Chicago Math and Science Academy
| Chicago Math and Science Academy | |
|---|---|
|
The logo of CMSA. | |
| Address | |
|
7212 N Clark St Chicago, Illinois, 60626 USA | |
| Information | |
| School type | Public charter school |
| Established | 2004 |
| School district | Chicago Public Schools |
| CEEB Code | 140721 |
| Dean | Rick Garcia |
| Principal | Ali Kuran |
| Grades | 6-12 |
| Gender | Coed |
| Enrollment | 599 |
| Average class size | 25 |
| Student to teacher ratio | 13:1 |
| Campus size | 2 acres (0.81 ha) |
| Campus type | Urban |
| Color(s) |
Navy blue Burgundy |
| Slogan | Nothing is impossible. |
| Athletics conference | Chicago Public League |
| Mascot | The Titan |
| Website | http://www.cmsaonline.net/ |
Chicago Math and Science Academy (CMSA) is a public charter middle school and high school (grades 6th-12th) located in Chicago, Illinois in the Rogers Park neighborhood. CMSA is ranked by the Chicago Public Schools Board as a Level 1+ school, according to their School Quality Report The majority of students (94%) come from low-income families.[1] Chicago Math and Science Academy was opened in 2004. CMSA is managed by Concept Schools. Since 2004 our mission has been to prepare students for college by creating an effective learning community with high expectations and a rigorous, STEM-focused curriculum based on math, science, technology and engineering.
Significant Academic Information:
Chicago-- (October 30, 2015) - Chicago Math & Science Academy (CMSA) has achieved a Level 1+ "Excellent" status in the 2014-2015 School Quality Rating Policy (SQRP) report released by Chicago Public Schools. The report establishes the indicators of school performance and growth and the benchmarks against which a school's success is evaluated on an annual basis.
This marks CMSA's 3rd year of having an "Excellent" rating (either a Level 1 or Level 1+). The SQRP report is based on school performance metrics such as PSAE /ACT scores, student growth in math and reading, drop-out rate, and attendance rate. This rating places CMSA amongst the highest performing public schools, both charter and district, in Chicago. CMSA's School Quality Report by CPS can be found on www.cps.edu.
"Every single day the community entrusts their children to us for a quality educational experience. Chicago Math & Science Academy is a school designed to not only send students to college but to have them graduate from college", states Ali Kuran, principal. "This Level 1+ Excellent status is a testament to the hard work our teachers do every day and the commitment and persistence our students have to achieve."
According to the report, CMSA students made significant gains in key areas:
- Reading growth on NWEA MAP* (grades 6-8) = is in the top 15% of schools nationally
- Math growth on NWEA MAP* (grades 6-8) = is in the top 6% of schools nationally
- Growth of EPAS assessment series (grades 11 PLAN to ACT) = is in the top 4% nationally
- College Persistence Rate (class of 2013) = 84.6%
- Attendance Rate = 97.3%
**NWEA = Northwest Evaluation Association & (MAP) = Measures of Academic Progress are nationally recognized norm-referenced assessments used as one metric in the school quality equation.
The data above represent the district-wide medians/averages in each category. These include all schools with data (charters, non-selective district schools, selective district schools). The averages are unweighted - meaning they do not take into account the size of the school. (National Growth Percentile = Average growth of the school compared to national average growth for schools with the same average pretest score. The school is assigned a percentile representing where it would fall on the national distribution. The national average is the 50th percentile.) *This college persistence rate is among charter schools in Chicago only.
Since 2004, CMSA's mission has been to prepare students for college graduation by creating an effective learning community with high expectations and a rigorous STEM-focused curriculum. The U.S. News & World Report rated CMSA as one of the top (Bronze Medal) high schools in the nation in 2014. CMSA students have been consistently accepted to competitive colleges like University of Chicago, Northwestern University, Notre Dame University, and University of Illinois in Urbana. For more information about CMSA, please visit www.cmsaonline.net.
CMSA is part of a larger network called Concept Schools. Concept manages four schools in Chicago and 26 others throughout the Midwest, serving a total of 13,000 students. www.conceptschools.org
Chicago (January 6, 2015) – Based on the latest data released by Chicago Public Schools (CPS), CMSA graduates earned the highest college persistence rate (86%) among students who graduated in 2012 from non-selective public schools in the city of Chicago.
The College Persistence Rate refers to the percentage of students who return to college for their second year. This accountability metric has recently been included in the School Quality Rating Policy (SQRP) developed by CPS to evaluate high school performance in Chicago Public Schools. It also serves as a marker for postsecondary education continuation behavior that leads to college graduation.
The high college persistence rating is just another of the many accolades received by CMSA. Now in its 10th year of service to the Rogers Park community, CMSA has achieved a level 1 ranking from CPS for the past two consecutive years.
School History
Chicago Math and Science Academy was opened in 2004. CMSA is managed by Concept Schools. Since 2004 our mission has been to prepare students for college by providing a rigorous, STEM-focused curriculum based on math, science, technology and engineering.
Admission
Chicago Math and Science Academy does not have a selective enrollment process. Parents can apply to the school for all grades via an online form.[2] If any open seats are available, the student is automatically accepted. If no seats are available, the student is placed in a public lottery to randomly select students to fill the remaining seats. Finally, the rest of the students are placed on a waiting list.
Campus
Old building
The original Chicago Math and Science Academy building was located on 1705 West Lunt Avenue. The two buildings were the original site for St. Jerome Parish School, and were being leased by CMSA.[3] It shared its campus with St. Jerome Catholic Church, although no religious affiliation was established between the two separate organizations. On days when school was not in session, the building was used as a Sunday school for the church parishioners. These two buildings are approximately 42,000 square feet in size.
New building
In May 2009, Chicago Math and Science Academy purchased the vacant Clark Mega Mall property for $5.5 million and moved to its current location at 7212 North Clark Street. The new building boasted a higher square acreage of 54,000, up 14,000 from the old buildings.[4] The new building originally did not have a gym, but one was constructed and officially opened in November 2013.[5] The school currently does not have a dedicated auditorium. The school does have a 10,000 square foot gym.
Union
Teachers at the school attempted to form a union under Illinois law, which was approved by the National Labor Relations Board in 2010. The school has since appealed that decision and the National Labor Relations Board decided in favor of the school as a result of the appeal. As a result, the Union decided not to represent the CMSA teachers.[6]
Academics
Advanced Placement (AP) courses are available in English, history, science, and math. Award winning robotics program, award winning science program, award winning music and art programs, Project Lead The Way pre-engineering classes.
Clubs
Chicago Math and Science Academy offers a variety of extracurricular clubs:[7]
- Public Action Club
- Homework Club
- Landscaping Club
- Middle School Student Council
- Woodshop Club
- Running Club
- International Club
- Book Club
- Debate and Spoken Word Club
- Math Club
- Middle School Lego Club
- Robotics Club
- Dancing Club
- Homework Help
- Middle School and High School Choir
- Turkish Club
- IMP
- Academic Leadership and Newsletter Club
- Girls Club
- NHS/Year Book
- Art Club
- High School Science Club
Athletics
CMSA offers basketball, soccer, track and volleyball.
Controversy
Union Busting
In August 2010, Chicago Math & Science Academy fired a pregnant teacher for union organizing. Rhonda Hartwell was eight months pregnant at the time of firing, in addition to having to move up her delivery date for insurance purposes. The school said that the reason behind Hartwell's termination was because of budget cuts, although at the time the school was hiring new teachers and offered all current teachers a 5% increase pay raise. The school also gave Hartwell a $1,500 performance bonus and contract renewal before the union organization efforts began. Additionally, the school hired an expensive anti-union law firm, Seyfarth Shaw, to fight the teachers' organizing efforts. In response to her firing, Hartwell said the following: "They are using me as a scapegoat to send a chilling message to the rest of the teachers. We formed a union to give teachers a voice in making the school better and to create an environment where teachers would feel secure enough to share ideas and concerns. I am still hopeful that school officials will eventually do the right thing."[8] In April 2011, Chicago Math & Science Academy agreed to a $40,000 back-pay settlement to Hartwell. Since the union began to organize, the school has spent over $113,000 of taxpayer money on legal fees fighting the union.[9]
On August 5, 2010, in efforts to reform the school, members of the Chicago Math & Science Academy community (including but not limited to teachers, students, parents of students, alumni, and labor leaders) came together and marched to the school's offices to speak with former principal Ali Yilmaz. After selectively refusing to answer some difficult questions from the group and dodging other questions, Yilmaz allegedly instructed a staff member to illegally activate the fire alarm system to evacuate everyone from the building, thus ending the meeting.[10]
In February 2011, a Chicago charter school union affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers alleged that Chicago Math & Science Academy and Concept Schools had abused the Visa policy of the United States by "routinely assigning these teachers duties or class load that seemingly do not take into account the laws governing H-1B visa holders." The school reportedly paid higher salaries to those immigrant teachers than the American teachers. United States Department of Labor spokesman responded by saying an investigation was ongoing.[11]
On February 11, 2011, demonstrators held a protest against Chicago Math and Science Academy due to its union busting efforts. Despite winning a 67% vote by teachers to start the union, the board appealed their decision to unionize. The picketing was held outside the law office building of Sulejman F. Dizdarevic, a member of the board of directors of the school. Demonstrators included Episcopal Church Deacon Tim Yeager and Northwestern University professor Martha Biondi.[12][13]
FBI Raids
On June 4, 2014, agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation visited Chicago Math and Science Academy with a search warrant. The FBI also raided Concept Schools' Chicago regional office in Des Plaines, IL. A special agent leading the probe said that the raids were due to an investigation of “ongoing white-collar crime matter” but would give no details.[14]
Concept president Sedat Duman signed E-Rate certification forms for schools, court records show. They also show Stephen Draviam, a computer consultant in Ohio, told investigators he was picked to do grant-funded work for Concept’s schools without having to submit written bids. Huseyin “Shane” Ulker, as Concept’s chief information officer, “established an invoicing scheme” involving Draviam’s company, passing along E-Rate funds to three businesses found to be “affiliated with” Ulker, according to the court records. Ulker deposited money into the account of one of the three companies before “a wire transfer of $20,000 was made to a bank account at the Bank of Asya in Turkey,” wrote Geoffrey Wood, the special agent from the federal Education Department’s inspector general’s office who filed the search-warrant affidavit.
Founded in 1999 by Turkish immigrants, Concept has ties to the influential Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who now lives in Pennsylvania and is wanted in his native Turkey after falling out with that country’s leader. According to Turkish news reports, Gulen’s followers founded Bank of Asya and controlled it at the time Ulker allegedly wired the money in December 2008. Federal agents raided Ulker’s apartment in Schaumburg last year, records show. He no longer lives there, and his name does not appear on a recent Concept payroll. Draviam confirmed he cooperated with investigators but declined to comment further.
Concept cut ties with Draviam in 2009 and replaced him with vendors who have extensive ties to the charter operator, the feds say. The charter company paid more than $5 million in E-Rate funds to companies Wood described as “related entities.” “By giving work to related vendors, Concept was able to direct large portions of E-Rate program money away from the charter schools and the E-Rate program and enrich those particular vendors,” Wood wrote. The biggest beneficiary was Core Group Inc., which got more than $2.8 million in E-Rate funding, according to court records. At one point, Core Group relied on Concept for more than 92 percent of its business, the feds said. Agents raided Core Group’s offices in Mount Prospect and the Elk Grove Village home of the company’s owner, Ertugrul Gurbuz. His lawyer, Patrick Cotter, declined to comment.
Over the past few years, the charter schools have employed former Concept executive Ozgur Balsoy as an E-Rate consultant, authorities said in the court records. Balsoy told the Sun-Times that Concept “followed whatever were the requirements” of the grant program. His home in Mount Prospect was raided by the FBI, as were the Schaumburg offices of his company, Advanced Solutions for Education. “We submitted all the documents they requested,” Balsoy said. “I don’t know if they are satisfied.” Balsoy said he hasn’t heard recently from Ulker and thinks he’s “not in town.”
Authorities received a much different account from another former Concept official, Mustafa Emanet. He told them the charter operator’s leaders wanted to use companies that “had a close relationship” to them for E-Rate work even though the insiders “would charge more than an unrelated contractor,” according to the court documents. Emanet gave investigators an internal email, in Turkish, that they believe represents a discussion of how Concept could profit from rigging E-Rate contracts for companies they would set up. In an interview from his home in Ohio, Emanet said Concept has routinely used taxpayer money to hire contractors who are involved in Gulen’s worldwide movement, as are the charter chain’s executives. “That’s how they work,” Emanet said. “They want to open their own companies so they make money out of it.” A native of Turkey, Emanet told the feds he suffered for severing ties with Concept when he visited his homeland six years ago. “Emanet has no criminal history in the United States, but in September of 2009, right after his resignation, Emanet was arrested in Turkey for possession of heroin,” the feds said in the warrant application. Authorities said Emanet told them the charges in Turkey were “in retaliation for his ideological differences, and dealings with, Concept Schools.” Emanet said he was jailed in Istanbul before being acquitted. “They framed me,” he said. Emanet also said he and other Concept teachers and staff visited Gulen’s compound in Pennsylvania in 2007 or 2008, before he split with the movement.
The Chicago-based Niagara Foundation, a nonprofit group that lists Gulen as its honorary president, has hosted Madigan and other state legislators on junkets to Turkey in recent years, records show. Madigan and his son Andrew Madigan also have visited Concept’s Chicago Math and Science Academy in Rogers Park, filming testimonial videos for the 600-student school. And Andrew Madigan’s employer, Mesirow Insurance Services Inc., has done business with Concept schools in Chicago. Concept and other U.S. charter operators linked with Gulen have downplayed their connections to him. Gulen’s lawyers boasted of his worldwide school network, though, in federal court papers in 2008. “In his position as Founder and Head of The Gulen Movement, Mr. Gulen has overseen the establishment of a conglomeration of schools throughout the world, in Europe, central Asia and the United States,” according to the court filing by attorneys for Gulen, who was successfully suing at the time to overturn the denial of his bid for permanent U.S. residency. That statement was the result of a “misunderstanding between Mr. Gulen and his lawyers,” according to Alp Aslandogan, executive director of the New York-based Alliance for Shared Values. The group is an umbrella body for U.S. organizations affiliated with Gulen, including the’s Niagara Foundation.
Aslandogan said Gulen plays an “inspirational role” for schools but plays no direct part in them, adding that Gulen would disapprove of any unethical behavior. After Gulen fell out a couple of years ago with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey has asked Washington to send Gulen there to face charges he and his followers have plotted to overthrow the government. A court in Istanbul issued an arrest warrant for Gulen, accusing him of leading an “armed terrorist organization.”The charges in Turkey are “laughable” and politically motivated, Aslandogan said. Aslandogan once lived in the Chicago area and headed the effort to build a Turkish cultural center in Mount Prospect, according to records from the suburb. He got help in that effort from Salim Ucan — now Concept’s vice president — and two businessmen, Galip Kuyuk and Ergun “Eric” Koyuncu, records show.
The FBI has searched the northwest suburban homes and businesses of Koyuncu and Kuyuk. Koyuncu declined to comment, and Kuyuk could not be reached.
References
- ↑ http://www.cmsaonline.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Aldeman-Joe-Moores-newsletter-CMSA-named-among-top-schools.pdf. Missing or empty
|title=(help); External link in|website=(help); - ↑ http://grades.cmsaonline.net/applyonline.aspx
- ↑ http://www.cmsaonline.net/?page_id=3150
- ↑ "In brief: Sears Tower | Rogers Park 'Mega Mall' | Duke leases". Chicago Real Estate Daily. Crain's Chicago Business.
- ↑ "CMSA's gym officially opened". Chicago Math and Science Academy. Concept.
- ↑ "Chicago Charter Teachers Fight for Their Jobs, And a Union". http://labornotes.org. 2012-06-21. Retrieved 2012-12-09. External link in
|publisher=(help) - ↑ http://www.cmsaonline.net/?page_id=3252#
- ↑ RUSSO, ALEXANDER. "This Week in Education". Scholastic Administrator. Scholastic Inc. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
- ↑ "Charter School Agrees to Settlement For Pregnant Teacher Who Was Fired for Organizing Union". CHARTER SCHOOL WATCHDOG.
- ↑ "Lessons with Ali - Ending a Meeting". YouTube. Google. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
- ↑ SAUL, STEPHANIE (6 June 2011). "Charter Schools Tied to Turkey Grow in Texas". The New York Times (The New York Times). Retrieved 16 July 2014.
- ↑ BACHTELL, JOHN. "‘Stop breaking the law’ protest tells Chicago charter school [with video]". People's World. People Before Profit. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
- ↑ "Sulejman: Stop Breaking the Law!". Chicago ACTS. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
- ↑ "FBI raids included Concept's Des Plaines office, Chicago school". Chicago Sun-Times.
External links
Coordinates: 42°0′47″N 87°40′30″W / 42.01306°N 87.67500°W