WebExtra: Giving students a VOYCE Research and activism by teens in Albany Park may hold the answer to curbing the dropout rate -November, 2007

Albany Park: Roosevelt High gets a makeover Roosevelt High School has spent years working to resurrect its reputation in the Albany Park community. It’s been an uphill battle. Roosevelt has revamped its curriculum, increased security, boosted its graduation rate and raised the number of graduates it sends to four-year colleges. But many residents still see Roosevelt as the school of last resort. -November, 2007

Albany Park: A legacy under pressure A working-class, immigrant community bands together to save its neighborhood schools. -November, 2007

Albany Park: ASPIRA overcoming a bumpy start ASPIRA Early College High School is temporarily sharing a building with another ASPIRA-operated school, Haugan Middle, in a new $17 million facility in the heart of Albany Park. The temporary arrangements are controversial, and underscore the mixed feelings in the community toward ASPIRA. -November, 2007

Albany Park: Tying schools together at the roots Encouraging organic relationships between teachers is part of a larger initiative to build parental engagement and student leadership in Albany Park. Some also see the project, dubbed the Greater Albany Park Education Coalition, as a way for neighborhood schools to band together in the face of competition from selective high schools and new schools being created under Renaissance 2010. Without a game plan, existing neighborhood schools could lose students and, eventually, face closure. -November, 2007

Austin: Parent's imprisonment tough on kids An estimated 1 in 10 children nationwide has a parent behind bars, on probation or on parole. In Chicago, schools have no way to identify such children—and few resources to support them. Austin is a community where a significant chunk of people who are released from prison go to get back on their feet. -November, 2006

Austin: A place of extremes Austin, Chicago’s largest community area, is a microcosm for the challenges and promises of urban cities. -November, 2006

New beginning for Austin High Austin Business and Entrepreneurship High School is one of the district’s new schools opened under Renaissance 2010, an aggressive plan to close failing schools and replace them with a mix of smaller schools. Eventually, two more small high schools will share space in the same facility and, after a three-year phase out that ends next June with the last class of graduating seniors, the old Austin Community Academy High School will cease to exist. -November, 2006

South Chicago: Finding new life after steel After decades as a steelmaking hub, South Chicago has begun to write its next chapter. Home to the USX South Works mill, which once employed more than 20,000 workers earning substantial union wages, the far Southeast Side neighborhood began to decline when USX began to shed jobs in the 1970s. Now, the community is working to create affordable housing, bolster the business sector and improve education. -June, 2006

South Chicago: A school for the community tries to raise math and reading test scores The buzz of activity at Sullivan Elementary is the result of the Community Schools Initiative, one of CEO Arne Duncan’s pet projects. Community schools, which are springing up in districts across the country as well as Chicago, aim to provide activities and services not just for students but their families and the neighborhood as well. Chicago has 102 community schools so far. -June, 2006