Guitars Over Guns Brings Music to Gary Comer Middle School

By The Noble Schools

“This is part of a series of blogs from Noble campus representatives to give a deeper look at campus life. Music has always been a part of my life, whether it was listening to it flow through my house or watching my sister play her electric guitar. Music is how I express myself.” These are the thoughts and experiences that encouraged Mariah, a 7th grader at Gary Comer Middle School (GCMS), to jump at the chance to join Making the Band this year, a music mentor program run by Guitars Over Guns at GCMS on Tuesdays and Fridays.”

Chicago adopts new policy for evaluating how schools are doing

By Mila Koumpilova for Chalkbeat

“The Chicago school board approved a new policy for evaluating district schools that will include more measures of school climate and student social-emotional development. The Chicago school board unanimously approved a new system for evaluating campuses that district leaders vowed will make the city a national leader in rethinking how to size up school quality.   The new policy, named “Continuous Improvement and Data Transparency,” formally replaces the district’s controversial school ratings system, which had long come under fire for overemphasizing standardized test scores and unfairly labeling high-poverty campuses.”