Vision and Mission

VISION STATEMENT

AHSH envisions creating an environment of safety - both physical and academic, that enables the judgment-free exchange of ideas and opinions and establishes an open forum firmly grounded in knowledge while looking toward the future. A natural extension of Alcott Elementary's emphasis on habits of mind developed through literature, writing and the arts, AHSH's Humanities-based curriculum will provide the ideal framework to empower each member of the learning community to reach their maximum intellectual and emotional potential.

AHSH's educational plan will be driven by the belief that the demands on 21st Century high school students far exceed those of the past, and that these demands warrant greater individual attention and support to ensure college and post-secondary success. To that end, AHSH's design team is keenly focused on selecting highly qualified teachers who demonstrate both deep understanding of content areas and ability to facilitate best practices. We will apply models of team teaching, integrated curriculum, and differentiation that have formed the foundation for our successful elementary school, as they organically evolve in the high school environment.

Through AHSH's Humanities-based curriculum, students will explore the core disciplines using methods that are largely analytic, critical, or speculative, and become acquainted with the unique perspectives of each, developing four key capacities: understanding the purpose of disciplinary expertise; understanding an essential knowledge base; understanding inquiry methods; understanding forms of communication.

AHSH will offer the substantive content of a Liberal Arts education, presented within the structural discipline of dialogue so valued in the Humanities. This foundation of knowledge and the application of critical thinking, is the most effective path to address the "disconnect" that often derails students transitioning to college. The chasm between the skill set employed to pass standardized tests and solid communications skills required at the university level is great. AHSH's rigorous emphasis on writing and oral defense of work, embedded in our Humanities curriculum, will prepare students to bridge the divide.

We believe that high school students are best served when provided a broad menu of content areas. Harkening back to historical roots, the Greeks considered a Liberal Arts education the cornerstone for development of "skills of freedom," the competence that defined citizenship and was fundamental to the preservation of a democracy.

MISSION STATEMENT

The mission of Alcott High School for the Humanities (AHSH) is to meet the demand for expanded options for 9th through 12th grade students by providing a dynamic small school focused on closely monitored progress and a rigorous curriculum based in the Humanities practices of disciplinary expertise, strong knowledge, inquiry and communication.

Emphasizing solid mentoring towards college and postsecondary success, AHSH will nurture a student body capable of critical thinking, active citizenship and private contemplation.

Vision and Mission

Alcott High School for the Humanities | 2957 N. Hoyne Avenue Chicago, IL 60618 | 773.534.5970

"Having had the opportunity of interaction with at least two other CPS high schools, as well as having attended countless parent teacher meetings in the course of educating three children, we can say without qualification that the staff of Alcott High School for the Humanities in general, and each content area instructor in particular, is deserving of recognition for the work they are doing. Alcott is well on the way of exhibiting best practices in education."

AHSH Parent

Alcott HS is part of Chicago's finest pre-K thru grade 12 school. Visit Alcott Elementary to learn more about our comprehensive educational program.

Alcott High School for the Humanities