Bernie's Book Bank
Book ownership, starting from birth, is imperative to gaining an appreciation for books, developing reading readiness, supporting literacy growth throughout the primary years, and ultimately becoming a skilled reader. Bernie’s Book Bank sources, processes, and distributes quality children’s books to significantly increase book ownership among infants, toddlers, and school-age children throughout the Chicagoland area. Every year, children receive eight quality, age-appropriate, high-interest, and culturally relevant books. Bernie’s Book Bank has distributed more than 25 million books since 2009 through partnerships with Title 1 schools, early childhood programs and community programs that serve low-income families.
Chapter One
Chapter One has built community partnerships and developed innovative software and human-powered solutions to advance early literacy. It collaborates with schools, districts, teachers, businesses, and students, to provide customized, technology-based tools for individualized instruction. In North Chicago schools, Early Literacy Interventionist (ELI) tutors spend time conferencing 1:1 with kindergarten through 5th grade students using Chapter One’s High Impact Tutoring model to deliver systematic and explicit phonics and word attack skills instruction. Students connect to ELI tutors in person or remotely and build solid foundations in phonics, and sight word acquisition, as well as reading fluency, comprehension, enjoyment, and confidence.
Cool Learning Experience
Cool Learning Experience educates children, supports families, inspires well-being, builds community, and champions nature through year-round, nature-based, environmental programming. One of its offerings is a Cool Summer Experience which is an eight-week summer session that connects children with nature and educates them on the importance of conservation and preservation. CLE’s approach integrates nature, place, STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math), the environment, and the humanities. CLE has expanded its educational outreach, targeting serving from 2nd to 12th grade from Lake County communities, including Waukegan, North Chicago, Round Lake, and Zion.
Cristo Rey St. Martin College Prep
Cristo Rey St. Martin College Prep is a Waukegan-based college preparatory high school that serves students from low-income families. CRSM has a three-pronged approach to education – academic excellence, work readiness, and service. in addition to a rigorous academic course load, students at Cristo Rey are required to work five, eight-hour days per month at one of its corporate work study program business partners. This helps Cristo Rey students learn about and further their interests in different career paths as well as gain and strengthen skills that are necessary to succeed in both the workforce and life. CRSM also has several programs that help address education deficits, including its Summer Bridge and After School Tutoring.
Golden Apple
Golden Apple Foundation is committed to making a difference in response to the teacher shortage in Illinois by expanding the pipeline of highly effective, diverse educators. To accomplish that, it prepares teachers for rural, suburban, and urban schools-of-need through its Golden Apple Scholars and Accelerators programs. The Scholars program is focused on recruiting undergraduate students who are aspiring teachers and reflect the fabric of the communities it serves. Golden Apple provides these individuals with high-quality preparation that includes award-winning teachers as instructors, facilitating the right-fit placement for their first teaching position, and then mentoring the Scholars to become excellent teachers who stay in the classroom long-term.
Gorton Summer Stories
Summer Stories serves middle and high school students from North Chiago that attend Gorton's Summer Stories program. The high school program engages creators of different ages (mentored by industry professionals) as they collaborate with peers throughout the filmmaking process. Participants create a meaningful short film based on the criteria for the All American High School Film Festival’s Complete Experience. Each student has a role in pre-production, production and post-production based on interest and experience. The middle school program is a unique opportunity for students to learn the video storytelling process using iPhones. Through hands-on experiential learning, students get to collaborate, create, and edit right from the first day of class.
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Honest Game Foundation
Honest Game Foundation levels the playing field so that every student athlete has a fair and equitable opportunity to matriculate as college-bound student-athletes to NCAA sanctioned colleges or universities. Using data solutions and interventions that close achievement gaps and unlock college access and opportunity, Honest Game helps create individualized college pathways for student-athletes and educates school staff and families, while helping school systems navigate the complex and ever-changing NCAA academic eligibility requirements. With Honest Game's NCAA Portal Audit & Maintenance, courses were approved and added to North Chicago High School's NCAA Portal, resulting in more ways to unlock college access for student-athletes.
Lake County High School Tech Campus
With 22 member high schools in Lake and McHenry counties, Tech Campus has the largest career technical secondary educational system in the state and is regarded as one of the best career and technical education training facilities in the Midwest. The Tech Campus provides an educational environment that supports and encourages individual learning styles, develops occupational skills and professionalism, promotes academic growth, and assists students in discovering their potential. Tech Campus partners with the College of Lake County to provide students opportunity to earn college credit at no cost. It also started a Give Me TEN + Tech 50 Work-Based Learning Program to pay eligible students as they gain valuable experience in their field of interest.
LEARN Charter Schools
Algebra for All provides LEARN 7th and 8th grade students with high quality pre-algebra or algebra instruction. This initiative fundamentally restructures math instruction to provide LEARN middle school scholars with pre-algebra or algebra courses with the goal of mastering the fundamental skills for advanced math courses in high school. Completion of Algebra I in the 9th grade is critical to accessing advanced math courses and fundamental to scholars’ success in college and beyond. Mastering Algebra I in middle school prepares scholars to enroll in advanced math such, compete for admission to high quality high schools and enable enrollment in other STEM courses.
Mikva Challenge
Mikva Challenge’s mission is to develop youth to be empowered, informed and active citizens who promote a just and equitable society. Curriculum and programming teach the democratic process through hands-on involvement in community and politics. Mikva provide a range of supports to integrate youth voice-centered action civics instruction. Lake County partnerships include Waukegan, North Chicago, Round Lake, Stevenson, Cristo Rey St. Martin, Grayslake, and Mundelein high schools. These partnerships results in showcase events that bring youth together to help foster connectedness and provide space for young people to hear the issues that affect their peers in other schools.
North Chicago Community Partners
North Chicago Community Partners helps make it possible for students to have better access to a high-quality education by providing programs and services to all North Chicago public schools through a community school model. NCCP collaborates with the entire community—strategic partners, local agencies, school districts, businesses, and residents—to offer an extended web of services that includes tutoring, learning and enrichment opportunities; family engagement and education; student and family health and wellness care; student social and emotional support; school district and staff support; and volunteer engagement.
North Chicago School District 187 WEB Program
WEB (Where Everyone Belongs) is an orientation and transition program that guides 6th graders toward academic and social success by creating a school environment where students feel safe, supported, and connected. The program focuses on reducing bullying by cultivating 7th and 8th grade leaders who help prevent, stop, and report incidents unseen to the staff members’ eyes. It also builds a sense of community throughout the schools. WEB was first implemented at Neal Math & Science Academy in 2019 to begin building valuable student-to-student relationships and positive engagements, and to start the process of re-building a culture conducive to learning in the middle school.
Reading Power
Reading Power provides one-to-one tutoring during the school day for children. Its successful literacy tutoring program advances learning and helps develop a love of reading and writing in young students. Reading level-based lesson plans provide structure to each tutoring session and are individualized daily. Each kindergarten through second grade session encompasses reading, writing, and speaking and is conducted in a space dedicated to Reading Power. The target population is students who score below the 25th percentile on a universal screener and need intervention in a one-to-one setting.
Round Lake Area School District 116 Panther Crew
Round Lake High School Panther Crew is a high school transition program that provides all freshmen with academic and social support. The goal is for the freshmen to feel safe, informed and supported by providing them with tools for success now and in the future. Freshmen are assigned to a small cohort that is mentored by juniors and seniors. The mentors also benefit from the program, as they gain a greater sense of responsibility and beneficial leadership experience. Panther Crew hosts events throughout the school year for the freshmen, including orientation, a football tailgate, and a final exam study support session. Panther Crew also hosts programs for the whole student body to better connect the freshmen with the entire school community.
Round Lake Area School District 116 WEB Program
Round Lake Middle Schools’ WEB (Where Everyone Belongs) program is an orientation and transition program that guides 6th graders toward academic and social success by creating an environment where students feel safe, supported, and connected. The program focuses on reducing bullying by cultivating 8th grade student leaders who help prevent, stop, and report incidents unseen to the staff members’ eyes. WEB also builds a sense of community throughout the schools through group activities and social events.
Round Lake Education Foundation
Round Lake’s Be the Spark Enrichment Program is an initiative that grew out of a Round Lake High School Honors Community Civics course. The honor students coordinate the fundraising and facilitate connections with area partners. Be the Spark provides enrichment activities and exposure opportunities for RLAS-116 K-8 students in an effort to help young students discover their passions by trying out a variety of different activities and opportunities that lead toward self-growth. Students can apply for scholarships toward a specific partner program in their community. Be the Spark has expanded the program to support Fall, Winter, and Spring extracurricular seasons to go along with the Summer activities that were provided in the past.