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Whitney Young Principal on Late Start Time: Let's Consider Other Options

By Stephanie Lulay | July 22, 2015 5:50pm
 After reviewing CPS' plan to change the bell schedule at Whitney Young Magnet Academy, Dr. Joyce Kenner, principal of the school, wants officials to explore other options.
After reviewing CPS' plan to change the bell schedule at Whitney Young Magnet Academy, Dr. Joyce Kenner, principal of the school, wants officials to explore other options.
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Whitney Young Magnet Academy

NEAR WEST SIDE — After reviewing Chicago Public Schools' plans to change the bell schedule at Whitney Young Magnet High School, the principal of the school now wants district officials to consider other options.

Dr. Joyce Kenner, principal of the prestigious selective-enrollment high school, confirmed that she has requested a meeting with top CPS leaders, including new CPS CEO Forrest Claypool.

"I'm not trying to create any rift with anybody, we just want a civil conversation about what other options that we have as a school," Kenner said.

In an e-mail sent to some parents last week, Kenner said that she spoke to principals at Walter Payton College Prep in Old Town, Westinghouse College Prep in East Garfield Park and Brooks College Prep Academy in Pullman about options that could be considered to lessen the impact of the new bell schedule. 

Stephanie Lulay discusses the implications for parents of CPS kids:

"I ask for your patience while we discuss these options with the Board as it is imperative they understand the negative implications to our curricular and extracurricular programs," the principal wrote. "We, too, understand there is a budget crisis and some concessions have to be made at the school level; however, I feel strongly there must be equity across all selective enrollment high schools."

Last week, CPS officials confirmed that the bell schedules at 60 CPS high schools and 17 elementary schools are expected to change for the 2015-2016 school year — with some schools shifting schedules by as much as 45 minutes to an hour.

At the affected high schools, start time will shift to 9 a.m. and affected elementary schools, for the most part, will shift to an earlier start time of 7:30 or 7:45 a.m.

Whitney Young students previously started school at 8 a.m. Kenner confirmed CPS officials have proposed changing the school's start time to 9 a.m.

If she's able to meet with CPS leaders, Kenner said she will present two alternative options to the new bell schedule: an 8:30 or 8:45 a.m. start time for all Whitney Young students or a staggered start time.

"We would like them to explore the possibility of having strategic staggered start times for different subsets of students," she said.

Last week, Kenner said she notified the school's Local School Council of the new bell schedule but was waiting to notify parents until she was able to determine whether she could meet with CPS leaders.

Since the announcement, CPS has refused to release the full list of schools to the media, saying that principals instead would be spreading the news to parents at the affected schools. 

The announcement comes less than two months before the new school year is set to begin, and CPS officials did not detail how the new start times were being communicated to parents. CPS did not say why the start times were not determined before school let out for the summer.

Shifting the start time at the 77 schools will save CPS $9.2 million by reducing the number of bus shifts to two, allowing the district to cut 160 buses and 75 aides, according to CPS spokeswoman Emily Bittner.

She added,"“CPS is working with principals to help manage the transition to new bell schedules.”

Whitney Young, named after prominent Civil Rights leader Whitney M. Young Jr., opened in 1975 as the city's first public magnet high school and consistently ranks among the top in the country. Alumni include First Lady Michelle Obama, former Duke basketball player Jahlil Okafor, who was selected third in the 2015 NBA draft, and Lana and Andy Wachowski, the sibling creators of "The Matrix."

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