Roberto Clemente Community Academy
Roberto Clemente Community Academy | |
---|---|
Coed | |
Enrollment | 697 (2018–19)[1] |
Campus type | Urban |
Color(s) | Blue Gold[3] |
Athletics conference | Chicago Public League[3] |
Team name | Wildcats[3] |
Accreditation | North Central Association of Colleges and Schools[4] |
Website | rccachicago |
Roberto Clemente Community Academy (commonly known as Clemente, Roberto Clemente High School) is a
]Gina M. Pérez, the author of The Near Northwest Side Story: Migration, Displacement, and Puerto Rican Families, wrote that in Chicago the school is known as "the Puerto Rican high school".
History
The school was established in 1892 as Northwest Division High School. It was renamed Tuley High School in 1906. In 1974, the school moved to a new facility across the street named Roberto Clemente High School. Overcrowding was the reason why the old Tuley building closed.[9] The students had demanded that the school be renamed after Clemente, as well as asking for the removal of the existing curriculum and principal when they had the school closed in 1973.[5] At the time approximately 53% of the students were of Puerto Rican ancestry. The principal, Herbert Fink left his position.[10] By November 1974 there was another demonstration protesting against removals of teachers.[11]
1990s
Circa 1988, Clemente High established a new curriculum that was centered around students and involved participation from parents and multiculturalism.[5] Parents and area community activists shaped the school's curriculum in a manner of the traditional American education system.[12] In addition, the school hired parents as mentors, hall monitors, office workers, and tutors. The school added a legal clinic to assist parents, students, and immigrants.[5]
In the 1990s, Chicago-area media began to criticize the Clemente parents and activists. This unfolded as the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act was passed in 1996.[12] Persons in the media accused some area parents of stealing money because the school paid them $20 for volunteer work even though they were also on welfare; this is despite the welfare reform act's stated goal to encourage those on welfare to work.[13] Other schools in Chicago enacted reforms similar to those at Clemente, which had reduced dropout rates by over 10%.[5]
Circa 1995, Chicago area local and Illinois state officials accused the school of using an Illinois aid program to send students to Puerto Rico to attend a radical political campus, fund flights for performers and speakers favoring Puerto Rico being politically independent from the United States, and to provide money for a pro-Puerto Rican independence fundraiser.[14] In 1996, CPS launched an investigation into mismanagement of money. In 1995 and 1996, respectively, it had placed Clemente on financial, and then academic probation.[5] In November 1996, a CPS evaluation of Clemente stated, "the political climate and divisiveness thwart academic progress at a level so significant that the education of the students is being ignored."[14]
On January 31, 1997, Jerry Anderson, an administrator at
In February 1997, Irene DaMota, the principal of Whittier Elementary School, was selected as the new Clemente principal.[14]
Chicago Sun-Times story
A February 4, 1997, article in the
The director of the Chicago Latino Institute, Migdalia Rivera, criticized the story and distributed a rebuttal.[16] In response, the newspaper defended its reporting.[17]
An area political strategist and businessperson, Larry Ligas, a person not of Puerto Rican origin, claimed credit for spearheading the story. He said he got information, much of it from former Puerto Rican independence movement propagandist, Rafael Marrero, and gave it to Sun-Times journalist Michelle Campbell. Campbell verified what Ligas sent her and added some information of her own. Ligas posted a press release praising the Sun-Times story prior to its release. Ben Joravsky of the Chicago Reader stated that Ligas was "relatively unknown" at the time of the story's release.[18] Marrero, at the time, was an informant for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He had been trying to sabotage the Juan Antonio Corretjer Puerto Rican Cultural Center,[19] which had a working relationship with Clemente. Marrero would later give testimony in which he accused parties [who?] of perpetrating fraud.[20]
In regards to the story itself, Joravsky stated that at the time the story was released, people in northwest Chicago were speculating about who was responsible for spearheading the story and not so much about its veracity; in regards to that, Joravsky stated that the latter was "a point of view that varies with one's ideology."[18]
On February 12, 1997, a group of Puerto Ricans and other Hispanics and Latinos protested at the Sun-Times offices, accusing the newspaper of anti-Latino bias and racism.[21]
On February 18, CPS head Vallas stated that Illinois lawmakers needed to be more stringent with rules regarding spending of funds intended for poor children.[22] Vallas criticized the programs of Clemente and the Puerto Rican center.[20] Even though there is no concrete evidence stating that the school had associations with the Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional Puertorriqueña (FALN), at one time the FBI accused it of doing so.[6] The FBI had asked for an investigation, and so did the US attorney based in Chicago. Several hearings were held in the Illinois Legislature.[20]
Ultimately, no evidence of any fraud surfaced. Oscar López Rivera wrote that Marrero "wreaked havoc on the hard community work the Center had carried out at Clemente High School for years."[20]
2000s and beyond
Clemente was one of 16 schools nationwide selected by the College Board for inclusion in the EXCELerator School Improvement Model program beginning the 2007-2008 school year. The project was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.[citation needed]
The school was scheduled to begin using the International Baccalaureate program by the 2013-2014 school year.[23]
Student body
As of 2019, the school had 697 students,
Academics and programs
Clemente offers six
As of 2004, the school curriculum stresses multiculturalism and aims to develop ethnic pride.[5]
It hosts community events, such as speaking engagements and cultural programs, available to everyone in the surrounding area.[5]
As of 2004, Clemente had a relationship with the Puerto Rican Cultural Center's
Campus
The school includes various murals along Division Street which portray symbols of
Student performance
Circa 2005, the school had one of the highest dropout rates in the United States.[6] By 2019, the graduation rate was 84%.[1]
Athletics
Clemente competes in the
Notable alumni
- Saul Bellow, attended Tuley High School; recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature.[29]
- Joey Marciano, baseball player[30]
- Isaac Rosenfeld, writer who became a prominent member of New York intellectual circles. Saul Bellow modeled the character King Dahfu in Henderson the Rain King on Rosenfeld who he befriended and worked with on the school newspaper at Tuley.
- Victor Diaz, professional baseball player with the New York Mets and Texas Rangers
- Ramon Ocasio III, Cook County judge and president of the Puerto Rican Bar Association of Illinois.
- Mickey Rottner, attended Tuley High School; played basketball for Loyola and professionally.
See also
References
- ^ a b c d "Clemente HS". Chicago Public Schools. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
- ^ "High School Code Search". College Board. Retrieved 2 January 2010.
- ^ a b c "Chicago (Clemente)". Illinois High School Association (IHSA). 31 December 2009. Retrieved 2 January 2010.
- ^ "Institution Summary for RCCA". AdvancED profile. North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement. Retrieved 2 January 2010.
- ^ ISBN 0520936418, 9780520936416. p. 157.
- ^ ISBN 1137022884/ISBN 9781137022882. pg. 46.
- ISBN 0226703592, 9780226703596. p. 233.
- .
- ^ a b "About Us". Roberto Clemente Community Academy. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
- Newspapers.com.
- Newspapers.com.
- ^ .
- ISBN 0226703592, 9780226703596. p. 234.
- ^ a b c d e f "Death Threat Prompts School Probe in Chicago" (Archive). Education Week. February 12, 1997. Retrieved on December 20, 2015.
- ^ "Report: Chicago School Touted Puerto Rican Cause" (Archive). Orlando Sentinel. February 5, 1997. Retrieved on December 20, 2015.
- ^ Miner, Michael. "Sun-Times, School Bully/ In My Tribe" (Archive). Chicago Reader. February 13, 1997. Retrieved on December 20, 2015.
- ^ "Clemente reporting presented the facts." Chicago Sun-Times. February 7, 1997. Retrieved on December 20, 2015.
- ^ a b Joravsky, Ben. "Lessons in Propaganda" (Archive). Chicago Reader. February 20, 1997. Retrieved on December 20, 2015.
- .
- ^ .
- ^ Fitzgerald, Mark. "Picketing The Chicago Sun-Times p.11" [(). Editor & Publisher. March 15, 1997. Volume 130, Number 11. Retrieved on December 20, 2015. Available from Archived 2015-12-22 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ Rossi, Rosalind. "Clemente High // School chief wants better money rules." Chicago Sun-Times. February 18, 1997. Retrieved on December 20, 2015.
- ^ Moore, Evan F. "Clemente implements IB program Archived 2016-03-05 at the Wayback Machine" (Archive). Extra. July 26, 2012. Retrieved on December 22, 2015.
- ^ RCCA IB School. Retrieved on July 26, 2013.
- ^ a b Roberto Clemente Community Academy brochure. Retrieved on July 26, 2013.
- ^ RCCA JROTC. Retrieved on July 26, 2013.
- ^ IHSA: Clemente (Chicago)
- .
- ^ Fasman, Jon (November 2, 2008). "Where Words Took Shape: Saul Bellow's Chicago". New York Times.
- ^ Epps Jr, Wayne (May 5, 2021). "After 2019 retirement, Flying Squirrels pitcher Joey Marciano enjoying return to baseball". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
Further reading
- "Clemente story smeared effort of educators" (opinion). Chicago Sun Times. February 9, 1997.
- Studer, John. "Puerto Ricans Fight For Rights In Chicago " (Archive). The Militant. March 3, 1997. Volume 61, Number 9.
- "90_HR0067 LRB9005400CBcbA House Representatives" (Archive). State of Illinois 90th General Assembly Legislation.
- Ríos, Alejandra Cerna. "Clemente High, 8 Years After the Investigation." Extra. April 27, 2005
- Spanish version: (in Spanish) Ríos, Alejandra Cerna. Translator: Víctor Flores. "SECUNDARIA CLEMENTE, 8 AÑOS DESPUÉS DE LA INVESTIGACIÓN." Extra. April 27, 2005.