Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Contingency plans in the event of a CPS teacher strike on October 17, 2019

Please click here for a message from CPS leadership regarding a possible teacher strike and the contingency plans that are in place.

Raise Your Hand has gathered information here about additional resources for parents across the city in the event that there is a strike.

Saturday, October 12, 2019

CANCELLED: HPKCAC meeting on Wednesday, October 23 at Dyett High School

The HPKCAC meeting scheduled for Wednesday, October 23 from 6-8pm at Dyett High School has been cancelled.

We will reschedule our training meeting for the Jane Averill Community Reading Day in November, after the strike is over. Updated information will be sent out via email and on this blogspot.

Thank you!

3rd Jane Averill Community Reading Day on Friday, November 22

The Hyde Park-Kenwood CAC is planning to put on a third Jane Averill Community Reading Day on Friday, November 22, 2019. The goal of this one-day, community-wide reading event is to further strengthen community support for our public schools. This event is named in honor of Jane Averill, a long-time Hyde Park resident, educator, and HPKCAC member.

On November 22 volunteers will spend approximately 30 minutes in a Chicago Public School PreK or Kindergarten classroom reading the children's book, Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall to small groups of children. Afterwards we will pass out copies of the book for each child to keep. Volunteers will be invited on a tour of the school either before or after the classroom visit.

The HPKCAC will provide a liaison at each school as a contact person for the volunteers, who will contact you with details about the event.

Please fill out the form below to sign up to participate in the 3rd Jane Averill Community Reading Day!


We are partnering with 57th Street Books again this year and we would like to raise $3920 to cover the cost of 350 books. If CPS's FACE Department supports us with $3000, that leaves $920 for us to raise. We are asking community members to help us cover this portion of the cost of the event. With the 30% discount that 57th Street Books is giving us, one book costs $11.20. A donation of $224 would cover the cost of 20 books for a single PreK/K classroom, but even purchasing one book for this event helps a lot. We are so grateful to all of the community members who have donated in the past! You can stop by 57th Street Books (1301 E. 57th Street) and purchase a book or two to be used for the third Jane Averill Community Reading Day or via this online link: https://www.semcoop.com/jane-averill-community-reading-day-2019

All volunteers are required to complete a background check form. (We will be in touch with you about this step after you sign up to participate.)

We are planning to hold a training session on techniques for reading a book aloud to young children at our November 20 meeting at Dyett High School, from 6-8pm. Retired educator, Lorraine Richardson, will present and we will serve refreshments. 

And don't hesitate to reach out with questions: hydeparkcac@gmail.com