V
A RESOLUTION HONORING EVERGREEN ACADEMY MIDDLE SCHOOL
WHEREAS, Evergreen Academy Middle School, located at 3537 S. Paulina Street in the McKinley Park neighborhood, has been re-designated by the National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform as a School to Watch for the years 2013 through 2016; and
WHEREAS, Evergreen Academy first received the three year designated as a School to Watch for the years 2010 through 2013; and
WHEREAS, Schools to Watch is an initiative launched by the National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform in 1999 to identify schools across the United States that are well on their way to meeting the Forum's criteria for high performance; and
WHEREAS, the National Forum believes that three things are true of high-performing middle schools: 1) They are academically excellent - they challenge all students to use their minds well, 2) They are developmentally responsive - they are sensitive to the unique developmental challenges of early adolescence, and 3) They are socially equitable - they are democratic and fair, providing every student with high-quality teachers, resources, and supports; and
WHEREAS, To achieve this level of performance, high-performing schools establish norms, structures, and organizational arrangements to support and sustain their trajectory toward excellence; and
WHEREAS, Evergreen Academy Middle School is comprised of approximately 400 students in sixth through eighth grades, has a 96.3% attendance rate, and is one of only 25 middle schools in Chicago focused on the philosophy tenets of academic excellence, developmental responsiveness, and social equity; and
WHEREAS, Evergreen's mission is to create a collaborative and safe environment, where students can become college and career ready in an economically, culturally, socially and religiously diverse world; and
WHEREAS, Teachers and staff at Evergreen Academy ensure students have an environment conducive to and supportive of all learners, and students are empowered to explore, create and make decisions, while actively participating in and being accountable for their learning; and
WHEREAS, Evergreen Academy Middle School's rigorous and differentiated curriculum aligns with the Common Core State Standards, having been chosen two years ago as one of the pilot Early Adopters of Common Core Standards; and
1
WHEREAS, Evergreen is one of only three CPS schools and fourteen Illinois schools that received the Schools to Watch designation for the years 2013 through 2016; and
BE IT RESOLVED, That we, the Mayor and members of the Chicago City Council, assembled this twenty-fourth day of July, 2013, do hereby salute Evergreen Academy Middle School and offer our best wishes for the future; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of the resolution be presented to Evergreen Academy Middle School as a token of our esteem and good_wighes.
GEORGE A. CARDENAS Ald/rman - 12th Ward