Community as a Campus Manifestos

For my research on the Community as a Campus initiative in Humboldt Park, I have mainly been relying on two resources: a document outlining the 5 year plan of the initiative, and more user friendly Prezi about the project, created by a woman named Wendy Thomas (https://prezi.com/bay4kn8w7d7b/community-as-a-campus-2/#)

The 5 Year Implementation Plan was the first document I read about Community as a Campus, after it was sent to me by my fellowship supervisor Michael Rodriguez. Meant to as descriptive and informative as possible, the document is broken down into the following sections:

 

1. Introduction
2. Community Background
3. Challenge and Impact
4. Vision and Mission
5. Structure
6. Oversight
7. Participating Schools
8. Community and Institutional Partners
9. CAAC Boundaries
10. Planning Committee
11. Five-Year Outcomes
12. Implementation Plan
13. Evaluation Plan
14. Five-Year Budget

 

Naturally, the document is quite extensive and provided me with an early insight into the objective and proposed implementation of the initiative. As the piece states, “The Humboldt Park “Community as a Campus” (CAAC) plan is a comprehensive education initiative adopted by the Community Action Council of Humboldt Park Chicago and endorsed by the Chicago Public Schools. The mission of the CAAC is to enhance the educational experience and outcomes of students in the Humboldt Park community, especially those attending Roberto Clemente Community Academy, by creating a community-wide educational pipeline from Pre-K to 16 (4-year postsecondary degree) framed within the precepts of the International Baccalaureate (IB) academic standards and supplemented with community wrap-around services.”

Information like this was critical in my understanding of the complex and multifaceted CAAC initiative, and gave me a fantastic insight into the struggles the community was facing. Most notably, this article stoked my earliest interest in Roberto Clemente Academy, the primary high school in the Humboldt Park and the lynchpin CAAC institution. Located just steps away from Paseo Boricua where the Puerto Rican Cultural Center’s main office is located, Clemente is a high school that has seen a staggering ascent in prestige and reputation in recent years. Once on academic probation for nearly two decades and thought of by Chicago residents as “a ghetto school” (as my supervisor Michael put it), the school has recently been approved by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel as a International Baccalaureate (IB) institution. Yet, despite this, Clemente remains stigmatized by the various white, relatively high income families that are moving into the community.

Learning of all of this context gave me a fascinating primer into Humboldt Park and Community as a Campus, the latter an appropriately sophisticated and wide-spanning plan for an ever evolving, proud, and resilient neighborhood. This knowledge was furthered through Wendy Thomas’ more digestible Prezi, which breaks down the various institutions involved in the project, as well as the many goals of the program. One great page speaks about how CAAC has a commitment to increase:

-Graduation rates at the elementary and high school levels

-Post-secondary enrollment and career paths

-Youth leadership development and violence prevention programs

-Humboldt Park parents in continuing education and workforce training

-Educational options, wrap-around services and career to work programs.

 

These two relatively dense documents have been instrumental in articulating the goals and various components of this complex and admirable initiative. Though it has been quite important to actually talk to people involved in the CAAC project itself, having these pieces as informational sources has been a fantastic resource throughout my research.