West Town Academy

West Town Academy
West Town Academy
Address
	534 N Sacramento Blvd; Chicago, Cook County, Illinois 60612; United States
Information
School type	Charter Public School
Established	September 1998
Founder	William Leavy
Status	Open
Oversight	Chicago Public Schools
Dean	Dwayne Smith
Principal	Kimberly Hansel
Staff	10
Faculty	8
Grades	Secondary
Age	17 to 21
Number of students	200
Average class size	25
Language	English
Hours in school day	8:30 AM - 4:00 PM
Campus type	urban
Colour(s)	Blue and White
Athletics	Basketball, Flag Football, Volleyball, Bowling, Softball
Athletics conference	Chicago Area Alternative Education League
Team name	West Town Warriors
Accreditation	Illinois State Board of Education
Newspaper	West Town Times
Communities served	West Side of Chicago
Affiliation	Youth Connection Charter School and Alternative School Network
Website	http://www.westtownacademy.org

West Town Academy is a part of Greater West Town Community Development Project, a communitarian non-profit organization working toward development on the West Side of Chicago.

The school originated as a GED program aimed at Chicago high school dropouts. It became a fully state-certified high school in 1998 and has been retrieving "disenrolled" minority students from the Chicago Public Schools system through its association as a campus of Youth Connection Charter School.^[1]^[2] It also operates as an independent high school through the enrollment of students who are wards of the court and the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. This situation makes West Town Academy both a public and private school simultaneously.

The school and its parent agency have hosted many local, statewide and national politicians. Then newly elected state senator Barack Obama was the commencement speaker for the class of 2000. Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, Illinois governors Rod Blagojevich and Pat Quinn, and U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner have all used it as a podium to make policy statements. Democratic presidential candidate Senator John Kerry and then candidate for the U.S. Senate from Illinois Obama held a campaign event in its original location during the 2004 campaign.

The school was founded by William Leavy, who is also director of its parent organization, The school moved to its new location, 534 N Sacramento, Chicago, IL, in June 2010.

One of West Towns brightness student Anthony Robinson who am graduated at 16 thanks staff of 2007 for all their hard work.

References

^ Grossman, Kate N. Chicago Sun-Times. Schools pressured to dump bad students, critics say. January 9, 2004. pg. 8.
^ Olszewski, Lori. Chicago Tribune. 1 in 5 blacks drop out. November 11, 2003. pg. 1.

External links

Home page

[1] Grossman, Kate N. Chicago Sun-Times. Schools pressured to dump bad students, critics say. January 9, 2004. pg. 8.

[2] Olszewski, Lori. Chicago Tribune. 1 in 5 blacks drop out. November 11, 2003. pg. 1.

[1]

[2]

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