LINCOLN SQUARE — Just in time for Spirit Week, Amundsen High School faculty and students were given something extra to cheer about: In the latest performance policy rankings released by Chicago Public Schools, Amundsen jumped from a Level 3 "poor/probation" rating to a Level 2 "good."
"I am grateful to all students and staff for their hard work in moving this school forward!" Principal Anna Pavichevich posted to Facebook.
Pavichevich took over the helm at Amundsen at the start of the 2012-13 school year.
Roosevelt High School also made the leap from Level 3 to Level 2. Both schools will need to maintain their good standing for a second year before being removed from probation. Roosevelt has been on probation for nine years, Amundsen for three.
"I am cautiously optimistic," Pavichevich wrote.
The CPS performance policy ranks schools based on a number of criteria including standardized test scores, attendance, dropout rates and, for high schools, the percentage of freshmen on track to graduate in four years. Schools earn points in each of these categories, for a maximum score of 42.
There can be a wide performance variation within levels. Level 2, for example, includes all high schools earning between 18.67 points (44 percent of 42) and 27.67 points (66.6 percent). Level 1 encompasses all high schools recording 66.7 percent and above.
Amundsen (23.667, 56.3 percent) and Roosevelt (21.33, 50.8 percent) both notched strong improvements in their one-year dropout rates: Amundsen fell from 5.6 percent to 2.6 percent, and Roosevelt dropped from 7 percent to 1 percent. Roosevelt also made significant gains in math and reading scores, while Amundsen showed sizeable improvement in attendance.
Northside College Prep was the only high school to earn all 42 points, followed by Lane Tech and Whitney Young with 39 points, Walter Payton with 38 and Jones College Prep with 36.
