By Claudia Martinez
Chicago’s Benito Juarez Academy in the Pilsen neighborhood is one of the largest public schools in the city, serving 1,683 students in grades 9-12. What is more unique about this high school is that nearly 95% of its students are Hispanic and nearly 100% of the current freshman class is on track to be graduating successfully.
Historically, Juarez has been a school facing many academic challenges. For years the school has been in academic probation, and its students have scored below the statewide average on standardized tests, which is a further disappointment because Illinois also ranks among the lowest on national standards. Furthermore, not only were Juarez students ranking way below the test score rate: most of them were also not graduating.
Over the past couple years, however, Juarez has made a drastic academic turnaround and is now among the top Chicago public schools. In May 2013, Juarez announced it was officially out of academic probation and no longer an at-risk school. Juarez overcame all of its academic challenges and is now a prime example for other schools to follow. This achievement has been the result of many years of constant work from its community partners and its principal Juan Carlos Ocón. He has worked hard and diligently, working with community partners such as The Resurrection Project to make this happen.
In December 2013, the United States Department of Education recognized Juarez’s success and accomplishments. They visited the school to meet with Principal Ocón, community partners, and stakeholders as part of their Hispanic Academic Excellence initiative. This visit meant that Juarez was being recognized as a leading Chicago Public School, and the learning models being put in place at Juarez as models should be considered for replication at a national level.
During the visit, Ocón met with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and unveiled just how much Juarez has accomplished. For example, state examinations demonstrate that almost 100% of Juarez’s freshmen are on track to graduate. In addition, the school’s attendance rate has also dramatically increased to above 85%.
Principal Ocón recognized The Resurrection Project for bringing innovative initiatives along with other partners to position Juarez not just to be an average school but an exceptional school. TRP has brought resources to create a curriculum alignment and teacher exchange pilot program, wherein 8th grade English teachers from Orozco Academy and 9th grade English teachers from Juarez Academy are coming together to teach in each other’s classrooms, assess learning gaps in their curriculum, and determine best pedagogical practices.
The result has been more coordinated lesson plans, as well as more aligned curriculum to improve transitions between 8th and 9th grades.
“We have known for years that there is an exorbitant number of students that drop out in 9th grade,” says Ulises Zatarain, Vice President of Community Programs for The Resurrection Project. “This deficiency pointed us to see there was a disconnect between 8th and 9th grade transitions both academically and socially. This effort will help us begin to address the academic barriers. Teachers are now talking to each other about their work, and identifying solutions to these barriers as educators.”
TRP plans to continue these innovative efforts at Juarez and more schools moving forward in order to replicate the stunning success of Juarez’s turnaround.
 

Return to Nueva Vida February 2014 here.