Making History

Chicago Talent Development High School (Chicago Talent) was launched as a contract school in the Chicago Public School system in 2009. Beginning with the 2010-2011 school year, Chicago Talent will continue serving students on Chicago’s West Side as an independent, charter high school.

Although Chicago Talent is a young school, we are at the forefront of a movement to transform urban public education across the city, and by example, across the country.

Born from a series of innovative partnerships between Johns Hopkins University, Communities In Schools, and City Year, Chicago Talent represents a true feat of collaborative architecture. As the flagship in Union Park’s network of charter high schools, we are one of only two high schools in the country created specifically as a Talent Development High School—with Johns Hopkins as an implementation partner from the very beginning. We are also currently the only high school in Chicago built around Diplomas Now!, a comprehensive school model designed specifically to meet the academic and social needs of every student.

As partners in the Diplomas Now! initiative, each of the nonprofit organizations mentioned above provide Chicago Talent with ongoing, comprehensive, data-driven support and expertise—professional support essential to the success of our mission. We at Chicago Talent are proud to be the first high school in the city to utilize this innovative school model.

At Chicago Talent, we believe great teaching is the keystone of a great education, and we strive to foster a creative, respectful, and supportive environment for all of our faculty members. To achieve this, we are pursuing a collaborative, site-based labor-management agreement that will formalize the role and voice of the teaching faculty with the growth and establishment of the school.