| Ted Lenart Regional Gifted Center | |
|---|---|
| Address | |
| 8101 South LaSalle St. Chicago, Illinois, 60620 USA |
|
| Information | |
| Type | Selective Admissions School |
| Motto | Together we make our school a success! |
| Established | 1988 |
| Oversight | Chicago Public Schools |
| Principal | JoAnna Theodore |
| Grades | K-8 |
| Gender | Co-ed |
| Number of students | 221 |
| Campus type | Urban |
| Color(s) | Red and White |
| Nickname | The Lions |
| Website | www.lenart.cps.k12.il.us/ |
Ted Lenart Regional Gifted Center is located in the southeast side of Chicago Chatham neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois (8101 South LaSalle St., Chicago, IL 60620.) Lenart School serves grades K-8 with a selective enrollment program for gifted students. The school is part of the Chicago Public Schools, CPS, system. The students and its mascot are referred to as the Lions.
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Lenart, along with Keller and Edison, is one of the three fully dedicated Regional Gifted Centers within the City of Chicago's Public School district. The Regional Gifted Centers provide accelerated pace instruction generally up to two years above grade level. The RGC curriculum focus is on critical thinking, logical reasoning and general problem solving skills. In addition to this essential foundation, the Lenart curriculum includes courses in French, Latin, and philosophy.[1] RGC admission selection is determined by the Chicago Public Schools Office of Academic Enhancement.
Lenart Regional Gifted Center occupies the same facility which once housed Amelia Dunne Hookway School. This building, which sits on 10 acres of land, was built in 1928 in the Gothic Revival style which was then popular. Inside, it features twelve New Deal era wall murals, four large ones representing historical periods of the United States (conquest, colonization, western expansion, and modernity) and eight smaller ones representing local history and entitled "History of Chicago" (1939). These murals were commissioned for the school by Illinois Arts and Crafts Projects to Ralph (Ralf) Henricksen under the Works Progress Administration program. [2][3] Due to changing neighborhood demographics, the building became underutilized as an elementary school. Hookway Elementary School closed its doors in 1981.[4] A new school serving as a transitional high school for ninth graders, Cecil Partee Academic Preparatory Center, took its place. The transitional program was relocated to Chicago Vocational Career Academy to make room for a new program, whose sole objective was to serve gifted and academically talented students. After extensive renovation to the structure by the architectural firm JLA, the school reopened its doors in 1988 to house the Lenart Regional Gifted Center exclusively. In 1999, yet another major building renovation was completed by SWWB Architects, at a cost of 5.7 million dollars.[5] Lenart school is named after Nicor Gas executive Theodore Lenart.[6]
Lenart has been on the Illinois Honor Roll consecutively for many years, and is every year issued the Award for Academic Excellence, which recognizes sustained excellence in elementary schools.[7] 100% of its students pass the Illinois Standards Achievement Tests, with a substantial portion of them exceeding state standards.[8] Chicago Magazine has ranked Lenart as the number one public school in the City of Chicago, out of 482 elementary schools.[9] The school also made it to their combined list of the top five most outstanding private and public schools in Illinois.[10] The school ranks number 3 among 2219 public elementary schools in Illinois.[11] It was recognized by Chicago Public Schools as being in the category of Top 15 in the District, and with the Highest Value Added in 2010 ISAT Reading Performance.[12] Lenart is acknowledged by CPS as a Level 1 (Excellent Rating) school for its overall performance.[13]