The Whole Child Review

Issue No. 7, Fall 2021

Opening Letter

As a unique introduction to this edition of the Whole Child Review, we share a poem written by Jennifer Hodges, Vice President of Whole Child Fund & Community Impact.

Increasing Family and Community Partnerships

We concluded 13 weeks of virtual workshops in June, ending with a legal series with Winston & Strawn. As we continue to evolve our family workshop offerings, we are surveying families to gauge their interests and needs.

Embracing an Inclusive and Challenging Curriculum

KIPP Academy Chicago and KIPP Bloom students gathered at our Children’s Museum of Art and Social Justice (CMASJ) to compete in the Model United Nations (Model UN) via Zoom.

Sharing Resources from our CMASJ

Once Upon Our Time Capsule was founded by Stacey Gillett and Stephanie Hodges to celebrate Chicago’s children and to foster new ways of building community as we continue to navigate the pandemic.

Integrating Social and Emotional Learning (SEL)

As we introduce new SEL Chair roles across the region, we’re so excited to highlight the leaders in these positions who are transforming school culture. For example, Faith Anderson-Bullock has been with KIPP for 10 years in various roles. We are so thrilled to have her as the SEL Chair for KIPP One Primary, Upper School.

Cultivating Identity Development Practices

KIPP Chicago teachers continue to raise the bar with their creative, thoughtful, and approachable visuals that live inside classrooms and throughout the hallways. Walk into any school and you will continue to find more examples of identity-affirming imagery, words, and displays.

Addressing Food Justice

We are projecting a Spring opening for our KIPP Academy Chicago food pantry. We are currently surveying families with Students in Temporary Living Situations (STLS) to gauge needs and we know the Austin neighborhood is particularly in need of nutritious, convenient food options. This pantry will be in partnership with RUSH and Indeed.

Enhancing Teacher Wellbeing

In tandem with our 13 weeks of parent content and curriculum, we offered similar wellness workshops for our teachers. We offered nine staff workshops through the 2020-2021 school year.

ASU+GSV

KIPP Chicago was honored to install a museum exhibit, and design and participate in panel discussions at the ASU + GSV 2021 summit.