Thursday, June 13, 2013

Start young, get parents involved

We support Chicago Public Schools’ call for parental involvement in education in its five-year action plan [“Byrd-Bennett wants to get CPS students prepared for college,” June 10].
We know from more than a century of work in some of the city’s poorest neighborhoods that parental involvement is an integral part of the student success equation.
What Chicago Commons’ parents may lack in resources, they make up for in will and commitment: 100 percent of our early education parents participate in twice-a-year home visits designed to ensure that learning continues at home and complements school-based teaching. Another key driver is monthly parent committee meetings run by the parents themselves.
When parents have a voice and are empowered to use it, children’s lives are transformed.
Our children heading to kindergarten in the fall demonstrate that success is possible: 91 percent exceeded readiness in literacy; 90 percent exceeded readiness in social, emotional and gross motor skills; 89 percent exceeded readiness in the language and cognitive domains; and 81 percent exceeded readiness in math.
When we create a support system committed to education at every touchpoint in a child’s life, students succeed, and so do our communities and our city.
Betsy Altman,
Interim Executive Director, Chicago Commons

Thursday, June 6, 2013

Chicago Commons' Annual Meeting

On June 11th, Chicago Commons will host its Annual Meeting at Zed 451 to celebrate 118 years of service in Chicago.

In 1897 we opened one of Chicago's first kindergartens.  Today, more than a century later, we serve more than 3,000 individuals impacting nearly 10,000 families by providing child care, youth programming, adult education and senior services.

We invite you to join us next Tuesday at Zed 451 at 5:30 p.m..  Zed 451 is located at 739 N. Clark Street, Chicago, IL 60654.  To RSVP contact Erin Cross at crosse@chicagocommons.org or call (773) 826-3771.

Ivan Medina, Clinical Instructor at Loyola's School or Social Work will give a public talk on "The Challenge of Staying Mission Driven in Changing Environments".

Complimentary cocktails and hors d'oeuvres will be served. Free shuttle service is available for pick-up and drop-off within the city.  Please let us know if you would like to use this complimentary service in your RSVP.

We look forward to seeing you June 11th.

Erin C.
Agency Communications Coordinator