16 Chicago public schools to receive funding for community partnerships, resources
A sustainable community school is a school with an emphasis on wraparound services and community partnerships.
"Making sure everybody in the community knows what's going on, and not just the people who go to the school," said Ariana Anderson, a sustainable community school student
"The difference that SES makes is just like the mental health portion in the classroom," said Alicia Anderson.
Ariana and Alicia are sustainable community school students, reporting firsthand the difference they believe the designation made at Fort Dearborn Elementary School, at 9025 S. Throop St.
Earlean Briggs is a sustainable community school parent at John B. Drake Elementary School, 2710 S. Dearborn St. She said the parents at the newly designated schools will have the opportunity to be more engaged.
"They have the ability to be more involved," Briggs said. "They have the ability for their students to learn how to problem-solve when it comes to conflicts."
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson announced Monday that the city is adding 16 schools to 20 it first designated as sustainable community schools back in 2018. He made the announcement at one of the 16 schools — George Washington High School on the city's Southeast Side.
"It's also personal because I taught in our public schools," said Mayor Johnson.
Chicago's 16 new sustainable community schools are:
Samuel Davis, the principal at George Washington High School, said he is thrilled that the school is now a sustainable community school.
"We're a neighborhood school, so our school is really important to the community," said Davis.
Davis said the new designation means new resources for George Washington High School students, with the model centering community voices and work to address needs inside and outside the classroom.
"We are able to offer, you know, like after-school matters programs where more kids can attend," said Davis.
Of the 16 new community schools, three are considered overcrowded with too many students, while 10 have lower enrollment rates than they should. The designation means addressing both those issues.
With the school district in the midst of a full budget crisis — facing a $734 million deficit — The existing 20 sustainable community schools require a $10 million investment.
How will the district pay for this? The answer is unclear. But looking ahead at the new school year, and the resources he said students will provide students who need them, Davis said he hopes the sustainable community schools program remains a priority.
"It's all about the children. It really is. Our future depends on them," said Davis. "It depends on how we treat them and how we make sure we support them."
CPS issued the following statement about the Sustainable Community Schools program:
"Chicago Public Schools (CPS) remains firmly committed to creating sustainable school environments, particularly in communities that have long endured economic disinvestment. The Sustainable Community Schools (SCS) model continues to serve as a foundation for equity, collaboration, and student-centered learning across the District.
"The SCS model brings together educators, families, community partners, and students to create schools that are not only centers of academic excellence, but also hubs of support and opportunity. By integrating social services, culturally-relevant instruction, and strong family engagement, Sustainable Community Schools are designed to meet the unique needs of every neighborhood they serve."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBS News
4 minutes ago
- CBS News
Hidden history underneath Carpenters' Hall reveals Founding Fathers' favorite snack
A preservation project at Carpenters' Hall led to a historic discovery that revealed our Founding Fathers' favorite snack. In this day and age, oysters are seen as a delicacy, but it wasn't always like that. "They were like the French fries of the 18th century," Carpenters' Hall Executive Director Michael Norris said. "People had them for breakfast, and there were vendors on the street, taverns sold them." "Philadelphia was the largest hub for oysters in the United States in the late 1880s," Fishtown Seafood Owner Bryan Szeliga said. "About 800 million oysters passed through Philadelphia either for local consumption or through wholesale and into other markets." The shells of those hundreds of millions of oysters had to go somewhere. So, back then, people got creative. "They just had so many shells," Norris said. "They didn't know what to do with them. Oyster shells were used to pave the streets and were used as ballasts on ships." Now, shards of oysters can be found all throughout the city, right under our feet, including at Carpenters' Hall. The historic brick building in Old City is known as the meeting place for the First Continental Congress back in 1774. In 2023, the site underwent a preservation project that led to the excavation of the building's perimeter by archeologists. "This is the area during that excavation when they found some pottery shards, some shards of oyster shells," Norris said. "George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson wrote about their oyster consumption, and many of those folks met here." Although oysters were a staple during the country's revolutionary era, the shellfish's history goes back well before then. "Our European settlers learned about oyster culture from the Native Americans who, obviously, had been harvesting for centuries long before we showed up," Norris said. In light of National Oyster Day on Tuesday, organizers welcomed people of all ages to Carpenters' Hall for the Shells of Liberty Oyster Bash. The event was in partnership with Carpenters' Hall, Fishtown Seafood and Triple Bottom Brewing. Aside from enjoying drinks and oysters, proceeds of the event went to the Delaware Estuary to help educate the community on the role oysters play in our environment. "They're really an important part of marine ecosystems environmentally because they help filter the water and keep things clean," Norris said. "We thought it would be really fun to celebrate the day and to recognize a product that was so pervasive and such an important part of colonial culture and colonial cuisine." It's a taste of history that's connecting us even centuries later.
CBS News
16 minutes ago
- CBS News
Firefighters rescue dog from Fort Lauderdale canal; credit 911 callers as true heroes
A group of Fort Lauderdale firefighters rescued a German shepherd from a canal Tuesday morning, but the first responders say the real credit belongs to the 911 callers who alerted them. "A life's a life. Whether it's an animal, whether it's a person," said Captain David Landers with Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue. The incident happened at the start of the firefighters' shift behind Sweeting Park on Northwest 23rd Avenue. Firefighters from Station 47 responded to the call after a dog was spotted in the canal. Captain Landers said they made contact with the female dog before entering the canal. "We made contact with the puppy. She was docile, very frail," Landers said. "There's a little ledge there, so I didn't have to dive in the water or anything. I just had to take my shoes off and go down and grab her out," said Lieutenant Mason McConchie, who assisted in the rescue. The firefighters credited the good Samaritans who called 911 for making the rescue possible. "The callers are the true heroes because had they not had called nobody would've known the dog was in the water," Landers said. Fede Skinner and Aisha Fahmy, who made the call, said they had seen the dog multiple times earlier in the morning. "It's pretty scary because at some point the dog was in the middle of the road. And there was like three different cars that almost hit it. It was kind of terrifying, to be honest," said Fahmy. After the dog disappeared, they went for a walk in the park. "We're talking right here and out of the corner of my eye I see something fall in the water over there and it's the dog," said Skinner. "When I heard the splash I looked over. I was terrified. So I was really, really happy to like, see the dog be safe at the end," Fahmy added. Fort Lauderdale Police located the dog's registered owner, who lives in St. Cloud, Florida, and will be traveling to Fort Lauderdale to pick her up.
Yahoo
32 minutes ago
- Yahoo
6 All-Too-Familiar Signs You Grew Up In An 'Enmeshed Family'
Having a close, loving family is a goal for most people, and while some people clearly have that, not all do — even if it seems that way from the outside. This is known as enmeshment, which is a dysfunctional pattern that can show up in any relationship, but especially within a family system. 'A lot of times people will think of enmeshment as a positive thing ... sometimes enmeshment can appear like closeness, but really it's still a dysfunctional pattern,' said Danica Harris, a somatic therapist and coach based in Texas. 'When this is present in a family system, there are not good boundaries, which means that people don't have personal agency and autonomy in the way that they ought to,' Harris noted. This isn't to say you should have strict boundaries that push your family away (unless that's what is safest for you), it's a good thing to help your family members out when you're able or support them during tough times. But, there are some red flags that the kind of support your family needs from you is actually enmeshment. Here's what to know: 1. You make your family member's problems your own. 'Individual problems are family problems. Family problems are individual problems. There's just no distinction between an individual and the family system,' said Aparna Sagaram, a licensed marriage and family therapist, and owner of Space to Reflect in Philadelphia. The main difference between a healthy familial relationship and enmeshment is this, she noted. 'You can be there for family and listen and help out and do whatever you can, but then if you're part of an enmeshed family, then it feels like it's your responsibility to figure out how to help that family member,' Sagaram explained. There is no separation from you and the problem, and it becomes all-consuming, Sagaram added. 2. You feel guilty when you don't help a family member out. 'A big part of enmeshment is the guilt feeling,' said Sagaram. You may feel guilty for stepping away from your family, for instance, or for saying no to an outlandish request, she said. When you do try to create some space between yourself and someone's problem, you probably feel guilty 'because you feel responsible for the family problem or whatever that person's going through,' added Sagaram. Even if you are physically able to step away from it, emotionally stepping away is tough, and can add to those feelings of guilt, Sagaram said. Oftentimes, guilt is what keeps people stuck in enmeshed patterns and enmeshed dynamics, she noted. 3. You don't have any boundaries with your family. '[Enmeshment] basically comes down to family members having very weak or almost nonexistent boundaries with each other,' said Holly Humphreys, a licensed professional counselor with Thriveworks in Roanoke. As a result, family members are generally over-involved in each other's lives, which makes it really tough to create boundaries, Humphreys added. Think about it: If your mom insists on constantly asking for advice regarding a tough situation at work, it'll be hard to set a topic boundary with her. 'Even if you want to set boundaries, like, 'All right, I'm not going to take this problem on,' it takes practice to unlearn the feeling,' Sagaram said. Even if you set a boundary to not jump in and save the day, you're likely still thinking about the problem a lot. 4. You lack a sense of self. Within an enmeshed family, there are often blurred individual identities within the family, said Humphreys. This is known as emotional fusion, 'which is a struggle to differentiate their own feelings from others,' Humphreys explained. In some cases, kids in an enmeshed family may feel obligated to feel the same way their parents feel about a certain situation or a certain person, she added. So if your dad doesn't like your neighbor, you may also decide you don't like that neighbor (even if that person has been nothing but nice to you). This can make it hard to decipher how you actually feel, which makes it common for folks to struggle with their sense of identity and independence. This could look like difficulty making decisions without their parents' approval, said Humphreys. This is a learned behavior from growing up in a family where you were constantly expected to jump in and solve other folks' problems. 'You don't have space, you don't have the ability to think for yourself, because you're constantly thinking about everybody else,' added Sagaram. There wasn't time to think about what brought you joy when you were constantly checking in on family members to make sure they're OK. 5. You never disagree with family members. 'If someone grows up in a family system where there wasn't any conflict, that is kind of a sign to me that people weren't really able to differentiate from one another,' said Harris. In enmeshment, everyone does their part to uphold the family system, which likely doesn't involve much differentiation or question-asking, Harris added. It's normal to disagree with your parents, siblings, aunts and uncles — that's what makes a family a family. But, in the case of enmeshment, no one is allowed to have differing views or choices. 'A healthy relationship system allows you and me to be separate people while also being in connection with one another,' Harris said. 'An enmeshed family system says we all have to be the same to be in connection.' Differentiating would pose a threat to the family system and the roles each person plays. 6. There's too much emotional reliance. According to Humphreys, enmeshed families rely too heavily on each other emotionally, and this may be something that started when the kids in the family were young. 'This can be seen when parents rely too heavily on their children for emotional support,' said Humphreys. This often happens in families where there's a 'family secret of such' like a parent with substance abuse problems, she added. It's also common when a parent looks at their child as a therapist or 'best friend,' Humphreys noted. 'Whenever you hear parents say, 'Oh, my child is my best friend,' that's not a healthy boundary or relationship,' she said. While you want to have a good, close and fun relationship with your child, seeing them as a best friend is a blurring of boundaries, Humphreys said. Here's what to do if you are part of an enmeshed family. 'The enmeshed family system is a very complicated one, and it takes patience and time to unlearn some of those toxic dynamics,' Sagaram said. What's most important is taking it one step at a time and understanding how you actually want to show up in your family system versus how you think you should show up. 'Because there's rules, right? There's unspoken rules in enmeshed families, and recognizing what those unspoken rules are and then starting to challenge them in small ways, I think, is a really great way to break away from an enmeshed family,' Sagaram said. Key word: small. These don't have to be radical, huge changes, Harris added. Putting pressure on yourself to show up totally differently or never speak to certain people again can feel 'really flooding and overwhelming,' said Harris. Instead of going at this with an all-or-nothing mindset, simply start to make choices that align with what you actually want. This could be something like saying no to hosting a family dinner or telling your sister she needs to contribute money for your mom's birthday gift. 'That's going to create some shift, and you don't have to do anything huge — and it's OK to be scared and still do it,' Harris said. It can also be a challenge to find healthy relationships outside of your family because of the 'norms' of your upbringing. 'You want to look for a relationship that is reciprocal, whether it's a friendship, a work relationship, or significant other, if you are always the one giving, giving, giving and that's not reciprocated, you know that's that's an unhealthy relationship,' said Humphreys. It's easy to make anything the norm in your life, even if it's unhealthy — like enmeshment or an unhealthy relationship, and it takes a major shake up to make changes. 'You don't always have to give everything that you have to somebody. You are allowed to actually think about what you need and what you want,' said Humphreys. 'If you're not looking out for you, no one else is. That is your job as a person, is to look out for yourself.' Related... 7 Signs You Grew Up With Emotionally Immature Parents The 1 Thing Therapists Say Harms Your Happiness The Most 'Dry Begging' Is A Form Of Emotional Manipulation That Sounds All Too Familiar
