AT CLARK STREET Clare Muñana has been elected vice-president of the School Board. She has been a member of the Board since 1999. President Michael Scott, who has held the position since 2001, was re-elected. … Al Bertani, chief officer of professional development, is leaving Chicago Public Schools to join the faculty at the University of Illinois at Chicago. No replacement has been named…Rosalina Castillo, director of the office of business diversity, is also leaving CPS to work as a construction manager at the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority. A replacement has not been selected.
MOVING IN/ON The Chicago School Leadership Cooperative shut down as of Aug. 31. The cooperative was formed in 1999 by 26 grassroots and school-reform groups. Andrew G. Wade, the group’s executive director, has joined the Ounce of Prevention Fund as early learning advocacy campaign manager. … The director of the Consortium on Chicago School Research at the University of Chicago, Anthony Bryk, accepted the position of Spencer Joint Chair in Organizational Studies for the School of Education and the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University. Bryk also served as professor of urban education and research and development director of the university’s Center for School Improvement. … The executive director of the Illinois Network of Charter Schools (INCS), Kathleen Harris, is leaving the organization. INCS is currently looking for a replacement. …The Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP), which operates two charter schools in Chicago, has selected Lynnae Hill-Mead as the regional director of recruitment and selection in the Midwest. Hill-Mead formerly worked as the director of recruitment with City Year Chicago. Beth Heaton assumes the role of Midwest director of business development at KIPP. She formerly worked in KIPP’s national office. Mashea Ashton, who held Heaton’s new position, is now national director of recruitment and selection. … Project Exploration, a group that works to make science accessible to urban students, has appointed Staci Huffman to the new position of director of development. Huffman was formerly a development consultant with Asian Human Services.
STEP UP TO 3RD GRADE For the first time, CPS 2nd-graders who needed extra reading help attended summer school this year at 17 schools where principals volunteered to host the program. Step-Up to 3rd Grade provided five weeks of reading classes for 800 students. Students’ participation was voluntary, but 2nd-graders with lower scores on standardized tests of early literacy skills were targeted.
PRINCIPAL CONTRACTS Hulon Johnson, principal of Bradwell, has retired. Assistant Principal Rhonda Dabner is interim. …Phyllis Hodges, principal of Fenger, and Robert Lewis, principal of Bouchet, will be reassigned (pending the results of a hearing) after their schools showed consistent poor performance on standardized tests. William Johnson, former principal of Carver, is interim at Fenger, while John Thomas, former principal of Mose Vines, takes over as interim at Carver. At Bouchet, Shirley Smith, former principal of Carpenter, becomes interim. Aida Munoz, former assistant principal at Carpenter, takes over as acting principal… Principal Dyanne Dandridge-Alexander of Cregier Multiplex, which includes Best Practice, Nia, and Foundations schools, was dismissed by the School Board. Clifton Gooden is the interim at Best Practice. Principals for Nia and Foundations have not been selected…The following interim principals have been promoted to contract principal: Adel Ali, Pilsen; Natividad Loredo, Juarez; Gwendolyn McClinton, Price; Martha Monroy, Cooper; Sallie P. Pinkston, Johnson; Pamela Rice, Stevenson; Maria Santiago-Pfiefer, Boone; Latrice L. Satterwhite, Tilton; Mary Jean Smith, Hendricks; Jeannine M. Wolf, Lawndale…JoAnna Theodore, assistant principal at Lenart, will replace contract principal Linda McCarthy Klawitter in October…The following principals have had their contracts renewed: Liliana Evers, Funston; Stephen Flisk, Walsh; Patricia D. Kennedy, Fuller; Julie McGlade, Garvy; Milicent Russell, Lavizzo; Judith J. Adams, Nancy Jefferson.
FULBRIGHT TEACHER Marjorie Coombs, a teacher at Curie, was selected by the Fulbright Teacher Exchange Program to teach in Senegal for the 2004-2005 school year. A teacher from Senegal, Maimouna Ndour Fall, will teach Coombs’ French classes at Curie.
NEW BOOK William Ayers, a professor of education at the University of Illinois at Chicago and the founder of the Small Schools Workshop, has written a new book, Teaching toward Freedom: Moral Commitment and Ethical Action in the Classroom. The book expresses Ayers philosophy of teaching and his hope that teachers will create an environment of freedom and equality in their classrooms. It will be available Oct. 1.