Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Summary of 3-Point Plan

CPS has requested that we take our brief 3-Point Plan and create a 1-page summary for the early talks with the capital department.  Below is the link, as well as a repeat of the link to the original 3-Point Plan.  Thanks to everyone who has contributed to the efforts for both of these documents!

Original, Longer 3-Point Plan

1-Page Summary of 3-Point Plan

LSC Candidate Deadline Extended to March 14

CPS has extended the deadline to get the paperwork in to run for your Local School Council to March 14.  This is great as it gives more people the time to go through the process.

We are working on getting a list of schools in the neighborhood who need candidates to run, and will post that information as soon as we get it.

CPS Extends LSC Deadline

Saturday, February 22, 2014

Next Meeting- Wednesday, March 26

Mark your calendars and more information with an invitation to come...

NEXT HYDE PARK/KENWOOD COMMUNITY ACTION COUNCIL MEETING-
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26TH

Friday, February 21, 2014

3-Point Plan for CPS Submitted

Here is the link to the 3-Point Plan submitted to CPS on February 21, 2014.




Before you peruse this document, here is some background on how it was created.  About a month or so ago, as the Hyde Park/Kenwood CAC was getting up and running, we were informed that the other CACs (who have been in existence for 2-3 years) were asked for a 3-Point Plan from CPS, to be turned in by February 28.  This was to be a short list/explanation of priorities that would later inform more strategic planning.  Knowing this was in the works for the other CACs but knowing that we were just being formed, there was the big question as to whether or not we could pull this off.

We started early discussions with brainstorming lists, categorizing exercises, further communication over email, whole-group discussions, and knowing that we need more communication with the administrators, community members, teachers, parents, and all stakeholders. Since we are just forming, we narrowed our ideas down to 4 points.

Then, at our monthly meeting on Wednesday, February 19, we revisited these points, with the idea that we had over a week to make something happen more in depth to meet the CPS deadline.  Some suggested taking until the next month's meeting to get it done, asking for an extension due to our young nature.  The CPS officials, however, informed us that the "real" deadline was 2 days later- February 21st- if we wanted to do our best to get our requests in for any capital that might become available.  Less than 48 hours later we needed our plan developed, elaborated, and polished.

The newly-elected leadership was charged with this task.  Through collaboration, a document was created, feedback gathered from the CAC board members, adjustments made, and a final-but-working-document for our 3-Point Plan was presented.  We did it.

Please note that it is a working document that will be revisited as we develop conversations with school leaders and community members along the way.


Monday, February 17, 2014


Hyde Park/Kenwood Community Action Council (CAC) Meeting
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19
6pm @ Kenwood HS, King Room

The first "official" Hyde Park Community Action Council (CAC) meeting is coming up on Wednesday, February 19th, 6:00-7:30 pm in the KING ROOM (not the Little Theater) at Kenwood Academy (5015 S. Blackstone). The agenda will include CAC updates, interim leadership elections, Network staff introductions, a brief presentation from LSC Relations, and a discussion on the CAC strategic educational plans.   
          
For those of you interested in getting to know each other a little better or learn more about the CACs, there will be a mixer/ networking opportunity just before the CAC meeting @5:15 in the Teacher's Lunchroom (across from the King Room). Light refreshments will be served.     

Please visit the blog, http://hydeparkcac.blogspot.com/ for ongoing announcements and information, including the application, CAC guidelines from CPS, and meeting announcements. Email hydeparkcac@gmail.com to get on our email list for meeting invitations and announcements.  Please share this information with everyone you know!
Come, join, participate in creating a VISION for our community schools! 

For more information you may contact CPS:
Carl Hurdlik at 773.553-1554 (cchurdlik@cps.edu) or  
Brenda Bell at 773.553-1538 (bjbell1@cps.edu)

Or contact the temporary leadership of the CAC: hydeparkcac@gmail.com


The Hyde Park/Kenwood CAC also encourages you to
RUN FOR YOUR LOCAL SCHOOL COUNCIL!

Paperwork deadline is February 26th.  Stop by your local school to ask for an application and information.  

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Incorrect Calendar Announcement in the Herald


There have been some complications in getting things published correctly with the Hyde Park Herald.  We hope these corrections are underway but thought we could clear things up right here on our blog!  Our Letter to the Editor, that is on this blog as well, did not make the print deadline but should be in the print version this coming week.

On page 20 of the Herald, February 12, 2014, Calendar Section, the Herald INCORRECTLY published the following:

Wednesday

Community Action Council meeting. 6:30 p.m., Kenwood Academy High School, 5015 S. Blackstone Ave., 773-535- 1350. A chance for community members to join the Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference's council and its board.



THIS IS INCORRECT.  It should read:

Hyde Park/Kenwood Community Action Council meeting, 6p, Kenwood Academy High School, 5015 S. Blackstone Ave., 773-535-1350.  A chance for community members to attend the meeting of the Hyde Park/Kenwood Community Action Council and join its board.

The Hyde Park/Kenwood CAC was developed with the support and push from the Hyde Park Kenwood Community Conference (HPKCC)'s Schools Committee.  The HPKCC Schools Committee has been very involved in schools and supporting education for a long time; however, the Hyde Park/Kenwood CAC is a different entity, one which brings together various individuals, community groups (like the HPKCC), educators, and CPS to develop a vision for our neighborhood schools.

This can be confusing since the HPKCC sent out many of the early invitations.  Also, on page 13 of the Herald, there is an ad for the Hyde Park/Kenwood CAC, but it is published with the heading and logo of the HPKCC, which might be confusing as well.  

Please do not hesitate to send any questions to hydeparkcac@gmail.com.  

Sunday, February 9, 2014

Do you want to help lead the CAC? Info on elections taking place on February 19.

On February 19th, at the 6p meeting at Kenwood HS, we will elect
2 INTERIM CO-CHAIRS
2 INTERIM CO-SECRETARIES
Interim positions will last until the end of the school year (June) when the CAC will reassess things and potentially elect permanent co-chairs and co-secretaries.
If you are interested in serving in a leadership role as a chair or secretary, there are two simple requirements:
1) email hydeparkcac@gmail.com BY FEBRUARY 15 to let us know of your intent to run for a position with your name, email, phone number, and 2-3 sentences about yourself and your connection/interest in our neighborhood schools.
2) Be prepared on Wednesday, February 19th to make a 1-minute statement to the group about yourself (orally present your 2-3 sentences from your email!)
What the roles entail:
- Chairs will facilitate the meetings, create meeting agendas, be a liaison to CPS's FACE (Family and Community Engagement) team, attend meetings regularly, meet outside of monthly meetings as needed, communicate with other members and the community about what's going on at the CAC (working with committee chairs, which will come in the future).  *This role will be more defined as we develop further.
- Secretaries will work with the chairs to facilitate the meetings as needed, record minutes, organize minutes and present them for approval, attend meetings regularly.  *This role, as well, will be more defined as we develop further.
Questions about the elections or the meeting?  Please email hydeparkcac@gmail.com.

Letter to the Editor of the Hyde Park Herald

This is a letter to the editor of the Hyde Park Herald that was submitted this past week.  We are so excited to get the word out!  Help us!  Spread the word and share the link to the blog!

Dear Editor,

We are very excited that the Hyde Park/Kenwood Community Action Council (CAC) is up and running.  This is an entity that has been created by individuals in our community, in partnership with Chicago Public Schools, to create a vision for our neighborhood schools through the participation and voice of parents, teachers, administrators, community members, churches, non-profits, and community organizations.  There are eight other CACs in the city in various neighborhoods, some of which were developed a few years ago.

As the CAC develops, it needs to hear from the community.  We are in the early stages and need representatives from all neighborhood schools and the community at large.  There is an application process to become a board member; however, all meetings are open to the community.  If you are curious, interested, or want to join, please come to our monthly meetings.  If you know someone who might be curious, interested, or want to join, please spread the word!

The next meeting is Wednesday, February 19th at 6p, at Kenwood High School's Little Theater.  We hope to set a regular meeting time each month so that it is easy to plan to be involved.  

At that meeting on February 19th, leadership will be elected.  We urge anyone to run for office.  We will be electing two interim co-chairs and two interim co-secretaries.  These interim positions will last until June when the CAC will reassess its progress and development. If you would like to serve as a leader, there are two simple requirements:
1- Email hydeparkcac@gmail.com BY FEBRUARY 15 with your name, email, phone number, and 2-3 sentences about your affiliation and interest in the CAC.
2- Be prepared on February 19th at the meeting to give a 1-minute oral presentation about yourself (present those 2-3 sentences to the group from your email).

Temporary work groups have been formed to start some of our important work, like Strategic Planning, Rapid Response/Steering, PR, and By-Laws.  These will morph as needed into more structured committees as we develop our mission statement, create our priorities, and elect our leaders.  If you don't want to lead, there is other work to be done.  Please consider signing up for a work group if you can give some time or efforts for our schools.  At this time, you do not need to have an application in to volunteer to become part of a work group.

Please visit the blog, http://hydeparkcac.blogspot.com/ for ongoing announcements and information, including the application, CAC guidelines from CPS, and meeting announcements. Email hydeparkcac@gmail.com to get on our email list for meeting invitations and announcements.  Please share this information with everyone you know!

Come, join, participate in creating a vision for our community schools!

-The Temporary Leadership Team of the Hyde Park/Kenwood CAC
Nancy Baum, Patricia Breckenridge, Camille Hamilton-Doyle, Deb Hass, Robert Quashie, Kristy Ulrich Papczun

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Application, Guidelines, etc.

Here you will find links to the CAC application, the Guidelines that CPS provides (which will serve loosely as our by-laws for now), and a general mission statement that has been created by CPS.

Please note that we are using CPS's documents as a starting point but that the CAC may revisit, redesign, or recreate the structure and goals as we assess our community needs. This is a community-driven process.

Hyde Park/Kenwood CAC Application
Please note that you do not need to apply if you want to volunteer your time or efforts to help with any work on the CAC at this point.  By applying, you are indicating that you want to be apart of the board. This will matter more later when we encounter issues to vote on, if we decide to limit voting rights to those on the board.  CPS also tracks who has applied and their affiliation, so we can do our best to bring in a broad range of stakeholders.

Mission, Structure, Goals, Deliverables
This document with a mission statement is from CPS.  The Hyde Park/Kenwood CAC will be creating our own mission statement as we develop.  We can also revisit the structure and goals, etc.

CAC Guidelines
These are what the Hyde Park/Kenwood CAC will use as our by-laws for now, after being advised to do so by other CACs (who have spent many months, years? in creating and discussing their own by-laws).



General Info on CACs

A general overview of what CACs are and a list of the other 8 CACs in Chicago, as well as the proclamation from Barbara Byrd-Bennett to voice her support of CACs:

http://www.cps.edu/Pages/CAC.aspx


Wednesday, February 5, 2014

February 19 Meeting

*Please revisit this blog often for more information, including CAC guidelines, CAC basic info (what is a CAC?), updates on meetings, announcements, etc.
 
The next Hyde Park/Kenwood Community Action Council (CAC) Meeting is on
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19
6pm @ Kenwood HS, Little Theater
 
Come, join, participate in creating a VISION for our community schools! 
 
We are just getting started, so the meeting will include elections for the following positions:
2 INTERIM CO-CHAIRS
2 INTERIM CO-SECRETARIES
Interim positions will last until the end of the school year (June) when the CAC will reassess things and potentially elect permanent co-chairs and co-secretaries.
 
If you are interested in serving in a leadership role as a chair or secretary, there are two simple requirements:
1) email hydeparkcac@gmail.com BY FEBRUARY 15 to let us know of your intent to run for a position with your name, email, phone number, and 2-3 sentences about yourself and your connection/interest in our neighborhood schools.
2) Be prepared on Wednesday, February 19th to make a 1-minute statement to the group about yourself (orally present your 2-3 sentences from your email!)
 
What the roles entail:
- Chairs will facilitate the meetings, create meeting agendas, be a liaison to CPS's FACE (Family and Community Engagement) team, attend meetings regularly, meet outside of monthly meetings as needed, communicate with other members and the community about what's going on at the CAC (working with committee chairs, which will come in the future).  *This role will be more defined as we develop further.
- Secretaries will work with the chairs to facilitate the meetings as needed, record minutes, organize minutes and present them for approval, attend meetings regularly.  *This role, as well, will be more defined as we develop further.
 
Questions about the elections or the meeting?  Please email hydeparkcac@gmail.com