Program Highlights
Poetry Club at Sullivan
Poetry Club at Sullivan provides students an opportunity to express themselves. Check out this video made by Sullivan's Digital Media program to see how impactful this opportunity is for these students.
Digital Media Program at Sullivan High School
With the grant funds made available by the Community Schools Initiative, Sullivan High School has significantly expanded their digital media program. The addition of the new equipment enables students to gain experience working with state-of-the-art technology. Students create all kinds of content showcasing the people and culture of Sullivan. Check out their YouTube channel to see some of the videos that the students are making!
Senn Students Coming to Loyola
One of the more striking outcomes of the collaboration with Senn High School is the number of Senn students who have chosen to apply and enroll in Loyola University Chicago or Arrupe College. In tracking this data it has become clear that the many projects and the relationship itself has made Loyola a more likely post-secondary option for Senn students.
| 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | |
| Applied LUC | 21 | 38 | 122 | 128 | 124 | 113 | 92 |
| Accepted LUC | 11 | 9 | 43 | 68 | 62 | 51 | 42 |
| Enrolled LUC | 2 | 7 | 10 | 13 | 12 | 14 | 7 |
| Senn Scholars | 0 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Applied Arrupe | n/a | n/a | 18 | 18 | 30 | 30 | 37 |
| Admitted Arrupe | n/a | n/a | 7 | 2 | 9 | 6 | 9 |
| Enrolled Arrupe | n/a | n/a | 3 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 5 |
Post-Secondary Projects and Events
Schools 2020 creates opportunities for area students to connect with Loyola’s campuses. For two consecutive years Schools 2020 and Loyola’s School of Nursing invited students from Sullivan’s Health Sciences CTE program to come to campus and visit Loyola’s Simulation and Exercise Science labs, and to participate in round-table discussions with students and staff from the School of Nursing. This model has been replicated on a limited scale to similarly connect Sullivan’s Business CTE program to Loyola’s School of Business. Several other post-secondary projects and events have sprung up during the last school year. Schools 2020 worked with admissions and financial aid to create on-campus events specifically for students who are not yet in high school, or who are not eligible for FAFSA. Graduate student volunteers met regularly last fall with students in Sullivan’s Senior Seminar class. LUC volunteers for attended Sullivan’s FAFSA completion night to assist students with their financial aid forms. Loyola’s Future Teachers Club has hosted two separate events to help mentor high school students interested in the teaching profession. Loyola’s African Student Alliance and Muslim Student Organization held a college night at Sullivan geared specifically toward high school students with immigrant and refugee backgrounds.
Developing Student Leaders
Schools 2020 worked closely with Gale and Jordan to support their student leadership groups during the 2017-2018 school year. At Jordan, Schools 2020 launched a new Student Voice Committee that meets bi-weekly to develop leadership skills among students and create opportunities for youth to make positive changes in their school and community. Schools 2020 has also been supporting Gale’s Student Ambassador Program. The program at Gale is a unique model that combines student leadership development with student voice in the form of a school newspaper. Students from Northwestern University support the newspaper component of the project. This work lead to the development of the Rogers-Edge Student Congress, which consists of students from area public schools who hope to make a positive change in their communities. The Student Congress met monthly on Loyola’s campus during the 2018-2019 school year. Loyola is also once again hosting a Civic Engagement Summer Camp that is open to students from all Schools 2020 partner schools. Along with Women in Leadership-Loyola (W.I.L.L.), a Loyola student organization, Schools 2020 will also provide a series of workshops starting in the fall of 2019 for 6th-8th grade girls at Gale Elementary. Each workshop will focus on a different theme such as self-confidence, health and wellness, conflict resolution, planning for the future, public speaking or professionalism. The workshop series will be followed by a culminating event that will include mock interviews, student presentations and guest speakers. Also included in the culminating event will be a “business lunch” wherein students will dine with female mentors representing various professions.
Helping Teachers Implement Next Generation Science Standards
Along with Loyola’s Center for Science and Math Education (CSME), Schools 2020 launched a Professional Learning Community (PLC) for teachers from our partnering Rogers Park elementary schools (Eugene Field, New Field, Gale, Jordan & Kilmer). The PLC focuses on Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and Inquiry-Based Learning. Fifteen Rogers Park teachers took part in the PLC during the 2018-2019 school year. Participating teachers benefit from quarterly professional development sessions, regular coaching visits from CSME faculty, and school-based science team meetings. The project includes a special principals-only workshop wherein principals learned NGSS principles so they can better support their teachers when implementing NGSS in the classroom.
