Chicago charter schools bring Hispanic Heritage Month into students’ homes

By Hosea Sanders for ABC

“For most schools, Hispanic Heritage Month used to mean a trip to the museum or students listening to lectures. But the COVID-19 crisis has caused them to re-think that celebration. One Chicago school is celebrating the culture in a brand new way. “We are bringing Hispanic Heritage Month into the homes of everyone alongside some amazing partners via Zoom,” said Lucy Weatherly, with Intrinsic Schools. It’s a major production, spread out over five nights this week at Intrinsic Charter Schools. This time around they are shaking things up. “We’re doing some dancing, some culinary experiences, some slam poetry,” Weatherly said.”

 

Latinx Heritage Month ‘Diálogo’: The Shifting Meaning of Ethnic Labels in the Latinx Community

By R. Powers for The Noble Network of Charter Schools

“To celebrate Latinx Heritage Month, Noble’s Chief College Officer Dr. Aidé Acosta invited her colleagues Dr. Francisco Galarte, Assistant Professor of Women, Gender and Sexuality at the University of New Mexico, and Dr. Rachel Gonzalez, Associate Professor of Latinx Studies at the University of Texas at Austin, to join in a discussion – un diálogo – about the shifting meaning of ethnic labels among people of Latin American origin, living in the U.S. Dr. Acosta and her colleagues explore the origin of the term Latinx and how it has become an inclusive category to represent people of Latin American origin; and how the terms continue to shift over time to represent lived experiences. “As our organization is also making a claim to becoming an antiracist organization, to do the hard work to getting us there means that we have to have a critical discussion on what these categories mean; what they have meaning for our populations, but how also we use them,” stated Dr. Acosta. Join in the discussion, take our poll below and let us know how you identify yourself – as a person of Latin American origin living in the U.S.”

 

Lightfoot Says Announcement on CPS’ Plan for 2nd Quarter Coming ‘Relatively Soon’

By NBC Chicago

“Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Wednesday said a decision regarding Chicago Public Schools’ learning plan for the second quarter would be coming “relatively soon,” but declined to comment on the direction the district might lean in November. “I don’t think there’s any doubt whatsoever that children learn best, particularly our youngest children with in person instruction,” Lightfoot said. “Again, I will defer to CPS, but we’ve never stopped looking towards the future and what the possibilities would be, and we continue to follow the public health guidance. And I believe the CPS will have an announcement on that issue relatively soon.” When asked about whether the decision could come this week, Lightfoot declined to specify and again reiterated “relatively soon.”

 

Chicago says it won’t reopen schools until it completes air quality checks

By Mila Koumpilova for Chalkbeat Chicago

“Chicago has started examining ventilation systems in all its school buildings — and the district says in-person learning will not resume until it completes the assessments. The question of whether the district can move quickly to improve ventilation in hundreds of aging buildings has loomed over school reopening as experts nationally have urged action to curb COVID-19 transmission in classrooms. The district vowed to make its findings public and to repair or replace malfunctioning equipment. It said in response to questions from Chalkbeat that it has already taken steps to improve air quality in its schools, including running ventilation systems two hours before employees arrive and two hours after they leave buildings to increase the supply of fresh outdoor air; it is also installing new air filters in every school. The district’s pledge comes as the issue of ventilation in school buildings has taken center stage amid bids to reopen schools across the country, with new Centers for Disease Control school ventilation guidelines released last month.”