Pritzker College Prep

Pritzker College Prep is a public four-year charter high school located in the Hermosa neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois. It is a part of the Noble Network of Charter Schools. It opened its doors in 2006 and serves over 986 students[1] in grades nine through twelve, as of the 2017-2018 school year.[2]

Pritzker College Prep
Address
4131 W. Cortland Street

Chicago
,
Illinois
60639

United States
Information
School typePublic Secondary Charter
Opened2006
PrincipalCarrie Spitz
Grades9–12
GenderCoed
Enrollment986 (2017-18)
Campus typeUrban
Color(s)     orange
     blue
WebsitePritzker College Prep

Background

History

Pritzker College Prep was founded in 2006 as one of the first expansion campuses of the Noble Network of Charter Schools.[3] It is named in honor of Penny Pritzker and Bryan Traubert and their support of Noble's first expansion campuses through their Pritzker Traubert Family Foundation.

Location

Pritzker is located in the Hermosa neighborhood of Chicago in a building leased from the Archdiocese of Chicago. Before Pritzker opened, the building served as St. Philomena Elementary School.[4]

Ratings

As of 2018, Pritzker is rated highly by several city- and state-wide organizations.

Partnerships

Since 2008, Pritzker has partnered with Phillips Exeter Academy for teacher training and collaboration around the Harkness method of instruction.[9]

Each summer since 2012, rising seniors from the school attend the Pushkin Summer Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for intensive Russian language studies.[10] Since 2015, Pushkin participants have also been eligible to travel to Eastern Europe after graduation through a partner grant between PSI and the National Security Language Initiative for Youth.[11]

Through Noble's partnership with the Right Angle Foundation and the Summer of a Lifetime program, top sophomores are invited to attend college summer programs around the country with most of their expenses covered.[12]

Course Offerings

College Focus

As with all Noble schools, Pritzker's curriculum is focused on preparing students to attend four-year colleges, and each year since 2010, when Pritzker graduated its first seniors, 100% of graduating seniors have been accepted into college.[3] All seniors take Collegiate Seminar, a course focused on researching and applying to college, applying for financial aid, and planning to navigate life on college campuses. The class of 2018 earned over $50 million in scholarships[13] and chose to attend schools all over the country.[14]

IB and AP Courses

In June 2015 Pritzker became certified as an International Baccalaureate school.[15] As of the 2018-2019 school year, the school also offers AP courses.

Foreign Language

Juniors and seniors at Pritzker take Russian as a foreign language, and AP Spanish is also offered as an independent study course, as of the 2018-2020school year.

Electives

Incoming freshmen at Pritzker choose between four award-winning elective programs: Band, Choir, Marine Corps JROTC, and Journalism.

Band Program

Pritzker's Jazz band performs annually at the Berklee College of Music,[16] and has performed at Lake Forest College[17] and the Chicago Jazz Festival,[18] among other venues. In 2010, the program received new instruments thanks to a grant from Fidelity.[19] Band teacher Ben Das was also named a TNTP Fishman Prize finalist in 2015.[20]

Journalism Program

The Journalism program, which produces The Pritzker Press online and in print, was established in 2014. Writers from the program compete annually through both the Scholastic Press Association of Chicago High School Media Awards and Conference and the Illinois Journalism Education Association's Newspaper & Digital News Media Competition. The Pritzker Press placed 3rd[21] and 2nd overall in 2017 and 2018, respectively, in its division in the IJEA competition.

Extracurriculars

Athletics

As of the 2018-2019 school year, the school has competitive teams for 15 sports:[22] Football, boys’ soccer (varsity and JV), girls’ soccer (varsity and JC), boys’ rugby, girls’ rugby,[23] girls’ volleyball, cross country (co-ed), boys’ basketball (varsity and JV), girls’ basketball (varsity and JV), cheerleading (co-ed), wrestling (co-ed), baseball, softball, track and field, and ultimate frisbee (co-ed).[24]

Noble League (formerly Noble Athletic Conference) championships:[22][25]
  • Football: 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2015
  • Cheer: 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018
  • Girls’ Soccer: 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018
  • Boys’ Soccer: 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014
  • Baseball: 2009, 2015

IHSA Regional championships:[26]
  • Girls’ Soccer: 2014, 2015, 2017
  • Softball: 2014

State championships:[27]
  • Boys’ Rugby: 2013 (IYRA TIER 3)
  • Ultimate Frisbee: 2015 (IYU B-DIVISION)

Clubs

As of the 2018-2019 school year, the school offers over 20 competitive and non-competitive clubs.[28]

Distinguished Teacher Program

In May 2019, The Noble Network of Charter Schools announced the first 20 recipients of its newly created Distinguished Teacher program.[29] The purpose of the Distinguished Teacher program is to identify, recognize, and reward a select group of Noble teachers who have achieved exceptional results for students at Noble for at least three years and during that time have exemplified the five key questions laid out in the Distinguished Teacher framework.[30] Prior to being selected, candidates participated in a rigorous application process that began in January 2019, where they first submitted their written narratives along with a portfolio that included comprehensive data. Finalists then participated in classroom observations and debriefs, student surveys, a panel interview, and reference checks.[29][31] Among other benefits, those who are selected to be a Distinguished Teacher receive an annual bonus of $10,000, will help facilitate professional development experiences across the Noble Network as well as participate in the selection of future Distinguished Teachers.[29]

Four teachers from Pritzker College Prep were chosen to be 2018-2019 Distinguished Teachers: Amanda Meyers - English teacher; Benjamin Das - Band teacher;

Charles Rosentel - Social Studies teacher; and GySgt. Jose Alvarez, Jr. - MUROTC- Marine Instructor.[29]

References
  1. "CPS : School Data". cps.edu. Retrieved 2018-10-15.
  2. Pritzker College Prep School History and Campus Overview
  3. "School History | Pritzker College Prep | Noble Network of Charter Schools". nobleschools.org. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
  4. "Saint Philomena School, Chicago, early 20th century". Explore Chicago Collections. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
  5. "2019 Best Charter High Schools in Illinois". Niche. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
  6. "The Best Public Schools in Chicago". Chicago magazine. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
  7. "2018-2019 High School Quality Rating Report, Noble- Pritzker College Prep" (PDF). schoolreports.cps.edu. October 2018. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
  8. "Illinois Report Card, Noble St Chtr-Pritzker College Prep" (PDF). Retrieved 2018-11-20.
  9. "A Noble Cause". Phillips Exeter Academy. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
  10. "Summer snapshots: Reaching out with Russian | College of Letters & Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison". ls.wisc.edu. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
  11. "Russian-language summer program for under-served youth receives $230,000". International Division. 3 March 2015. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
  12. "Summer of a Lifetime | Welcome". summerofalifetime.noblenetwork.org. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
  13. "Prospective Students | Pritzker College Prep | Noble Network of Charter Schools". nobleschools.org. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
  14. "Where Pritzker's Class of 2018 Is Going | Total Visits 1306 | Pritzker Press". Pritzker Press. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
  15. "Pritzker College Prep". International Baccalaureate®. Retrieved 2018-10-15.
  16. "Jazz Band thrives with joy after Boston trip | Total Visits 359 | Pritzker Press". Pritzker Press. Retrieved 2018-10-15.
  17. "College's Concert Band invites high school program to perform in side-by-side concert". lakeforest.edu. Retrieved 2018-10-15.
  18. "Previous Chicago Jazz Festivals". jazzinchicago.org. 2012. Retrieved 2018-10-15.
  19. REPORTERS, Alejandra Cancino and John von Rhein, TRIBUNE. "'Now our band is complete'". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2018-10-15.
  20. "Benjamin Das". tntp.org. Retrieved 2018-10-15.
  21. "2017 IJEA Newspaper & Digital News Media Contest Winners" (PDF). Retrieved 2018-11-23.
  22. "Pritzker Athletics Website Tabs" (PDF).
  23. Keilman, John. "High school girls rugby a hit at Noble charter schools". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2018-10-15.
  24. "Pritzker College Prep Jaguar Ultimate". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2018-10-15.
  25. "Noble League" (PDF). nobleleague.com. Retrieved 2018-11-24.
  26. "Noble League" (PDF). nobleleague.com. Retrieved 2018-11-24.
  27. "Noble League" (PDF). nobleleague.com. Retrieved 2018-11-24.
  28. "Activities Info 2018.docx". Google Docs. Retrieved 2018-11-24.
  29. "20 Chicago Public School Educators Receive Elite "Distinguished Teacher" Recognition". nobleschools.org. May 30, 2019.
  30. "Distinguished Teacher". nobleschools.org.
  31. Lutton, Linda (June 4, 2019). "Chicago Charter Awards Top Teachers $10K Bonuses, Elite Title To Stay In Classroom". WBEZ Chicago.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.