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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.
Read more about current and founding director of YWLCS, Dr. Margaret Small.
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
