The Chicago Public Schools To Create 12 New Small High Schools with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation $7.6 Million Grant

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is seeking partners to create 12 new small high schools over the next five years with a $7.6 million grant recently received from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. This grant will enable CPS to open two new small high schools as early as 2004.

The grant is funneled to CPS through a consortium of local funding organizations known as the Chicago High School Redesign Initiative, a five-year effort to develop small schools within existing Chicago public high schools. The initiative includes The Chicago Community Trust, Bank One, Joyce, MacArthur, PolkBros., Spencer, and Steans Family Foundations.

In 2001, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation contributed $12 million to that initiative and local foundations gave $6 million. Under that grant, CPS has developed nine small schools and ultimately wants to work with a total of five larger schools to develop 20 small ones. 

“Chicago has the most ambitious small schools plan in the country, with plans to open 32 new small high schools by 2007,” said Arne Duncan, CPS chief executive officer. “This will help us create better learning environments for our students.”

The new small high schools will offer a college-prep curriculum and serve no more than 100 students per grade, for a total student population of 400 in grades nine through 12.  Neighborhood students will have first choice in these schools, but they will be open to students citywide. If student applicants outnumber available seats, lotteries will be held. 

CPS and the Chicago High School Redesign Initiative, which will be administering the grant, will issue a Request for Proposals in June 2003. Applicants may apply in October 2003 for up to $500,000 to fund the first year of operation and planning for schools to open September 2004. CPS will provide existing buildings for the approved small high schools, and is also open to sites suggested by applicants.

“Nearly one third of students nationally do not graduate and face a lifetime of hardship,” said Tom Vander Ark, executive director of education at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “We know how to help them succeed. Research and experience shows that young people do better in smaller schools where they receive a rigorous, personalized education and can form close relationships with adults.”

Current small schools at Bowen, Orr and South Shore high schools have shown improved attendance rates and parent participation. For example, the School of the Arts, located inside South Shore, boasts an 88 percent attendance rate which exceeds South Shore’s 74 percent.

“Small schools offer our students an opportunity to be part of a smaller learning environment that will cater to those students that function academically best in those surroundings,” said Michael Scott, Chicago Board of Education president. “Our existing small schools have shown that they can make a tremendous impact on our students.”

The Chicago Public Schools is the nation’s third-largest school district and the second-largest employer in Illinois, with more than 43,000 employees. The school system operates 600 schools and serves 437,000 students.

On the Internet:
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, www.gatesfoundation.org
Chicago Public Schools, www.cps.k12.il.us