Bridgespan Features Noble Schools’ Equity Work in School Funding

By The Noble Schools

“Recently, Noble Schools was featured in a piece about equitable performance measurement by Bridgespan, a well-respected non-profit organization that advises social change leaders across the world. Noble has always been data-driven in our decision-making process. However, the way organizations gather and draw conclusions from data and especially WHO they include in that data can heavily bias the results. For the past few years, Noble has been focusing on how to improve and center equity in our data collection. We have been intentional about making sure we are reaching a diverse group of voices from all our stakeholders – families, students, staff, and more. This led to the creation of our Equity Index, which guides how we allocate funding to our schools.”

 

Hundreds of fathers show up for ‘Bring Your Child to School Day’ (Video)

By Fox 32

Dads and grandfathers, uncles and other father figures filled the front steps Wednesday at Catalyst Circle Rock Charter School to give their sons and daughters the rockstar treatment.”

 

Yesenia’s Humanity and Hunger for Education

By Stephen Barker for One Goal Graduation

“Yesenia Garcia is a OneGoal alumna, first-generation college graduate, and advocate for undocumented students pursuing a postsecondary education, currently serving as Manager of Operations at OneGoal. Yesenia Garcia remembers seeing OneGoal posters around her school, Catalyst, and not giving the class much thought because college was not in her plan, “I knew that after high school, I wanted to work.” But some of Yesenia’s close friends were joining, and after some encouragement, she thought, “okay, maybe this will be fun,” changing her mind. “I didn’t know that [decision] was going to change my whole life,” she said. Yesenia recalls the excitement she felt exploring her Mexican identity, defining her postsecondary aspirations, and eventually applying to colleges with guidance from her OneGoal Program Director, Sasha Fawaz. “Ms. Fawaz became almost a parent to me.” Yesenia came to the United States with her family when she was just two years old. Although she always knew Mexico was her birthplace, it was not until she signed up for a driver’s education class in high school that Yesenia discovered she didn’t have a social security number. “I was just like, okay, I’m not going to worry about it. I don’t know the full extent of what that means, but I don’t have one.”

 

Chicago Public Schools no longer nation’s third largest district

By Becky Vevea and Mauricio Peña for Chalkbeat

“After 11 years of declining enrollment, Chicago Public Schools is no longer the nation’s third largest school district. There are now 322,106 children attending the city’s public schools, roughly 9,000 fewer than last year, according to the official enrollment count released Wednesday during a school board meeting. That’s more than 80,000 fewer students than there were a decade ago, when city officials shuttered 50 schools citing low enrollment, and more than 115,000 fewer than were enrolled 20 years ago.   The stunning contraction in size raises important questions about the future of the public school system and the city as a whole.”

 

Chicago students failed more classes during pandemic, but A’s rose too

By Mila Koumpilova for Chalkbeat

“Chicago students got more failing and incomplete grades during the pandemic, though that increase was much steeper at elementary schools than high schools, a new report out today finds.  But researchers with the University of Chicago’s Consortium on School Research say COVID-era grading data also offers some bright spots — and clues about how to steer recovery dollars to the schools that need them the most.”

 

Girls flag football is taking off in the Chicago area

By Nereida Moreno for WBEZ Chicago

“Flag football started last year with 22 Chicago public school teams. Now, the league has grown to include 50 schools, with teams in Rockford and the western suburbs. CPS also built a new website to track game schedules and scores. The goal is to be recognized as an official sport by the Illinois High School Association by 2024. The teams are split into smaller conferences based on geography. Most games take place on Saturdays because of a referee shortage, according to Juliana Zavala, senior manager of elementary sports at CPS.”