AUSL blog
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Chicago’s Need for Special Education Teachers
If you’re considering a career as a teacher, you might find the most rewarding opportunities in special education. Over the past decade, Chicago and the nation have experienced a severe shortage of special education teachers. Special education teachers work with students who have a wide range of learning, mental, emotional, and physical disabilities. In 2019–20, […]
A Return to School Perspective from the Academy for Urban School Leadership
As Chicago Public Schools students head back to the classroom this month for their first full-time, in-person learning experience in 17 months, many will be grappling with significant learning and social emotional loss. After schools transitioned to remote learning in March 2020 and only partially reopened in spring 2021, an alarming number of students were […]
Twenty years of Transforming Lives in and out of the Classroom
AUSL is an equity-focused non-profit that works tirelessly with the belief that all students should have access to an excellent education. Since 2001, AUSL’s conviction for equity in education has impacted thousands of students and families who reside in under-resourced communities. This weekend the Chicago Teacher Residency celebrated the graduation of Diverse Learner, Elementary, and Middle School teachers. Hear from CTR graduate Amaziah […]
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Johnson SOE Students Win Competitive Dusable Commemoration Essay Competition
Image courtesy of @TheJohnsonWildCats Instagram account. On Chicago’s 182nd Birthday, Jayla J. and Meliyah N. were honored for winning the Jean Baptiste Pointe Dusable Commeration Essay Competition. Both students had to answer the question: If Dusable lived today, what kind of person would he vote for as the next mayor of Chicago to make it a fair and safe place for all people? Jayla and Meliyah took home the 1st and 2nd place grand prize! We are so proud of both of these incredible...
Announcing the Black History Month 2019 Art Contest Winners!
Congratulations to the talented student artists who have won the 2019 Annual Black History Month Art Contest! The top 3 entries in each grade were awarded the following cash prizes: K-3 Grade First Place: $100 Second Place: $75 Third Place: $50 4-8 Grade First Place: $100 Second Place: $75 Third Place: $50 9-12 Grade First Place: $100 Second Place: $75 ThirdPlace:$50 The winning art will also be showcased at the Annual Battle of the Choirs on March 16 at Collins Academy High School. Take a look at the winning pieces below: First Place - K-3 Maya S., The Chicago Academy, Third Grade First...
Orr Academy High School Men’s Basketball Team Heads to State Finals
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image="7406" img_size="full"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Congratulations to the Orr Academy High School Men's Basketball team for making it to the 2019 State Finals! The team was named the IHSA Super-Sectional Champions for Boys Basketball Class 2A. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
Solorio High School Robotics Team Heads to State Finals
The Solorio Academy High School FIRST Teach Challenge (FTC) team has made it to the State Finals as part of a winning alliance at the Chicago South League's qualifying tournament for robotics. Congratulations to these hardworking students!
Collins Academy Students Win the Competitive Louder Than a Bomb Poetry Contest
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_video link="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSxFUBM_PIs"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Congratulations to these Collins Academy High School poets who won the competitive Louder Than A Bomb Contest! The students, who call themselves the Missing Pieces, performed their spoken word poetry at The Chicago Youth Poetry Festival. ...
AUSL Network Students and Teachers Celebrate Black History Month
[vc_row][vc_column width="1/2"][vc_single_image image="7388" img_size="full" alignment="center"][/vc_column][vc_column width="1/2"][vc_single_image image="7392" img_size="full"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width="1/2"][vc_single_image image="7390" img_size="full" alignment="center"][/vc_column][vc_column width="1/2"][vc_single_image image="7391" img_size="full"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Students and teachers across the AUSL network celebrated Black History Month with art, music, dance and learning! Above are a selection of creative blackboard...
Back to School IL Awards Kits to 520 Phillips Academy High School Seniors
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image="7384" img_size="full" alignment="center"][vc_column_text]Image courtesy of @BacktoSchoolIL Twitter[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Together with Back to School IL, the Community Currency Exchange Association of Illinois (CCEA) donated Back 2 Schools kits at Wendell Phillips Academy. 520 senior students with top grades were awarded the kits at the bi-annual RISE (Rewarding Intellectual Superior Efforts)...
Harvard, McNair SOE Celebrate Black History Month with the Chicago Children’s Choir
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image="7380" img_size="full" alignment="center"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Students from Harvard SOE and McNair SOE joined students from across the city to celebrate Black History Month at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra with the Chicago Children's Choir. The performance included a look at Chicago's history and its contribution to culture and music since the Great Migration, when hundreds of thousands of African Americans traveled to Chicago from the South in the early twentieth century in search of a better...
Spotlighting AUSL’s STEM Programming Part 3: Building Our Students’ 21st Century Skills
Learn how AUSL is supporting its students with experiences to help them become 21st Century leaders.
Chicago Academy High Student Receives Prestigious Act Six Scholarship
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image="7360" img_size="full" alignment="center"][vc_column_text]Image courtesy of @ChiAcadHS Twitter[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]We're incredibly proud of Chicago Academy High School scholar Jailene for receiving a full-tuition, full-need scholarship from Act Six to Taylor University! Jailene is one of seven in the city of Chicago to win this prestigious award. Congratulations, Jailene![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]