MOVING IN/ON Charles Payne, a leading scholar in research on urban school reform and social inequality, has been named the Frank P. Hixon Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago’s School of Social Service Administration. He will also serve as a member of the university’s Committee on Education. Payne most recently was a professor of history and African-American studies at Duke University and was previously on the faculty at Northwestern University. … Jerry Gliege, retired principal of Sawyer Elementary, will be an adviser and help hire the new principal and faculty at Harvard Elementary, which will be run by the Academy of Urban School Leadership (AUSL). AUSL took over Sherman Elementary this year under the district’s “turnaround” strategy, which allows students to remain at a school while a new staff takes over. … Tom Layman, head of the Chicago Metropolitan Association for the Education of Young Children, is now vice president of program development at Illinois Action for Children. He will oversee existing early learning programs and develop new ones. … Glenn W. “Max” McGee, chairman of the Golden Apple Foundation board and former state superintendent of education, has been named president of the Illinois Math and Science Academy in Aurora. He replaces Stephanie Pace Marshall, who has led the Academy since its opening in 1986.
AT CLARK STREET Donald R. Pittman, chief officer in the Office of High School Programs, is retiring. David Gilligan, former principal of Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences, will serve as his interim replacement. … John Maiorca, chief financial officer, is retiring this month. A replacement has not been named. … Pat Baccellieri, principal of South Loop Elementary, has been named deputy of instructional design and assessment. He will work on the CPS Math and Science Initiative.
AT CITY HALL Ald. Latasha Thomas (18th Ward) is the new chair of the City Council Committee on Education and Child Development, replacing Ald. Patrick J. O’ Connor (40th Ward), who now chairs the Committee on Traffic Control and Safety. O’Connor will remain a member of the education committee.
OVERCROWDING BILL State Sen. Martin Sandoval and other legislators, including State Sen. Tony Munoz and state representatives Dan Burke and Susana Mendoza, held a public hearing at Sawyer Elementary to announce their support for Senate Bill 1845, which would provide resources and funding for expansion in severely overcrowded schools, particularly those on the Southwest Side. If passed, the bill would allow eligible schools to apply to the state’s Capital Development Board for grants for new construction projects. According to Sandoval, one-third of all CPS elementary schools operating over capacity are located on the Southwest Side in predominantly Latino neighborhoods.
STUDENTS ON DROPOUTS Voices of Youth in Chicago Education (VOYCE), a coalition of community groups, was awarded $1.5 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to engage students in research and advocacy work to improve graduation, dropout and college enrollment rates for CPS students. Student leaders from 12 high schools (Roosevelt, Mather, Kelly, Curie Metro, Kelvyn Park, North-Grand, Dyett, Kenwood Academy, Senn, Sullivan, Hubbard, and Perspectives Charter at Calumet) will participate in a six-month research project that will include interviewing administrators, teachers, and peers at their schools. Local universities will help translate findings into recommendations for improving high school reform.
PRINCIPAL CONTRACTS New contracts have been awarded to Carlos G. Azcoitia, Greeley (Azcoitia is the son of Carlos Azcoitia, retiring principal of Spry Community School); Patricia Bowman, Palmer; Pamela Brandt, Goudy; Bernadette Butler, Ray; Zipporah Hightower, Kellogg; Jose Luis Illanes, Madero Middle; Catherine Jernigan, Jensen; Daniel Lucas, Peterson; Edwin Rivera, Monroe; Willie White III, Jordan. … The following principals have had their contracts renewed: Yvette Curington, Goldblatt; Tyrone Dowdell, W. Green; Carolyn Draper, Cullen; Gerald Dugan, Marsh; Ana Martinez-Estka, Avondale; Donald Fraynd, Jones College Prep; Miryam Assaf-Keller, Lloyd; M. Graciela Shelley, Darwin; Zelma Woodson, Jenner.
PRINCIPAL RETIREES The following principals are retiring: Betty Allen-Green, Herzl; Bruce M. Allman, Chappell; Shirley A. Antwi-Barfi, Jensen/Miller Scholastic; Carlos M. Azcoitia, Spry and Community Links; Carolyn T. Baldwin, Guggenheim; Delores L. Bedar, Williams; Myron M. Berger, Near North; James E. Breashears, Robeson; Jacqueline J. Buford-Gage, Farren Fine Arts; John A. Butterfield, Mather; Victoria Cadavid, Pickard; Frank Candioto, Foreman; Rosemary Childers, Brunson; Ruby L. Coatas, Hurley; Celia H. Coleman, Banneker; Maureen Connolly, Kellogg; Joan Dameron Crisler, Dixon; Phyllis Crombie-Brown, Brown; David Dalton, Grimes/Fleming; Flora E. Dangerfield, Gary; Gloria Jean Davis, Bethune; Voyia Davis, Parker Community Academy & CPC; Lucille Denmark, Reed; Loretta Dent, Overton; Stephanie E. Dunn, Burke; Linda B. Echols, Madison; Elizabeth Elizondo, Evergreen Academy Middle; David Espinoza, Sandoval; Lilliana Evers, Funston; Cydney Fields, Ray; Cynthia Fitzpatrick, Von Schiller; Elizabeth A. Gearon, Greene; Gerard A. Gliege, Sawyer; Salvador Gonzalez, Chopin; Carol Habel, Belding; Deborah P. Hammond-Watts, Suder Montessori Magnet; Maurice Harvey, Jordan Community; Beverly Hides Moriello, Goethe; Vivian Diane Hudson-Davis, Mason; Diane Lillard Jackson, Englewood; Joyce E. Jager, Eberhart; Betty Johnson-Rojas, Haugan; Janice C. Keeley, Canty; Patricia Kent, Penn; Susan L. Kurland, Nettelhorst; Rudy Joan Bratman Lubov, Gale Community; Jerlyn Williams Maloy, May Community; Kathleen Mayer, Carson; Nancy J. Mayer, Vaughn Occupational High; James P. Menconi, Monroe; Robert C. Miller, Bogan Computer Tech High; Gary M. Moriello, Gladstone; Carolyn Griffin Palmer, Spencer; James Patrick, School of Leadership; James C. Pawelski, Falconer; Rosa Haydee Ramirez, Madero; Reynes Reyes, Goudy; Juana Rivera-Vidal, Washington High; Jack William Rocklin, Cleveland; Sylvia A. Rodriguez, Davis; Paula K. Rossino, Peirce School of International Studies; Maureen Savas, Nightingale; Donald Schmitt, Ryerson; Anthony Scott, Austin Community; Melver L. Scott, Crane Tech; Rita A. Stasi, Corkery; Louisea Storey, Ruggles; Marlene Szymanski, Manierre and Ferguson CPC; Brenda E. Thomas, Fairfield; Larry J. Thomas, Coles; Miguel Angel Velazquez, Whitney; Alice B. Vila, Barry; Anita M. Ward, Burnside; Corene S. Washington, Kipling; Sherry A. West Paul, Stagg; Barbara A. Williams, Williams; Mary L. Zeltmann, Jackson.
INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION Walter Payton College Prep has become the only high school in the nation to win a $25,000 Goldman Sachs Foundation Prize for Excellence in International Education. The award is given to schools that engage students with curricula that have an international focus. Payton students take four years of a foreign language, participate in study abroad and use technology to connect with students in other countries.
TEACHER AWARDS Connie Moran, director of financial education at Ariel Community Academy, has been named a Teacher of the Year by the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship. Ariel’s program teaches children about finances by giving each entering 1st-grade class a $20,000 fund to invest over the course of their elementary schooling (See Catalyst, October 2006). … Michaelene Kelly, an art teacher at Barnard Elementary won the 2007 MetLife Foundation Ambassador In Education Award, which recognizes educators who connect their schools to the community through collaborative projects.