Noble Street Charter School Comes to Homan Square Fall 2012

Henry Ford Academy: Power House High (www.powerhousehigh.org), a public charter high school serving the North Lawndale area, announces a new partnership with the Noble Network of Charter Schools (www.noblenetwork.org) to take effect in July 2012.

This unique partnership will bring the resources of two national charter school organizations – Henry Ford Learning Institute (HFLI) and Noble – together to provide educational and management support to students at Power House High. Beginning in July 2012, Noble will work with HFLI to oversee the existing school's rising 10^th through 12^th graders. At the same time, Noble will launch a new Noble public high school on the Power House campus beginning with 9^th grade enrollment. The school will phase up to serve 9^th through 12^th grade students over the following three years as HFA: Power House High winds down its operations over the same time period.

Over the past decade, Noble has demonstrated a proven solution for providing a high-quality high school education to underserved communities. Noble currently operates 10 public charter high schools serving nearly 6,500 students in Chicago. Recently released data shows that Noble’s high schools scored significantly higher on the Prairie State Achievement Exam than the CPS average. All Noble high schools with juniors also rank in the top 10 of non-selective high schools in Chicago based on ACT scores.

Henry Ford Learning Institute (HFLI) and the Foundation for Homan Square (FHS), operators of Power House High, are committed to providing the best opportunities available to their students and families. Recognizing the need for Chicago-based management to improve educational support, HFLI and HAF reached out to Noble and initiated this innovative educational partnership.

“This is an exciting opportunity for students and the community to build on the foundation that has been created here and really excel with strong Chicago-based educational support. I think that Noble has a model which offers a lot in terms of teacher quality, administration and pathways to college,” said Kristin Dean, President, and Foundation for Homan Square.

“We are eager to work in collaboration with Noble to ensure the support provided to the school will sustain a long-term quality educational option in North Lawndale. We believe this is the right decision for kids, and this plan ensures that there is no gap in service to families,” said John Nichols, Chairman of HFLI Academies of Illinois.

450 students attend HFA: Power House High. It opened in September of 2008; classes are held in the newly restored Charles H. Shaw Technology and Learning Center, formerly the Homan Square Power House.