Ombudsman Chicago Opens West Side Chicago Location
Ombudsman Chicago, an alternative school for students ages 14-20, that allows them to earn a high school diploma, has recently opened its third Chicago location at 2401 W. Congress Parkway, on Chicago’s West side.
Ombudsman Chicago is in partnership with Chicago Public Schools (CPS) which makes it possible for students there to receive CPS approved credits that can be used toward receiving an accredited high school diploma.
“We’re here to help CPS with their dropout rate, get students off the street and back in school and help them forward, hopefully, to a more successful life,” said Ralph M. Thompson, Vice President of Custom Community Relations Educational Services of America Ombudsman. “What we are is a very genuine, very authentic program who cares for children and do everything it can to meet their needs.
Ombudsman provides its students with more additional social resources on top of academic resources.
“Post-secondary counselors help them find college placement, job placement, volunteerism and internship and job shadowing while they’re here,” said LaTisha Cole, an Ombudsman social studies teacher. “They also follow them when they leave so when they leave here it’s mandatory that they are placed somewhere. Whether it’s a trade school, a college, a job they’re going somewhere they just don’t end here and they keep track of them so it’s really, really nice.”
Cole, who has taught in five different countries before coming to teach at Ombudsman, provided to the Chicago Citizen Newspaper, insight into the day-to-day activities at Ombudsman Chicago.
“The system is very sophisticated as far as how we track the kids. They have binders and every grade they get goes in there and the teachers get a copy of that as well. Our kids know every single day what their grades are and what their progress is.”
For additional incentive, students can earn “budsman bucks” that can be redeemed for snacks, prizes, etc. for consistently being on-time and other benchmarks set by the teachers. Every day before courses begin there are team building exercises. Additionally, students engage in resume writing and job training twice a week.
“You have to care and they can sense it,” said Betty Hammond, who taught for 25 years in Chicago Public Schools. “If you don’t care then you’re not going to make a difference.”
“The teachers here really care,” said Starmesha Parter, an Ombudsman student from East Garfield Park. “They take the time to let you know what you’ve done wrong at this point. The school really inspires you to keep going that you can make it, they inspire you.”
Ombudsman Chicago’s other locations are at 3214 W. 63rd St., and at 7500 N. Harlem Ave.
For more information about Chicago Ombudsman visit http://www.ombudsman.com/index.aspx.
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