School Daze October 7, 2013

7/27/2019 School Daze October 7, 2013

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Vera G. Davis, Wife of Congressman Danny K. Davis,

Works With First Book, Schools and Community Groups

o Bring Books to Low Income Communities

Regardless of how

you prefer to work, I

ask that you go to

the link and sign up

for the distribution. "

In this Issue:

Vera G. Davis, First Book to

Bring Books to Low IncomeCommunities.

CPS Releases Draft Criteria

Guiding Future School

Decisions for Community Input

New Physical EducationPolicy to Be Voted on at Next

Board meeting

Important upcomingmeetings and programs

October 7, 2013 Volume 1, Issue 2 School Daze [email protected]

School Daze

I thank Mrs. Vera Davis, wife of Congressman Danny K.Davis, for inviting me to attend a meeting sponsored by FirstBook, a social enterprise that helps to distribute books tolow-income communities, with a goal of eliminatingilliteracy. She asked me to share a link to the website so thatyou may have additional information about the

initiative.http://www.firstbook.org/

Mrs. Davis has a mission of ensuring that 400,000 books aredistributed here in the City of Chicago. We can create a win-

win situation by helping her get the books into thehands of

Updates on issues impacting our schools

from a North Lawndale perspective.

Published by Valerie F. Leonard

School Daze is published byValerie F. Leonard. Valerie is aconsultant to nonprofit organizationsand is very active in North Lawndale.

our children, while stocking our local school libraries, and ensuring that mothers ofpre-school-aged children get books to prepare their children for kindergarten. If youlive, work, or know residents of the Austin, East/West Garfield and/or NorthLawndale communities, and would like to work as part of a large network to bringin truck loads of books for distribution to individual schools, please let me know. Ifyou prefer to work within your individual schools or groups, that is an option aswell.

Regardless of how you prefer to work, I ask that you go to the link and sign up forthe distribution. If you would like to work as part of a larger group to impact entirecommunities, please let me know. Mrs. Davis will be convening a meeting withschools, churches, parents and community groups that are interested in workingtogether to make this happen. Ideally, this will entail having our educators andcommunity leaders select book titles and quantities for their libraries. They canchoose from books that have been donated by publishers, or choose to get books atvery deep discounts (50%-90%). The donated books will be sent for the cost ofshipment, while the deeply discounted books will be sent for the cost of the booksplus shipping. Once we know who would like to partner, the number of books toorder and costs, we will work with schools, businesses and other funders to see if

we can get them to underwrite the costs for shipping books. It is more cost effectiveto have truckloads of books sent at a time, although it will take longer time tocoordinate the mass distribution.

At any rate, if you are interested, let me know as soon as possible, so we can getmoving.

Valerie F. Leonard773-521-3137;[email protected]
http://www.firstbook.org/http://www.firstbook.org/http://www.firstbook.org/http://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_2/[email protected]://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_2/[email protected]://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_2/[email protected]://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_2/[email protected]://www.firstbook.org/


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Photo Credit:In These Times

Page 2

CPS Releases Draft Criteria Guiding Future

School Decisions for Community Input

I thank Lionel Smith and Adrienne Garner of CPS, for

sharing these guidelines. The draft guidelines uphold theMayor and CPSs commitment to a five-year moratorium

beginning in fall 2013 for facility closures due toacademics or underutilization.

CHICAGOChicago Public Schools (CPS) todayreleased the Districts state-mandated, draft guidelines forevaluating any change to a school such as addressing co-locations or re-assigning boundary changes to expand

access to a high-quality education for all students. CPSwill seek feedback from the community on how to

strengthen these guidelines and provide supportive learning environments tailored to the specific needs of every child inevery neighborhood.

said CPS CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett. Any decisions made will include the voices of our most important stakeholders the communitythrough an inclusive, open and transparent manner, and they will have the opportunity to incorporatetheir feedback.

On top of language for co-locations and reassigning attendance boundaries, the draft guidelines also include specificcriteria for school closures. The Mayor and CPS also reaffirm their commitment to a five-year moratorium beginning infall 2013 for facility closures due to academics or underutilization.

State law requires the CPS CEO to publish draft guidelines by October 1 and host a 21-day community feedback process.During this process, CPS will seek and incorporate community feedback from key stakeholders, including parents, LocalSchool Councils, Community Action Councils and other community groups, using multiple modes of communication toengage communities throughout Chicago. CPS will engage communities via a citywide tele-town hall, soliciting feedbackvia email and a survey online atwww.cps.edu.

After the feedback period ends, CPS will review and incorporate suggestions from stakeholders as needed. If there aresignificant changes to the draft guidelines, CPS will release an updated draft and begin another 21-day period to solicitadditional feedback, before releasing final guidelines on or before Dec. 1.

Copies of the draft guidelines are available atwww.cps.edu/guidelines. Comments can be submitted via email

[email protected],via fax to (773) 553-5345, or by mail to: Chicago Public Schools, 125 S. Clark Street, 5th

Floor, Chicago, IL 60603, Attn: CEO's Office re: Draft Guidelines. Public comments must be received by Oct. 21 at 5:00

PM.

These guidelines are part of an ongoing conversation with the community on how every child can have access to a

classroom with a challenging, personalized curriculum, clean, safe facilities, and an overall supportive schoolenvironment that helps them grow and thrive,

"These guidelines are part of an ongoing

conversation with the community on how

every child can have access to a

classroom with a challenging,

personalized curriculum, clean, safe

facilities, and an overall supportive

school environment that helps them grow

and thrive...

http://www.cps.edu/http://www.cps.edu/http://www.cps.edu/http://cps.edu/About_CPS/Policies_and_guidelines/Pages/2013GuidelinesforSchoolActions.aspxhttp://cps.edu/About_CPS/Policies_and_guidelines/Pages/2013GuidelinesforSchoolActions.aspxhttp://cps.edu/About_CPS/Policies_and_guidelines/Pages/2013GuidelinesforSchoolActions.aspxmailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://cps.edu/About_CPS/Policies_and_guidelines/Pages/2013GuidelinesforSchoolActions.aspxhttp://www.cps.edu/


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Page 3Page 2

New Physical Education Policy to Be Voted on at

October Board Meeting

I thank Raise Your Hand Illinois for providing the following

update.

CPS Board to vote on New Physical Education (PE) Policy atOctober Board Meeting

RYH was invited to a policy briefing this week given by CPSOffice of Student Health and Wellness and hosted by HealthySchools Campaign. About 90 people from different community-based organizations, some PE teachers and vendors were inattendance.

Currently, CPS is not in compliance with Illinois School Code105 ILCS 5/27 -6 which requires that students receive daily PE inboth elementary and high school.

CPS has maintained a state waiver for 11th and 12th graders since 1997. This will expire in June 2014. CPS has not

applied for a waiver for elementary schools but as we know, most of our students only get PE 1x a week, which CPSacknowledged at this meeting. CPS says that most high school students receive only two semesters of PE during theirhigh school career.

There is much research to show that regular PE improves student learning, concentration, behavior, health outcomes.

Heres what we learned about the Proposed Policy:

For Elementary Schools: Implementation to being in 3 years (SY 2016/2017) with an Action Plan due from schools nextsummer that meets the criteria of the policy. The policy suggests 30 minutes of daily PE or the equivalent of 150 minutesper week not including recess. Note, there are some schools piloting this currently.

For High School: requires daily PE starting next school year (SY 2014/2015). Suggests that high schools schedule allstudents in grades 9-12 in a daily PE or health course in the same time increments as other core courses.

Note: students in certain programs such as JROTC, IB, CTE (Career Related Certificate Programs), and Early Collegeprograms that lead to Associates degree will be able to apply for a waiver for daily PE.

Our Thoughts: Daily PE is good policy if implemented correctly and if funds are provided to support it. The majority ofstudents in CPS had no recess and inadequate PE for decades and this is a step in the right direction but will require fundsand facilities adjustments in some cases. CPS says 40% of students in the district are overweight or obese. Past policies

certainly didnt help this statistic.

Right now, there is no discussion of funds to go along with this policy. CPS did recently win a $2.25 million grant from

the US Department of Education, which is great, but that will not cover the cost of providing daily PE to every student in3 years time. As parents, we know the dire funding situation in our schools and we must push to get funding for this so itis not an unfunded mandate that will lead to the reduction of other important courses or programs, or even less money forsupplies and substitute teachers, etc. Email us your thoughts on this policy: [email protected]. We willcommunicate with Healthy Schools Campaign about it.

October 8thParents can join Healthy Schools Campaign for a citywide physical education breakfast forum. To learnmore or register to attend contact [email protected].

- See more at:http://www.ilraiseyourhand.org/content/new-physical-education-policy-be-voted-october-board-meeting#sthash.6t2d5xa6.dpuf



Photo Credit: DNAInfo.com
http://www.ilraiseyourhand.org/content/new-physical-education-policy-be-voted-october-board-meeting%23sthash.6t2d5xa6.dpufhttp://www.ilraiseyourhand.org/content/new-physical-education-policy-be-voted-october-board-meeting%23sthash.6t2d5xa6.dpufhttp://www.ilraiseyourhand.org/content/new-physical-education-policy-be-voted-october-board-meeting%23sthash.6t2d5xa6.dpufhttp://www.ilraiseyourhand.org/content/new-physical-education-policy-be-voted-october-board-meeting%23sthash.6t2d5xa6.dpufhttp://www.ilraiseyourhand.org/content/new-physical-education-policy-be-voted-october-board-meeting%23sthash.6t2d5xa6.dpufhttp://www.ilraiseyourhand.org/content/new-physical-education-policy-be-voted-october-board-meeting%23sthash.6t2d5xa6.dpuf


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Neighborhood Schools Fair

There will be a neighborhood school fair at Clemente High School on Saturday, November 16, 2013, from 11:00 am to3:00 pm. The Neighborhood School Fair will let prospective parents know that neighborhood schools are a good choicefor their children and help parents already at neighborhood schools strengthen their schools. We want to highlight themany wonderful programs and involved families at neighborhood schools across the city and bring together parents andstudents for a meet and greet that reaches across neighborhood boundaries.

Get Ticketshere

Please register for participation as an individual here:http://bit.ly/14qUnxYPlease register your school or organization here:http://bit.ly/14qTTbbFor more information, [email protected] call 872-444-6880.

Caption describing picture or graphic.

Page 4 October 7, 2013 Volume 1, Issue 2 School Daze [email protected]
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1jFlv425Dbs-kGVDVxNjBBCx50yXPZbp84pkr1OSJaOs/viewformhttps://docs.google.com/forms/d/1jFlv425Dbs-kGVDVxNjBBCx50yXPZbp84pkr1OSJaOs/viewformhttps://docs.google.com/forms/d/1jFlv425Dbs-kGVDVxNjBBCx50yXPZbp84pkr1OSJaOs/viewformhttp://bit.ly/14qUnxYhttp://bit.ly/14qUnxYhttp://bit.ly/14qUnxYhttp://bit.ly/14qTTbbhttp://bit.ly/14qTTbbhttp://bit.ly/14qTTbbhttp://c/Users/Theodis%20Leonard/AppData/Roaming/Microsoft/Word/[email protected]://c/Users/Theodis%20Leonard/AppData/Roaming/Microsoft/Word/[email protected]://c/Users/Theodis%20Leonard/AppData/Roaming/Microsoft/Word/[email protected]://c/Users/Theodis%20Leonard/AppData/Roaming/Microsoft/Word/[email protected]://bit.ly/14qTTbbhttp://bit.ly/14qUnxYhttps://docs.google.com/forms/d/1jFlv425Dbs-kGVDVxNjBBCx50yXPZbp84pkr1OSJaOs/viewform


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Page 5

Austin-North Lawndale Network's 6th Annual LSC Meet and Greet

There will be a meet and greet and information session for LSC leaders from the Austin-North Lawndale Network onThursday, November 7, 2013. Please note the flyer below for additional details.



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Education Town Hall Meeting Series

A coalition of West Side community groups, including the Carey Tercentenary AME Church, Lawndale Alliance, BlocksTogether and West Siders Against All School Closings, will be hosting a series of education town hall meetings forparents and community stakeholders. The topics include a broad range of issues of concern, including school programs,

finance and policy and advocacy. All are invited. For further information, contact Valerie F. Leonard at 773-521-3137 or Dwayne Truss at 773-879-5216.

Page 1

Page 6 October 7, 2013 Volume 1, Issue 2 School Daze [email protected]

Come be informed and empowered

Meetings will include presentations, surveys, breakout sessions and open mic.

Elected officials have been invited, and meeting notes and survey results will be

shared with them and CPS. For further information, contact Valerie F. Leonard

at 773-521-3137 or Dwayne Truss at 773-879-5216.

EDUCATION TOWNHALL MEETING SERIES

Carey Tercentenary AME Church1448 South Homan Avenue

Legislative role in education

Impact of 2013 school closings

School actions/closings

guidelines for 2014

School budgets and TIFs

School performance and new

ranking system

Public safety and schools

Meeting Schedule:

Funsnhsothc

tooWeSdS

s

Sponsors: Blocks Together, Carey Tercentenary AME Church,

Lawndale Alliance, West Siders Against All School Closings

Monday, November 18, 2013, 6:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m.

School Programs:Early childhood programs; school performance;

graduation/dropout rates; Safe Passage; juvenile delinquency;

community resources; school l ibraries; your issues.

Saturday, November 23, 2013, 10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.

Finance:School funding; CPS budget; school budgets; impact of school

closings; TIFs; your issues.

Monday, November 25, 2013 6:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m.

Policy and Advocacy: Role of legislators; school action/closing

guidelines; new school ranking system; school standards; elected school

board; your issues; wrap-up/next steps

Pre-kindergarten standards

and funding

Parental empowerment

School and community

resources

Your issues Next steps

We will cover:


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Congressman Danny K. Davis

Youth Town Hall Meeting

Congressman Danny K. Davis will be hosting a youth town hall meeting on October 15, 2013. Please note thedetails on the flyer below.



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Sankofa Safe Child Initiative

Presents

Building Up Our Brothers

A male mentoring program which offers Support groups that will address the

needs and issues of men in our community. Some of the Topics that will be

addressed are: Personal Reflections Anger Management Domestic Violence Violence Prevention Positive Guidance/Effective Parenting Healthy Living (Physical, Spiritual and Mental)

Sankofa House4041 W. Roosevelt

Chicago, IL 60624

Cost: Free

Every Wednesday at 3:00pmFor more information or if youre interested in Volunteering

please contact Ed Bickham at

Sankofa House: 773-542-9900


School Daze October 7, 2013

Documents

Transcript of School Daze October 7, 2013