CPS held the first round of community meetings this week on their proposed school actions. We attended and live tweeted the following meetings: NTA, Hirsch HS colocation with a religious charter school, Ogden-Jenner merger (which was the one proposal guided and informed by the community), and Englewood HS closings (CPS plans to close the 4 neighborhood high schools in Englewood leaving a one year gap before the new high school is built which will start with only incoming freshman.)

We also created a Storify of some tweets from the two nights of community meetings. You can read our tweets from the meetings by scrolling through our Twitter page or by using these shortcuts:

• NTA meeting coverage starts with this tweet; search #wearenta.
• Ogden-Jenner meeting coverage is in this thread; search #OgdenJenner.
• Hirsch HS colocation meeting coverage is in this thread; search #HirschHuskyPride was used. (We’ve also submitted concerns about the charter school and spoke at the unelected BOE.)
• Englewood HS closing coverage starts with this tweet; #cpsboard and #Englewood were used.

RYH spoke at the NTA, Hirsch HS, and Englewood meetings. Below are two of those statements.

Find a full list of proposed school actions, transition plans, and details on the next round of community meeting at this webpage. Click on the "School Actions" tab.

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Twitter... @CPSuccessCHI, @ILRaiseYourHand, @RYHAction, @MTAS_Chicago

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Wednesday, October 25, was all about special education advocacy and action in Chicago!

Parents and elected officials joined together for a press conference before the unelected Board of Education meeting. Then, parents attended the BOE meeting and several spoke. A link to the video of the press conference is below as well as text of the BOE statements.

In 2013, RYH parents embarked on an ambitious research project studying what education experts say is important for schools and school systems to be successful. In 2014, we summarized our findings in a handy parent guide, A Guide to Talking About High-Quality Education: What do all kids need for strong schools? When the guide was released, we hosted a Saturday morning event where Pasi Sahlberg, author of Finnish Lessons: What Can the World Learn from Educational Change in Finland, addressed parents, teachers and community members in Chicago.

Public comment statements from Raise Your Hand at the unelected Board of Education meeting on July 26, 2017.

The citywide parent group, Raise Your Hand, has worked for an entire year on a research project studying what education experts say is important for schools and school systems to be successful. The findings are summarized in a handy parent guide.

Download our parent guide

Parents/Guardians want their children to become life-long learners, problem-solvers, self-confident individuals and active participants in our democracy. Learn how to ask the right questions about your school and how to talk about high quality education with our guide on "What do all kids need for strong schools."

The children of CPS no longer have to wait to get recess, a longer lunch and important social time.  Schools will no longer need to cut into limited instructional time to offer recess.  The CPS guide, "Developing a School Recess Plan," outlines the process by which to move your school from the Closed Campus Schedule (5 hours and 45 minutes) to the Regular Open Schedule (6 hours 30 minutes).  RYH has continued to collaborate with CPS, CTU and other parent groups including COFI and HSC to facilitate the completion of this important recess document.