By Kathy Hills | January 2009

The Chicago Board of Education has announced a plan to build a new facility that will relocate Jones College Prep to the lot directly south of the current school instead of renovating the present structure as originally planned. The existing school likely will be sold for development, and enrollment may be opened to neighborhood youngsters.

As Joseph Powers, principal of Jones, said, “there is no place to grow. We are landlocked in our space. The new school will have a full-service library, pool, and gym. The enrollment will be increased from 800 to 1,000 students. It will be a real crown jewel for the South Loop, serving the best and brightest children from all over the city.

“We need to retain our successful college prep program as well as our ability to enroll students selectively,” Powers continued. “There are eight other selective enrollment high schools in Chicago. Ours is unique in being downtown. Over 99% of last year’s class graduated, and 100% were accepted into college. We have a very strong school. Prairie States’ assessment scores ranked us in the top ten schools statewide.”

Currently, students from around the city enroll in Jones after passing a competitive examination.

Jones Local School Council President Thomas Kubiak noted that “the twist to planning a new facility with this new enrollment capacity is the Chicago Public Schools’ push for a neighborhood component to the current student demographic. We prize not only high academic achievement but the diversity of our student body racially, socially, and economically. We want to remain a selective enrollment educational institution. If we’re required to include neighborhood enrollment, how will this happen?

“We don’t want to become just another neighborhood school,” he went on. “We’ll use a weighted scoring system for local residents, but we don’t even know yet what the neighborhood boundaries will be. We do not want to lose the attributes of this well performing school.

Kubiak also wondered how much autonomy the school will have. “We’re classified as an AMPS [Autonomously Managed Public School] with a little more freedom than most schools,” he explained. “At the same time, with something like this we have to consider how much we can and should push our new proposals.”

Planning is in the early stages. Powers said, “We’re waiting for the architects to get back to us with the details on this seven-story, $130 million project on State Street. They talk of breaking ground this spring with completion in 2011, but to my knowledge the board has not approved the project.”

On Nov. 24, the LSC met for the first time to discuss the neighborhood enrollment addition with local residents, concerned parents of current students, and staff. Another special meeting tentatively is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 26, at 6:30 p.m. in the school cafeteria, when more information likely will be available. The LSC holds its regular monthly meetings on the third Monday of the month at 5:30 p.m. in the cafeteria.

Powers said he is “delighted” to be on board for this project. He has 35 years of experience in education and has twice been involved in moving a school into a new facility. Kubiak is pastor of South Loop Community Church, an active parent at Jones for nine years, a member of the LSC for six years, and LSC president for one year. Both anxiously await details of the project.

For more information about Jones College Prep, see the website at www.jonescollegeprep.org or call the school at (773) 534-8600.