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School-within-a-school:
A group of teachers within a school who organize around a curricular focus and serve the
same group of students each year. At two large elementary schools, Phillip Sheridan and
Piccolo, most faculty members and students are grouped into small schools; Sheridan has
12, and Piccolo now has four. Elementary schools that have only one small school-
within-a-school are Esmond Elementary (Mae Jemison), Mozart Elementary (Mozart Middle),
Healy Elementary (New Millennium), Spry Elementary (Peace School), Eli Whitney (SCOPE) and
Nash Elementary (Transitions). Multiplex:
Several teacher-led small schools that operate inside a single facility and under the
legal umbrella of a shared principal. The Cregier Multiplex houses three small schools:
Best Practice High, Foundations Elementary and Nia Middle.
Scatterplex: Several schools that
operate in different facilities but under the legal umbrella of a shared principal. Ariel
Community Academy, located in Kennicott Park fieldhouse, and Woodlawn Community Academy,
located in Wadsworth Elementary, form the citys only scatterplex.
Charter school: Typically but not
always small, a charter school operates under a contract with the Reform Board but is free
of most city and state regulations.
Source: CPS, The Chicago Panel Initiative Status Report on Small Schools |