Chicago Public Schools (CPS) announced a $7.5 million multi-year investment to expand high-quality academic programs for nearly 4,000 CPS students at seven elementary schools across the city. The investment will support staffing, training and learning resources for programs including International Baccalaureate (IB), STEAM, Fine and Performing Arts, and Dual Language over the next six years. Prior to developing the program award process, new programs were awarded on a rolling basis, without streamlined criteria and timelines. In order to support schools through the application process, the district held two virtual, city-wide community outreach events; targeted outreach to underrepresented regions; and provided several school workshops to help school communities determine the programs that would best meet their unique needs, complete their applications, and develop strong implementation plans. New high-quality programming will benefit a student population that is approximately 89 percent low-income and 93 percent Black and Latinx (29 percent Black and 64 percent Latinx). This investment will build on existing programs and expand programming so that more CPS students than ever will have access to high-quality academic programming next school year. The complete list of schools is:

• Bright Elementary – Fine & Performing Arts

• Nathan Davis Elementary – Dual Language

• Hernandez Middle School – STEM

• Kilmer Elementary – IB-PYP

• Nash Elementary – Fine & Performing Arts

• Ruggles Elementary – STEAM

• West Park Elementary – STEAM