Two-thirds of children who can’t read proficiently by 4th grade will end up in jail or on welfare. ��è Chicago is changing that.

Frederick Douglass said it plainly: “Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.”

He knew from lived experience that literacy is not a classroom skill; it is the foundation of a life with options. It is the difference between a child who chooses their future and one whose future is chosen for them.

At ��è Chicago, we believe this, too. We have built our schools around it. And now, we are making it the centerpiece of our commitment to the more than 3,500 students and families we serve.

We are proud to introduce our multi-year movement to transform literacy outcomes for our students and disrupt the poverty-to-prison pipeline.

Education is in Crisis

The statistics are stark. Two-thirds of students who cannot read proficiently by the end of 4th grade will end up in jail or on welfare. Third grade is the year that experts identify as the turning point—the year children shift from learning to read to reading to learn. Miss that window, and the consequences follow a child for life.

Nationally, two in three students are not reading proficiently by 4th grade. Among Black and Hispanic/Latino students, who make up 99% of the students we serve, that gap is even wider. In Illinois, only 22.6% of Black students and 25.5% of Hispanic/Latino students in 3rd to 8th grade read at grade level in 2024.

The illiteracy to poverty and prison pipeline runs directly through our classrooms and across our city. And at ��è Chicago, we stand committed to dismantling it. Through research-backed instruction, a joyful reading culture, and the belief that our students deserve a life of opportunity, we will begin to write a new story for Chicago’s youth.��

Our Approach

The illiteracy crisis will not be solved with a single program. Instead, we are making a commitment that spans instruction, culture, community, and access, built on the understanding that learning thrives when a child is supported from every direction.

The Science of Reading

Our foundation is evidence-based literacy instruction grounded in the Science of Reading, a body of research that identifies how the brain learns to decode language and what instructional approaches produce the strongest outcomes. Paired with i-Ready, our adaptive assessment and instructional platform, we use real-time data to meet every student exactly where they are and accelerate their growth.

The Frederick Douglass Initiative

Great instruction gets students reading. The Frederick Douglass Initiative ensures they fall in love with it. Launched in the 2025–2026 school year, this initiative challenges our 3,500 students to collectively reach 1 million reading minutes. Through Beanstack, our gamified digital reading platform, students track progress, earn badges, and compete on leaderboards in a network-wide reading challenge.��

The initiative goes beyond the page, building a culture of reading through arts-integrated literacy programming, like family literacy nights, author visits, and visual and performing arts projects curated in partnerships with leading Chicago-based literacy and cultural organizations like Once Upon Our Time Capsule, Burst Into Books, Bernie’s Book Bank, Open Books, and Young Chicago Authors.

A City-Wide Conversation

The Road to Freedom has always been bigger than our eight campuses. Solving the literacy crisis in Chicago will require educators, families, policymakers, philanthropists, and civic leaders to come together. Through a series of thought leadership and community convenings, we will work to elevate the conversation and inspire citywide action around literacy.��

The first of many community convenings will be held on Thursday, June 18, at the Chicago Cultural Center. with Chicago native and nationally recognized expert on the literacy development of African American youth, Dr. Alfred Tatum, to address one of our nation’s most pressing issues in education today.��

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When I walked through the doors of ��è Ascend Primary in 2011, I couldn’t have imagined that 14 years later I’d be writing to you as ��è Chicago’s CEO. But here we are—and what a journey it has been!

Some people discover their calling through careful deliberation. I found mine in a classroom in Newark, New Jersey, where I was fortunate to serve as a Teach For America corps member for two years. That experience lit a fire within me and fueled my conviction that remains today—all children deserve an excellent education that creates lifelong opportunities.��

This belief led me to ��è Chicago, where I joined as the founding Assistant Principal at ��è Ascend Primary. Those early years shaped my understanding of what it truly takes to build a successful school community. As I worked alongside dedicated educators and leaders, I saw firsthand the transformative power of a rigorous, nurturing, and inclusive educational environment. Over time, my role evolved, and I became more deeply involved in shaping the vision and direction of ��è Chicago, always with an unwavering commitment to the success of our students. It was clear to me that creating lasting change requires not just passion but a strategic, aligned effort from all stakeholders. This journey has only reinforced my belief in the power of education to empower, uplift, and unlock potential.

In 2015, I was selected for the Fisher Family Fellowship. This highly competitive program prepares experienced educators who have achieved significant student academic gains to found and lead a new ��è school in an undeserved community. The fellowship prepared me to take on the next chapter of my career, founding ��è One Primary in West Humboldt Park in 2016.��

Together with an extraordinary team that put their heart and soul into creating a community where students and families could thrive, we built something truly special. Our collective work led us to earn a Level 1+ rating, the highest possible school quality rating, for three consecutive years and be recognized as the highest-performing public school in Chicago for two years running. While these achievements are something I am incredibly proud of, what fills me with the most pride are the moments that metrics can’t capture. It’s the quiet moments that stay with me—like seeing a first-grader’s face light up when they finally decode a word they’ve been struggling with, or watching a student, once shy and withdrawn, stand confidently in front of their peers to deliver a presentation they worked so hard on. It’s the pride in the eyes of our teachers when they see a student who once struggled to believe in themselves finally reach their full potential. It’s the small, day-to-day victories—the shared smiles, the supportive conversations, the unwavering belief that we, as a team, are making a real difference in the lives of our students.

I remember one student, Ajani, who came to us two years behind in reading. After months of encouragement, personalized support, and relentless belief in his abilities, I saw him reading fluently for the first time. When he looked up from the page, his eyes wide with pride, he said, “I can do it now.” Moments like that, when our students begin to believe in their own potential, are the true markers of success.

These experiences remind me that the impact we have isn’t just in test scores or rankings, but in the way we shape the hearts and minds of the young people we serve. It’s in the confidence we help them build, the opportunities we provide, and the doors we open for them to walk through. This, for me, is the heart of education: creating a space where every child can dream, grow, and achieve no matter where they start.

In today’s ever-changing world, our students need us more than ever. They need stability when the world feels unpredictable. They need rigorous academics paired with high-quality social-emotional support. They need adults who believe in their unlimited potential. My commitment is to lead ��è Chicago in providing exactly that.��

The path forward won’t always be smooth—education has never been for the faint of heart. But I’ve seen what’s possible when a community unites around a shared mission, and I am confident in what we are capable of achieving together.��

I’m deeply honored to serve as Chief Executive Officer and excited about what is to come.��

With gratitude,��

Rashid Bell
Chief Executive Officer
��è Chicago��

For media inquiries, please contact Jessica Perez at jperez@kippchicago.org.

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At ��è Chicago, we believe in unlocking potential at every stage of life. Since the spring of 2022, we’ve partnered with Penn Foster to offer a transformative High School Diploma Program for adults, focusing on ��è parents, relatives, and community members. This initiative is more than just a pathway to a diploma; it’s a launchpad for personal and career growth, covering vital subjects from academic core skills in English and Math to hands-on career training in fields like healthcare, carpentry, and veterinary assistance.

With Penn Foster’s DEAC and AdvancED-accredited curriculum at its foundation, this program offers a flexible, accessible way for our adult learners to pursue their educational dreams and open doors to new vocational opportunities. Alongside academic growth, we provide an array of adult education services, including financial education, health and wellness resources, and leadership development training.

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We are excited to share and celebrate with you the results of the latest School Quality Rating��Policy (SQRP) scores released by Chicago Public Schools this past Friday, November 8th. For the third year in a row,����è Chicago is the highest performing network of K-8 schools in the city.��These results are significant because they highlight that��all��of our schools are excellent options for families.

To put this into perspective, each of our K-8 schools is the��highest performing school in its neighborhood. ��è Academy and ��è One are the only Level 1+ rated schools in Austin and Humboldt Park, respectively. Likewise, ��è Ascend, rated a 1 and ��è Bloom, rated a 1+, are the highest-rated schools in North Lawndale and Englewood.

“Our collective commitment is to ensure that families have an excellent school from which to choose, close to their homes. A high SQRP rating is one of several ways we assess our effectiveness at doing just that.”
-Amy Pouba, Superintendent of ��è Chicago

Other highlights worth noting include ��è One’s rating as the��highest performing public school in the entire city��for the second year in a row. And earlier this fall,��Chicago��magazine named ��è Academy and ��è One on its 2019 list of the�� in Chicago,��again recognizing our ability to offer high quality, college prep options in the neighborhoods where our schools are located.

“I am thrilled that the highest performing public school in all of Chicago is not in Lincoln Park, not in Hyde Park, not in Lake View . . . . it is in on Chicago’s West Side.����è One’s exemplary performance demonstrates how much potential we have distributed across the city. This is precisely why we are so optimistic about Mayor Lightfoot’s Invest South/West initiative—new investments on the West and South Sides will help us tap into this potential and make Chicago a city where every student can envision a bright future. Special thanks to ��è for showing the way.”
-Andrew Broy, President of the Illinois Network of Charter Schools

The CPS School Quality Rating Policy (SQRP) is a five-tiered performance system based on a broad range of indicators of success, including, but not limited to, student test score performance, student academic growth, closing of achievement gaps, school culture and climate, attendance, graduation, and preparation for post-graduation success. The highest score a school can earn is a 1+, followed by a 1, 2+, 2, or 3.

“I am proud to serve students and teachers who work so hard to demonstrate their excellence. ��è’s 1 and 1+ ratings demonstrate the brilliance of our community and students; the skills of our teachers and the commitment of our parents and caregivers. I am honored to lead the Whole Child Initiative and support the achievement of students, teachers, and parents for their long term success.”
-Jennifer Hodges, Director of Whole Child Initiative, ��è Chicago

While we celebrate these tremendous results, our commitment moving forward is to build on these accomplishments, holding our students and families at the center of our mission, providing them with the best education possible. We look forward to continuing our work together.

In community,

April
Executive Director
��è Chicago Public Schools

To join our efforts to support ��è Chicago Public Schools by volunteering, visiting a school, or making an investment, contact Milton Rodriguez at milton.rodriguez@kippchicago.org.

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��è SQRP

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