Greater West Town Project acquired Youth Connection Charter School West High School in Austin this summer.
Greater West Town Project is an organization increasing economic opportunities on Chicago’s West Side through community building. YCCS West is a career pathway school that aims to re-engage and re-enroll at-risk youth who have been unsuccessful in traditional school settings.
After acquiring YCCS West on July 1, GWTP hopes to increase educational opportunities in Austin, such as industry training and career development that support students who are receiving an alternative education.
The conversation about joining forces started around the time of last year’s enrollment season, according to Early King, principal of YCCS West. Although the high school had nearly 200 students before COVID-19, enrollment declined after the pandemic. This past school year, YCCS West had just under 100 students.
So, YCCS West reached out to nearby West Town Academy in Garfield Park, an alternative high school that’s a part of both GWTP and the Youth Connection Charter School Network, which has 17 locations throughout Chicago.
The schools collaborated on how to expand resources to YCCS West. Such resources include industry training — with curriculum tracks that certify students in IT or Allied Health, which prepares certified nursing assistants — and job placement services, all with a social justice focus. The schools also offer career development with services for postsecondary and social-emotional support, dropout prevention and retrieval, plus financial education.
“Whether it was 100 students, whether it’s 200, we still wanted them to have that opportunity to have those jobs and those skills that we said we would provide for them,” King said.
YCCS West was managed by the Youth Connection Charter School Network and will now be managed by GWTP. CPS approved the acquisition.
The change in governance allows GWTP to expand its workforce and education programs, plus enhance YCCS West’s services, said Keisha Davis-Johnson, who’s been the CEO of GWTP for the last 7 years.
“Because Greater West Town Project has so many post-secondary services that we provide for adults, as well as youth, it just made sense that YCCS West would be great because they serve the exact same population that we serve,” Davis-Johnson said.
While West Town Academy and YCCS West are open to all 16-to-21-year-olds living in Chicago, over 90% of YCCS West’s students are from West Side neighborhoods like Austin, Garfield Park and North Lawndale, Davis-Johnson said.
These areas have long been disinvested from, and it shows when it comes to their schools and students.
According to the Chicago Health Atlas, about 82% of Austin residents graduated high school from 2018 to 2022. West Garfield Park and North Lawndale had graduation rates of about 75% and 80%, respectively. But in the Loop, that number is over 97%.
“We’re excited to work collaboratively with YCCS West to make sure all young people who have not completed high school have excellent options for earning their high school diploma on the West Side,” said Angela Gibson, principal at West Town Academy, in a statement.
‘We’re not the traditional charter school’
Davis-Johnson said that expanding YCCS West’s services won’t take students away from already underpopulated neighborhood schools on the West Side.
“I don’t believe in destabilizing schools,” Davis-Johnson said. “I know it’s really political right now in terms of using the word ‘charter,’ and that it appears to be taking resources from neighborhood schools.”
“We’re not the traditional charter school,” Davis-Johnson added. “We’re targeting the most vulnerable students in the community that have been disengaged or not successful in a traditional big system,” like those who have been victims of violence or have committed violence.
GWTP’s smaller schools, like West Town Academy and YCCS West, have more capacity to provide wraparound services to at-risk students.
“In a city where violence, poverty, homelessness, mental health issues and heavy policing disproportionately affect communities of color, YCCS serves not just as a place of learning, but as a safe haven for many youths,” Davis-Johnson said.
Enroll at YCCS West at yccswest-yccs.org and WTA at westtownacademy.org.