prepares incoming freshmen for high school. "The program helps them become familiar with their teachers and the high school schedule," said Jackson.

She said the freshmen also have a three-day event during the school year when they go to on a tour of colleges in the city such as University of Chicago, Northeastern University, University of Illinois and Roosevelt University "so they can begin to get a taste of what college is like." "we are the first school to take our freshmen on college tours, Jackson said. "The exposure makes them begin to think maybe I can go to college."

Jackson said she and Davis blanket the freshmen with support as soon as they come in the door. She said the program provides the students with tutoring, study support, help students understand the quarterly and class credit systems and instructions on how to check the online grade book.

There is also a 10-week program where teachers meet with small groups after school to teach study skills. The Freshman On-Track program also recruits several teachers to come in during winter and spring break to help students who are behind on their work complete make up assignments.

According to teh most recent numbers given tot he Herald by press time, the percentage of freshmen that have not failed more than one core class has risen steadily through the Freshman On-Track program. The percentage has risen from 60.6 percent in 2004 to 75.6 percent in 2007. Many of the students at the honors event said it was not a chore to visit the Freshman On-Track office to see how they are progressing. Marrisail Bailey said that he stops by the office every day during his lunch break. "They keep me on track by letting me know what classes I am not doing well in and what I need to do to bring my grades up," said Bailey, wlho attends the TLC after school tutoring prog dram to help keep his math grades up.

Desean Lee said that his grades are good but he likes to visit Jackson because she's nice and cool and he can relate to her because "she keeps it real." Jamara Bell said in addition to visiting the Freshman On-Track office, she constantly hears the school's motto "Our Mission is College" being announced on the intercom and that motivates her to continue to work hard. "Ms. Jackson helps me keep my grades up and is helping me make plans for next year," said Bell, who is thinking about joining the volleyball or softball team.

Kamille Pinkney said it's easy to talk to Jackson and Davis because it's not like talking to a teacher. "They help me keep my grades up and stay focused," said Pinkney, who quit the basketball team so that she could keep her grades up.

Jackson was surprise to hear that the students appreciate her tough love, but she, the students and several parents noticed that this quarter's honors event was not as full as the last one.

"The students are work with the most are not in this room," Jackson said. "Although they are not doing their best, they are doing okay because they are still here."

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Kenwood facts and program

At a glance:

Mission: Kenwood Academy is committed to building collaboration with all students, parents, teachers, and the community to provide a rigorous educational program that prepares all students, including students with disabilities, for college success.

Vision: Kenwood academy is a community of students, parents, teachers, and local citizens committed to preparing students, including with disabilities, to succeed as intelligent, creative, and socially responsible global citizens with a lifelong passion for learning.

Grades 7-8 Academic Center for gifted students; Grades 9-12 Accelerated magnet Program in partnership with the University of Chicago.

Kenwood offers more than 20 Advanced Placement courses in all academic subject areas and fine arts in addition to honors classes. College Bridge courses are offered in partnership with several colleges adn universities.

Kenwood Academy is fully accredited with the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. it has also been awarded full recognition status by the Superintendent of Public Instruction of the State of Illinois.

Over 80% of the Class of 2009 continued on to a four-year institution. Kenwood graduates earn millions of dollars in merit scholarships.

Partnerships for preparing all students for college success: University of Chicago Network for College Success, GEAR UP, IDS, AVID, and Hyde Park Art Center.

Defining Excellence/promoting school improvement:

The Five Fundamentals of School Success model is used to focus school planning on what matters most. This model was built on research developed and refined by CPS practitioners and stakeholders and used to guide the CIPAAA process: Instruction, Instructional Leadership, Professional Capacity, Learning Climate, and Family and Community Involvement.

2008-2010 Kenwood School Improvement Plan Priorities:

Literacy: Improve instruction and achievement through targeted plan of teacher development, coaching, and standardized assessments.

Mathematics: Improve math instruction and achievement by increasing student access to technology and through targeted plan of teacher development, coaching, and standardized assessments.

On track to Graduation: Increase course and credit completion by providing academic support, teacher collaboration, and parent communication.

Learning Climate: Improve the school climate by personalizing learning environment, promoting academic success and citizenship, expanding opportunities for student voice nd leadership.

Official:

Kenwood is a 4-year high school, a transformation school, with an Academic Center for gifted 7th through 12th with enrollment of about 1700. It is located on the south side of Chicago in Hyde Park-Kenwood, serving students there as well as students from throughout the city enrolled in one of its Options programs. (The Options program is competitive and involves both accelerated high school courses and the option of taking classes at the University of Chicago.)

Hundreds and more youngsters apply every year to attend Kenwood, a neighborhood school with high scores. There is not room for all of them, but Kenwood does not turn students away except for full space. Like all schools, Kenwood this year will have a slightly smaller staff serving the same number of students. Kenwood utilizes tutors, heavily from the University and could use many more! Contact Elizabeth Kirby if you can help.

Faculty- 120. 74% have MA/MS, 47% of these 30+ hours beyond. Two are PHD's. The average has served 8 years at Kenwood, half of their 17.2 years in the profession. Kenwood is fully accredited including by North Central.

Student body- varied, from the community and outside (60-70% latter). African-American 90%, white 4%, Hispanic 2.7%, Asian 2.5%.

College, etc. Over 80% of the class of 2004 continued on to a 4 year institution, 5% a two-year college. Several entered the military.

Avid- a program that opens access to the curriculum in a way that ensures college eligibility, mainstream involvement in school activities, and responsible citizenship.

Student activities and leadership opportunities- There's literally an activity for every interest. Over 25 clubs in addition to sports included 3 National Honor Societies, subject-based, service and social based, ad more.

Graduation requirements. There are 110+ courses. 24 credits are required in English, Math, Science, Social Studies, Languages, Art, Music, Physical Education, and 5 elective units. Non-credit requirement are advisory, drivers ed, consumer ed, Public law 195, and 40 hours of community service.

Grading- A 95-100, B 88-94, C 81-87, D 75-80, F below 75. Rank and GPA are computed at the end of semesters. These are weighted for Honors and Advanced Placement courses

Course levels. Students are grouped in ability groups for each subject. Project Excel and College Bridge courses are available with DeVry, Robert Morris, Kennedy-King, Malcolm X, Harold Washington, Truman, University of Chicago, and DePaul.

Small Learning Communities. This is especially stressed for incoming freshmen cohorts, for whom the core is the Freshman Academy Program.

Course Departments: Art, English, Foreign Language, Social Science, Math, Music, Physical Education, Cinema, Education to Careers

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Highlights of Principal Kirby's annual report to the LSC open house September 13, 2008

The following is in terms of the 7 standards of instructional leadership.

  1. Leadership High Performance Teams - frequent meetings, teacher visits to other classrooms
  2. Stress this year is on successful student engagement incl. in prep for the PSAE; coaching goals; ongoing assembly meetings with segments of student body
  3. Student-centered learning climate. Benchmarks:
    1. Freshmen-on-track at highest level ever (75% vs 55%)
    2. Class of 2009 outperformed every class 2003-2008
    3. Class of 2008 was in top 5 schools for scholarships (only one a neighborhood school)
    4. Class of 2010 had higher av. PLAN score than 2009
    5. Class of 2001 had largest partic. in Freshman Connection (Step Up/Gear Up
  4. Personalized and Caring environment incl. extensive orientation. (88% of 8th graders (Academic Center) entered Kenwood 9th; 11th & 12th graders in College Bridge spend half of day off campus
  5. Discipline and Order. Long assemblies explain incl. lunch off school policy. 5 guards for lunchroom. New off duty police hired.
  6. Professional development ....

Highlights of interest to the community, as presented at a Kenwood Open House for community school-interested persons

Reporter's note: If the proof is in the pudding, there is a very impressive group of high achieving, community-involved students at Kenwood, not just in the top but in the next tiers as well. GMO

  • Kenwood has two highly successful magnet programs with about 80 students: together the programs set a core high standard and have many offerings not available anywhere else in the city.
    • Kenwood-University of Chicago Accelerated Magnet Program
    • Kenwood Scholars. This includes the Math Scholars and World Language Scholars- up to 4 years including honors courses. 30 of 71 in the two magnet programs are from the attendance area, all of Hyde Park and Kenwood.
  • The Academic Center has 71 7th graders, of whom 30 live in the attendance area.
  • Reaching and challenging the not-quite-performing: AVID- Advancement Via Individual Determination: This program, adopted from a student-researched successful program in California, challenges middle-range students to prepare for attending and finishing college through "rigor, relevancy, rapport". Components include the challenge to take a many honors courses as the student is prepared to handle (honor courses being the best predictor of college success: 80 percent who take 2 or more go to college), discipline skills including note-taking for the whole picture--the 'dreaded' "Binders" and "Cornell Notes"--and tutoring for interpersonal as well as academic skills. This includes networking, study-buddy, special attention to the right-brain favored, and personal presentation (i.e. "SLANT"). Currently enrolling 100+, AVID will enroll 200 in 2005-06. 90% who are in this program for 4 years do go on to college. This year CPS will start AVID in all high schools- first in the nation to do so.
  • Kenwood has 15 Advanced Placement courses, one of the highest numbers in CPS. These range from English literature to composition, languages, history, sciences, math, environmental science, the arts, and computing. (Full list in following sections.)
  • Kenwood is largely organized into Small Learning Centers. Students are kept in personal contact with adults. Incoming students and their parents are extensively oriented.
    Many of these adults are University of Chicago tutors of the Neighborhood Schools Program.
  • Two student organizations mentor fellow students:
    • FOCUS organizes many special programs, service activities, field trips, and college tours. In spring 2005 the group organized a recognition/roast of teachers affair.
    • Brotherhood mentors specific individuals and provides positive peer pressure.
  • Kenwood students are closing in on $500,000 in scholarship winnings this year--a high proportion for a full 4 years. Schools chosen include Dennison, Drake, Hampton, Harvard, Howard, Loyola, Marquette, Morehouse, Northwestern, UI Urbana, UI Chicago, Rutgers, Yale.
  • Kenwood has a full range of extra curricular activities. Those in music, performance, arts, writing, history, sports and cheerleading consistently win awards.

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Fall 2009: 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 $4 million project to upgrade accessibility at Kenwood Academy was launched in July 2008 by CPS.

There is now a federal mandate that all schools comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Planned at Kenwood are upgrades to bathrooms, elevators, interior doors including hardware, signage, auditorium seating, locker doors, and fire alarm systems. Parking lots and exterior ramps will also be upgraded.

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Still forging ahead in 2008, 2009.

Through June 28 2009 "Selected Shots from Young Photographers"- Kenwood Kid's work again on exhibit at Hyde Park Art Center.

Commentary by Rebecca Janowitz and Ted fetters of Kenwood LSC in January 7 2009 Herald

As the community representatives serving on Kenwood Academy's local school council, we thought it importantly to share some current achievements, in terns of both leadership and scholarship.

First, to those unfamiliar, Kenwood is a neighborhood school that enrolls all students that live within its the attendance boundaries of 47th street and the Midway Plaisance, Cottage grove avenue and the lake. A second magnet program admits academically talented students from throughout the city. And a third program admits academically talented students from throughout the city. And a third program admits academically gifted graduating 6th graders into the Gifted Academic Center.

Without great leaders, we couldn't have great schools, and Kenwood is fortunate to have many. First among them is our principal Liz Kirby. Ms. Kirby was recently honored with the "New Leaders High School Principal Award" for her outstanding efforts and commitment to data-driven improvement at Kenwood. New Leaders for New Schools is a nationally recognized innovative principal preparation and support program.

LaVerne Evans Srinivasan, president of New Leaders, was quoted as saying, "New Leaders principals like Liz Kirby. are defying society's current expectations of urban schools and demonstrating that all children are capable of extraordinary accomplishments."

Michael Boraz, one of Kenwood's assistant principals, is also a New Schools graduate. Mr. Boraz teaches an all-male class in the AVID program, which is an innovative program designed to accelerate hard-working, mid-tier students toward tackling honors courses. AVID students start out with a teacher as freshmen and continue on together as a group through graduation. They also receive tutoring support from the University of Chicago. The groups also operate within Google Groups, which allows the students to post their work online and receive almost immediate responses from their teacher.

Mr. Boraz isn't alone in having teaching responsibilities in addition to serving in the administration. He is joined by the rest of the administrative team, including Principal Elizabeth Kirby and assistant principals Aileen Gamez and David Narain.

As the school's programmer, Ms. Gamez was instrumental in coordinating Kenwood's efforts to host a community-wide Democratic National Convention recap, which features guest speakers state Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie (D-25), state Rep.-elect Will Burns (D-26), state Sen. Kwame Raoul (D-13) and Toni Preckwinkle (4th) and Leslie Hairston (5th). The recap also featured reports from two Kenwood students who attended the convention.

Mr. Narain is himself a product of Kenwood Academy. Beyond leadership and teaching responsibilities, he is also the technology coordinator at Kenwood. Mr. Narain goes the extra mile and maintains Web pages for the classes he teaches that include all the essentials for the course as well as assignments and online help.

This leadership team, working in tandem with a dedicated and talented faculty, produces impressive results. Kenwood's freshmen are scoring better marks than they have in years. The freshman "on-track to graduate" rate -- a statistic developed at the University of Chicago's consortium on Chicago School Research (CCSR) -- has sky rocketed from 66 to 84 percent. CCSR Executive Director John Q. Easton noted that "Kenwood's dedication to improving the freshman experience with new programs and careful data analysis is really paying off."

Kenwood retains over 80 percent of students graduating from its Academic Center. This retention rate reflects top-notch instruction at Kenwood and he ability of students to participate in the College Bridge program that allows them to take courses and the ability to participate in summer programming at the University of Chicago.

The current senior class at Kenwood posted the highest average ACT score in seven years. In addition, Kenwood students in the magnet program post score that are comparable to the purely selective enrollment schools in Chicago Public Schools (CPS). The ACT scores posted by the academic Center students in the junior year meet or exceed every selective enrollment high school in the city.

Kenwood students earned over $6 million in scholarship awards last year. Kenwood Academy is the only neighborhood school ranked in the top five of scholarship dollars awarded.

Affairs of the senses are also nurtured at Kenwood. The concert choir, jazz band and concert band have earned top awards in state competitions. And the art department boasts students that consistently place in the All-City awards and have had art displayed in the Hyde Park Art Center and the Museum of Contemporary Art.

Kenwood is the only neighborhood school with a Latin program and the only CPS school that offers six years of Latin. Currently one hundred and sixty students take Latin at Kenwood. Additionally, the language department recently began offering a Mandarin Chinese program. (Speaking of achievement, congratulati8ons are due to Jessica Robinson, Kenwood '05, currently a Harvard University student, who has just been recruited by Google.)

Kenwood enrolls nearly as many students into the magnet programs as some of the selective schools enroll. This translates into a strong academic program that grows even stronger as students who are not as advance when they enter become better students and succeed in more demanding classes. Kenwood offers every students the opportunity to grow and the means to achieve growth. At the same time Kenwood's size and diversity fosters a wonderful range of arts, cultural and athletic activities.

Thus Kenwood wants can be measured against both neighborhood and selective enrollment schools with great success. Still, the school's vision sets its sights even higher.

Kenwood wants to become the top school in the city, by any measure. In a community focused on education, that is a reasonable and appropriate goal. As community partners adn parents, we can help support Kenwood leadership, faculty and students in their mission. We can share our time and our financial resources. We can cheer at a game or take in the performance of a play or a concert we can appreciate without lowering our standards an inch. We can be part of the success. Go Broncos!

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Student teacher Kevin Renderman praises experience gained at Kenwood through Chicago Center.

The goal of Chicago Center for Urban Life and Culture for 40 years has been to expose prospective teachers and social workers doing practicum from colleges all over the country to life throughout Chicago and to world cultures first person. A native Chicagoan from the Mt. Greenwood neighborhood, he decided after Milliken College, to practice at Kenwood under Chicago Center. He taught 7th and 8th grade PE, two health classes, and served as assistant freshman basketball coach.

He said Kenwood teachers were great mentors and that he learned a lot from Principal Kirby and AP david Narian.

 

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