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CICS West Belden
CICS West Belden, nominated by Next Generation Learning Challenges, is an elementary/middle school in Chicago, Illinois that describes itself as a public charter school serving learners from a primarily urban area.
Location Chicago, Illinois
Governance Public charter school
Grades Elementary, Middle
Students 525
Locale Urban
Principal Kristin Eng
Demographics
Percentage of students*
50%
English Learners
92%
Free/Reduced Lunch
15%
Students with Disabilities
African American or Black 7%
American Indian/Alaska Native —
Asian —
Hawaiian or Pacific Islander —
Hispanic or Latino 92%
White 1%
2+ Races —
Why CICS West Belden was nominated
West Belden has pursued a path towards high-expectations whole-child development for the past five years, with exemplary results. They are working with a challenging urban school population (K-8), and have put into place a deeply personalized approach that builds on knowing each child deeply and enabling increasing degrees of agency among the students, helping them develop a broad set of competencies. They are very articulate on how they have worked with the staff to co-develop this model, across three cohorts of teachers. Colleen Collins gave us an important lesson from her work there as principal: ""everyone needs to feel that they're part of the pilot."" Meaning: initially the school worked deeply with its first cohort to co-develop the model, and then did the same with the second cohort; when it came time to bring the third cohort into the work, those teachers were told to watch the other cohorts and ""do what they do."" That strategy produced some pushback from those teachers and convinced Colleen and...
Student experience design
At CICS West Belden, we support each child in becoming an engaged and curious learner, a confident self-advocate, and a creative problem-solver by setting high expectations and nurturing a positive culture that honors diversity, collaboration, and optimism.
Core Practices
| Core Practices | Length of Use |
|---|---|
|
Anti-racist Practices |
1-2 years
|
|
Co-leadership |
1-2 years
|
|
Family And Community Support Services |
5+ years
|
|
All Courses Designed For Inclusion |
5+ years
|
|
SEL Curriculum |
3-4 years
|
All Practices
Student Advisories
AI For Teacher Productivity
Bilingual Assessments
Assessments For Career Readiness
Assessments For Social-emotional Skills
Culturally Responsive Practices
Flexible Staffing & Alternative Teaching Roles
Interdisciplinary
Individual Learner Profiles
Mental Health Services
Multi-tiered System Of Support (MTSS) In Academics
Multiple Opportunities To Demonstrate Mastery
Restorative Practices
SEL Integration School-wide
Students Access Their Own Data
Student-led Goal Setting
Trauma-informed Practices
key reasons for innovating
Improve academic achievement
Models Implemented
Grades 4-12
Whole Student System
Date Updated: 4/1/2025
*Canopy profile data is self-reported or sourced from NCES data, then verified by school leaders.