AT CLARK STREET Jean Franczyk, chief of staff to the Board of Education since November 1997, has been named manager of faculty training at UNext.com, an Internet education company based in Deerfield. … Karen Burke, former chief of staff to CPS Chief Operations Officer, has been named manager of construction for the Chicago Park District. … Andrea S. Kerr, formerly director of curriculum, is now deputy officer for teacher recertification and professional standards. The newly created CPS department will monitor compliance with the state’s new teacher recertification law. Kerr was succeeded by John Frantz, previously director of teacher accountability. Franz will oversee curriculum, instruction and professional development.
MOVING IN/ON After spending less than a year as CEO of the Chicago Housing Authority, Phillip Jackson, previously Paul Vallas’ chief of staff, has been reassigned to City Hall. He is now special assistant to the mayor for citywide education programs. Ald. Terry Peterson (17th) replaced Jackson at the CHA. … Also at the CHA, former CPS Budget Director David Agazzi resigned as chief financial officer to pursue other career options. … Reanetta Hunt, former CPS communications director, has resigned as communications vice president and chief spokeswoman at Unicom, the parent company of Commonwealth Edison, to pursue other interests. … Molly Carroll, field representative for the Chicago Teachers Union, has been reappointed to the board of directors for the National Association for Year-Round Education for another term.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT Harry Lennix, who taught music and language arts as a permanent substitute at Bass Elementary from 1986 to 1993, played the role of Walter Lee Younger in the Goodman Theatre’s production of “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry. Hansberry, who died of cancer in 1965, attended Betsy Ross Elementary and graduated in 1948 from Englewood High. Lennix’s sister, Lori Lennix, is principal of Doolittle East Elementary.
SCHOOL CONVERSIONS John Hope Elementary will be converted into a college preparatory high school next school year. It will serve grades 7th through 12th as a multi-area school with no attendance boundaries. Hope’s primary and middle grade students will be reassigned to Arna Wendell Bontemps, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Dewey Academy, Lillian R. Nicholson and Jesse Sherwood schools over a two year period. … Ames Middle is expanding to include 6th grade and, thereby, relieve overcrowding at nearby McAuliffe Elementary, which will go through only 5th grade.
AWARDS Boone Elementary is one of six schools nationwide to win the first-ever Chase School Challenge Award bestowed by the Fordham University Graduate School of Education. It was created to honor schools that implement substantive reform efforts. … Luis Soria Jr., a 3rd-grade bilingual teacher at Finkl Academy, is one of five Chicago area teachers to win the Kohl/McCormick Early Childhood Teaching Award. Soria received a $5,000 cash prize and free admission to early childhood courses at the Erikson Institute; Finkl received $1,000. … The following 14 schools were awarded a total of $24,763.60 in mini-grants ranging from $1,477 to $2,000 each for their parent involvement efforts: Ariel Community Academy, Burnside, Earhart, Fulton, Jahn, McCosh, Mozart, Murray Language Academy, Nobel, Orozco Academy, Reavis, Stone Academy, Swift and Simpson Alternative High.
MORE AWARDS Twenty principals and administrators were recognized by CPS and the Chicago Principals and Administrators Association as outstanding leaders; each received $5,000. Among principals, the winners include: Sally Acker, Funston; Charlotte A. Blackman, Chalmers; Rebeca P. de los Reyes, Orozco Middle; Joy Donovan, Ravenswood; Cydney Fields, Ray; Joyce D. Kenner, Whitney Young High; Richard D. Kerr, Nash; Olga Haydee La Luz, Chase; James P. Menconi, Monroe; Amy Weiss Narea, LaSalle; Marcey G. Reyes, Seward; W. Delores Robinson, Sumner; Janice M. Rosales, Peirce; Susan K. Stoll, Hanson Park and Barbara H. Valerious, Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences. Assistant principal winners are: Annette Gurley, Clark Middle; Eugene Perna, Swift and Adrienne Anita Watkins, Christopher. Administrator winners include: Kimberly Muhammad-Earl, Schools and Community Relations executive director of the Parent and Community Training Academy; Hazel B. Steward, Region 3 Education Officer.
COLLEGE PREP LSCs The system’s administrative regions will serve as the local school council voting districts for the city’s new college-prep high schools. The schools and their regions are: Northside, Region 1; Jones, Region 3; and Southside, Region 6. The LSC voting district for King High, which is slated to become a regional college preparatory school in August 2001, will be Region 4.