Community Schools Initiative
August, 2017 Newsletter
And We're Off!
We are less than 2 weeks away from the beginning of a new school year! Yet, there is still much to do, and much to plan for. The service plan deadline has been extended to Tuesday, August 29, at 5:00 pm. Continue to work with your CSI Program Coordinator and you school partners to ensure we have all plans saved and ready to be reviewed. CSI will provide as much support each community school needs. The target start date for activities is Monday, September 18.
We are very excited about the upcoming year and look forward to working with all principals, partner agencies and resource coordinators.
Now let's dive in to this month's CSI News!
Douglas Park Gets a Touch Of Spry Love
The students of the Spry Community Links High School After School Matters (ASM) graffiti program took their talents to Douglass Park this month. The group of 20 students with Resource Coordinator, Jenny VanderPloeg, put down their art tools and filled up garbage bags full of trash to help clean up Douglas Park in preparation for this year's annual Riot Fest.
Douglas Park, named after United States Senator Stephen A. Douglas, sits on Chicago's west side in the North Lawndale community and spreads over 173 acres! Douglas Park became home to one of the most popular touring music festivals, Riot Fest, after it was relocated from nearby Humboldt Park.
The ASM graffiti club earned themselves free passes to the summer music festival and service learning hours for donating their time and energy to clean and mulch the iconic park. Fantastic work!
Hernandez Middle School Welcomes U.S. Senator Duckworth
Hernandez was an official Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) site that offered free, healthy meals to children ages 1 to 18 throughout the summer months. Children did not have to be Chicago Public School students to receive a free meal as part of SFSP. The Department of Agriculture had a goal of serving over 200 million free meals to children 18 years and younger through SFSP.
Senator Duckworth shared her story of depending on federal food programs like SFSP, "after my father lost his job when I was a teenager, food stamps and reduced price meals at school kept me from going hungry." She followed by saying "now I’m working to ensure every child in America has access to healthy food and no parent is forced to choose between paying rent or paying for groceries."
Upcoming: Act Now Standards Training
The Chicago session will be held on September 29th at the Metropolitan Family Services offices on the southwest side near Midway Airport. You can RSVP here to attend the Standards Training to learn more about how to improve your after school program and build a quality standard for present and future success.
Seats are limited, so do not wait!
RSVP for other training dates and locations:
Eric Solorio High School Shares successes with HuffPost
You can read the entire conversation on HuffPost here, and watch a short video that features the students of Solorio High School.
Community Schools In The News!
Chicago
CPS internship program gives alumni ‘ladder to success’ (Hubbard HS)
Golden Apple Scholars Chosen From Four Area High Schools (Hubbard HS)
Glenwood Avenue Arts Festival Coming To Rogers Park This Weekend (Sullivan HS)
Nationwide
Milwaukee Community Schools Partnership (Milwaukee, Wi)
Five local schools receive Community Learning Center grants (Madison, Wisconsin)
Programs level the slippery slope of 'summer slide' (Op-Ed in support of 21st CCLC - Baltimore, Md)
Partnership Pledges More Help For Hartford Community Schools (Hartford, Ct)
Community Schools Initiative
#Opps4all #CommunitySchools
Email us any news your Community Schools has at CSInews@cps.edu and follow us on Twitter for up to the minute information and school updates!
Email: Csinews@cps.edu
Website: Cps.edu/csi
Location: 2651 W Washington Blvd, Chicago, IL, United States
Phone: 773-553-1766
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chicagopublicschools
Twitter: @Chicommschools