Park Forest-Chicago Heights School District 163

Park Forest-Chicago Heights School District 163 (SD163) is a school district headquartered in Park Forest, Illinois.[1] It serves sections of Chicago Heights.

History

In 2016 the district had over 2,000 students.[2] In 2019 the district had 1,838 students.[3]

In 2019 a board member resigned but then remained on the school board, and there was a political controversy over the board's internal management.[3] In response to a board member using an SD163-issued charge card to pay for $5,000 of expenses, the board passed a policy regulating the cards.[4]

Curriculum

In 2019 SD163 and Chicago Arts Partnership in Education secured a $2.3 million grant to add arts education to the curriculum.[5]

Schools

SD163 decided to have its upper schools focus on particular concepts.[2]

Grades 4-8
  • Barack Obama School of Leadership and STEM
  • Michelle Obama School of Technology and the Arts
    • In 2016 the school received its current gymnasium with stage, eight additional classrooms, and a multipurpose room. Co-principal Cheryl L. Muench stated that Michelle Obama School had a "relaxed atmosphere".[2]
Grades Kindergarten to 3
  • 21st Century Primary Center
  • Blackhawk Primary Center
  • Mohawk Primary Center
Preschool
  • Algonquin Pre-Kindergarten Center

References
  1. "Home". Park Forest-Chicago Heights School District 163. Retrieved 2021-07-11. 242 S. Orchard Drive Park Forest, Illinois IL 60466
  2. Denk, Angela (2016-09-30). "Park Forest middle school unveils new classrooms, gymnasium". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
  3. Slowik, Ted (2019-05-01). "Southland school district under fire for board vacancy issue: 'I've been part of some shady stuff. This rises to the top.'". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
  4. Slowik, Ted (2019-03-26). "Slowik: School board adopts new policy to address members' use of charge cards". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
  5. Houlihan, Patty (2019-03-16). "$2.3M grant will help incorporate arts into all areas of education in Park Forest, Chicago Heights schools". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.