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History
On December 15, 1999 the Chicago Board of Education awarded a charter to the Young Women's Leadership Charter School of Chicago, the only all-girls public school in the city. The granting of the charter was the culmination of eighteen months of hard work by twenty-three women who were determined to create a school which offers urban girls a college preparatory education emphasizing math, science and technology, areas where women, and particularly women of color, have long been seriously underrepresented.
Two highly qualified co-directors were hired: Mary Ann Pitcher, a veteran English teacher and founder of FACETS, a small school-within-a-school at Harper High School; and Margaret Small, who taught math at Dunbar and Lake View High Schools and co-led a 3 year project to bring professional development and exemplary math curriculum to high school math teachers throughout Chicago. They went on to hire a teaching staff which shared the vision and mission of the school.
An intense period of open houses and community meetings began to recruit our first students: 75 sixth-graders and 75 ninth graders. On August 22, 2000, the Young Women's Leadership Charter School opened its doors.
Click Here to Learn About our Current Co-Directors, Michelle C. Russell and Chandra D. Sledge
Background
Social science evidence shows that there are many complex phenomena contributing to girls' disengagement from math, science and technology in adolescence, including:
• peer interactions in coed learning environments
• teaching approaches
• a shortage of role models
• a set of deeply rooted social dynamics and expectations.
There is also evidence that, especially for economically disadvantaged young women of color, single-sex schools can make a difference in overcoming these barriers.
Learning at YWLCS | Students at YWLCS | Suppport YWLCS
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