Two schools closing; three more receive grant support

January was a month of good news and bad news for the Archdiocese of Chicago’s Catholic schools.

On Jan. 11 the Office for Catholic Schools announced that St. Joseph School in Homewood and St. Louis de Montfort School in Oak Lawn would close on June 30.

Both schools have faced declining enrollment and financial difficulties over the past several years. Current enrollment at St. Joseph School is 64 students; current enrollment at St. Louis de Montfort School is 133 students. Despite best efforts to restore the schools to viability, finances and enrollment have not improved.

Positive news came on Jan. 23 when the archdiocese announced it had received a $1 million grant from the CME Group Foundation to launch a five-year personalized learning program at St. Albert the Great School in Burbank, St. Catherine of Siena/St. Lucy School in Oak Park and St. Genevieve School, 4854 W. Montana St.

The grant funds professional development, training, software, technology infrastructure and maintenance needed to successfully implement the literacy and writing-focused program.

The archdiocese is collaborating with LEAP Innovations, a social enterprise headquartered in Chicago that connects innovation and education to personalize learning, to facilitate the professional development that will support the implementation of this instructional model. The schools were selected following an application process.

“Our Catholic schools have a long reputation for excellence and innovation” said Jim Rigg, superintendent of Catholic schools. “This grant will help us enhance our ability to offer a 21stcentury education to meet the needs of all learners. We are incredibly thankful to the CME Group Foundation for their generous gift.”

The personalized learning program at the three schools is a school-wide approach with school administrators, team leaders, teachers and staff members all engaged. The focus of the kindergarten through eighth grade program is literacy and writing.

Among the program goals is to see an improvement in student achievement, specifically students meeting or exceeding grade-level benchmarks in reading and writing as measured through the ACT Aspire test. ACT Aspire is the annual test administrated at all Catholic elementary schools across the archdiocese. The test assesses students’ academic proficiency in five academic areas: English, reading, math, science and writing.

“As a leading technology company, CME Group is pleased to partner through our foundation with the archdiocese schools as part of our efforts to enhance education throughout Chicago,” said Terry Duffy, chairman and chief executive officer of CME Group. “By providing the necessary funding for technical infrastructure, training and software, this five-year grant will support the collaboration between the archdiocese schools and LEAP to personalize learning and therefore improve student outcomes, particularly in literacy and writing.”

As part of the program, LEAP Innovations will work with the participating schools to analyze the schools’ current instructional practices, curriculum and tools to identify challenges to address through personalized learning. School leaders and teachers will work with LEAP Innovations to create and execute a quality, classroom-based personalized learning program enhanced by educational technology.

Participating school leaders and teachers across the three schools will collaborate with each other through group trainings and discussions. School leaders and teachers will also have access to online content modules, allowing for independent work to strengthen understanding and improve practice.