Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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Table of Contents
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Current Situation ..................................................................................................... 3 Closing Brentano Leaves No Open Seats in Logan Square ................................. 4 Brentanos Academic Performance ....................................................................... 5 Brentano Has an Upward Performance Trajectory ............................................... 6 Brentano Stakeholders are 100% Aligned and Building Momentum ................... 7 Brentano is Beautiful and Well-Utilized ................................................................. 8 Brentano has Involved Families. ............................................................................ 9 Our Communitys 5 Year Plan for Brentanos Academic Success .................... 10 Our Communitys 5 Year Plan for Brentanos Efficient Utilization..................... 11
10 The Choice that CPS Faces in Logan Square...................................................... 12 11 Demonstrated Support .......................................................................................... 13
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I am the parent of a 1st grader and alumni of this school. I will, by all means, keep my daughter here! It is a great school with great teachers.
greatschools.org
1 Current Situation
Brentano anchors a rapidly growing section of Logan Square, one of Chicagos most diverse and thriving neighborhoods. While Brentano is currently under-enrolled, the neighborhoods many families with young children actively seek excellent neighborhood public school options.
Logan Square community area, with Brentano starred. Green census tracts represent areas with increased CPS tiers, 2012-3.
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Class Average
National Average
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5 Brentano Stakeholders are 100% Aligned and Building Momentum Around Enrollment and Performance
In early 2012, community and LSC members established Friends of Brentano to support Brentano in building fundraising and enrollment. The group is already 50 members strong, and most members have preschool-aged children or younger. Friends of Brentano is modeled after and in contact with a similar successful program at Goethe school, which is now 99% enrolled. Friends of Brentano is hosting a weekly playgroup at the school for future Brentano students aged 0-3, which draws dozens of toddlers. These future parents act as connectors and ambassadors to newer neighborhood families. Brentanos Enrollment team is working on four interrelated steps to increase enrollment: design of a new school website; community-wide enrollment drives; application for an additional pre-K classroom through Chicago Ready to Learn grant; and providing before and after-school care to accommodate working families. Brentano offers a model pre-K, which is diverse, highperforming, full at 80 students, and maintaining a waitlist. The pre-K also includes a blended general education and special education program. The demand for pre-K spots at the school is much higher than the number of spots available and introduction of an additional pre-K section would immediately address the enrollment problem. A recent Friends of Brentano playgroup. Many future Brentano students aged 0-3 regularly attend.
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Brentanos library is painted with murals. Its hallways are adorned with college pennants and artwork.
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Brentanos strong rating for Teacher-Parent trust in the 2012 University of Chicago 5Essentials Survey:
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11 Demonstrated Support
Throughout January, dozens of parent, teacher, and community volunteers confronted the winter cold to canvass the attendance area of Brentano Elementary Math and Science Academy. Over 1,000 people in the Brentano Attendance Area pledged:
We support our neighborhood schools and we believe Brentano is a vital anchor of our community.
We believe strongly that Brentano is at the tipping point of a Renaissance that will make it one of Chicagos most sought after neighborhood schools. Please help us to keep Brentano open, independent, and growing.
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