REAVIS REBIRTH - LISC Chicago

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SCHOOL AND COMMUNITY CONTEXT gains on many fronts, Reavis is considered a “turnaround school.” In 2005-2006, school test scores for every grade increased, as measured by the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT). Third grade students made substantial gains in reading, rising from 28.2 percent who met state standards to 46.5 percent. Third grade math scores increased from 28.6 to 60.5 percent. Reavis 8th graders made gains in math that were above the district average, while reading scores were several percentage points below the average. The percentage of students who meet promotion criteria is trending up, rising 6.3 percent between 2004 and 2006. school day now takes about five minutes, versus 20 minutes when Johnson arrived. Out-of-school suspension days have fallen dramatically, Johnson says, and fights have been reduced from a couple scraps a day and after-school violence that required police response to almost no in-school fights and significant reductions in instances where police were needed this year. The next steps are curbing the number of students in after-school detention and creating rewards for good Putting children first Principal Johnson, his staff and a core group of committed parents have grounded their work in “The Reavis Way,” an expectation that students can achieve, a commitment to strong teacher training and a determination that every student will be served. “When we are having any kind of communication, dialog, discussion, even an intense discussion, the adults in the building — it doesn’t matter if you’re a teacher, school aide, security guard or parent — you as an adult have to see children as the center of the conversation,” said Principal Johnson. The school has made serious efforts to forge partnerships and to address the social, emotional and health needs of students. One program helped students receive eye exams and eyeglasses. Another, called Barrel of Monkeys, engages primary- and intermediate-grade students in a 10-week program that uses humor and drama to teach creative writing, short stories and skits. Chicago Communities In Schools helped expand cultural awareness through visits to the Lyric Opera. Churches, including the Church of Latter Day Saints, have provided tutoring services and participated in beautification projects. Gear Up, a federally funded effort, works with middleschool students to encourage college attendance and arranges a college tour that allows 8 th graders to experience student life and talk with African-American students. All the changes have created an environment more conducive to learning. Getting things in order to start the Profile: Quad Communities neighborhoods, Chicago, IL DEMOGRAPHICS Population (2000) 78,949 Population change 1960-2000 down 119,323 Percent African-American 88.5% SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS (2000) Population below poverty level 38% Number of households (2000) 40,171 Households w/public assistance 4,752 (14.8%) Households with income above $35,000 11,856 (37%) Public and private school enrollment (2005 estimate K-12) 12,585 Reavis School is on the border of the Chicago Community Areas of Kenwood and Grand Boulevard. The service area of the Quad Communities Development Corp. covers all of the Oakland community and parts of Douglas, Kenwood, and Grand Boulevard. This chart shows total numbers for all four communities. 5 | REAVIS REBIRTH
ehavior and positive contributions, like free time in the gym for students who have done well, or monthly pizza parties for classes that log perfect attendance. “We see a large number of students really trying to follow what we call the Reavis Way,” Johnson says. “We say we shouldn’t have to scream and shout at kids. We should treat them with respect and dignity even when they are being disruptive.” Quad Communities: Neighborhoods in transition Reavis School is at the south end of the Quad Communities, four adjacent neighborhoods between Chicago’s South Loop and Hyde Park, home of the University of Chicago. The four neighborhoods are also known as Bronzeville, which was the historic center of African-American life in Chicago and later became the site of the city’s largest concentration of public housing. With more than 9,000 units of low-income housing in mostly high-rise developments that were poorly managed and deteriorating, the four neighborhoods became high-crime, high poverty areas. Over the years 1960 to 2000, they experienced severe housing loss and population decline, losing nearly 120,000 residents. QCDC service area, only two were performing at acceptable levels, and neither of these is open to all children in the attendance area. Because of the limited choices for quality education, only about half of the public school students in the QCDC service area attend nearby elementary schools, and only one-fourth of local students attend area high schools. QCDC is working to change this situation. It helped leverage new resources to add full-day preschool at Donoghue and Robinson Schools and supports use of a local attendance area for all area schools, including charters and selective-enrollment schools that would otherwise draw from all over the city. This plan for Reavis School is part of a larger strategy to improve schools at all levels, from pre-school through high school. Keeping students close to home will allow them to form long-term relationships and develop cohort solidarity with their classmates, a crucial factor as they move together from elementary school into high school. Creating more local education options also helps stabilize the neighborhood as a mixed-income community where local schools are used by all residents, rather than developing new schools that primarily serve the higher-income residents now moving into the Quad Communities. Today, the neighborhood is undergoing rapid revitalization. The Chicago Housing Authority’s Plan for Transformation has led to the demolition of the vast majority of high-rise public housing, followed by new construction of mixedincome developments that are one-third market-rate housing, one-third affordable and one-third public housing. The private housing market is thriving and the neighborhoods are seeing new retail investment for the first time in years. Quad Communities Development Corporation (QCDC) was formed in 2003 to help manage and guide this new development so that it serves existing residents as well as newcomers. QCDC convenes residents, organizations, businesses and others, promoting a comprehensive approach to community development. When QCDC organized a quality-of-life planning process in 2003 and 2004, the 450 participating stakeholders identified education improvement as the community’s number-one priority. An October 2004 report by the Illinois Facilities Fund found that of the seven elementary schools in the Reavis Elementary School ISS Plan | 6
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REAVIS REBIRTH - LISC Chicago

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