Save Senn Arts - Give Freshmen Two Arts Classes!

Help us keep Senn Arts going for our future students!

With your help, Senn Arts parents, students, and community members successfully got CPS to make the Senn Arts Program a Program of Study that allows all future Senn Arts students to initiate a waiver for exemption that will allow them to take 7 arts classes instead of the 5 that had been slated in November.

Now, as the Go CPS deadline for first round high school decisions is coming up on April 4, it is unclear whether the Senn administration will program incoming freshmen for two arts classes or just one.

Senn Arts parents, students, and community members believe that it is incredibly important for incoming freshmen to take two foundational arts classes their first year so that Arts students can have the opportunity to get a complete early introduction to essential skills they need to practice and perfect during their high school career for college-level classes, portfolios, and college applications.

As of today, Principal Dacres has refused to act on a unanimous recommendation by the Senn Local School Council to program all incoming Senn Arts students for the two requisite Arts courses that distinguish the program.

Help us ask CPS to compel Principal Dacres to give Senn Arts freshmen two arts classes!

This petition is intended to help Senn administrators and CPS officials understand the will and wishes of the students, parents, teachers, and community members Senn serves. If more of us reach out to CPS, we have a better chance of being heard.

You can use this form to send a letter to several key leaders within CPS.

Once you fill in your information and click "start writing" you will see a template letter that you can personalize, or send as is.

Thank you for your support!

History:

Unlike selective enrollment schools like Lane Tech and Whitney Young and choice schools like ChiArts, whose programs have limited spots and often prioritize students with prior arts experience, Senn Arts prioritizes taking students who demonstrate passion and dedication but not necessarily a high level of skill. This allows Senn Arts to admit students from elementary schools whose arts programs have been cut. The Senn Arts program offers intensive study in foundational skills in theory and technique, practice and performance that begins on day one, which in turn takes students, including those from disinvested schools, from novice to college-ready in just four years.

At the LSC meeting in November 2024 the Senn community learned that due to issues with Physical Education and Computer Science waivers, the Senn Arts program would be cut from an 8 class sequence to 5. This seriously placed the success and future of the the Senn Arts program in jeopardy.

Parents, students, and community members rallied to support the Senn Art Program, and CPS declared Senn Arts a Program of Study in early 2025. This meant that Senn Arts students would be eligible to initiate PE exemption waivers that allow students to take a seven class sequence. Senn parents and students are still trying to work with CPS to find an equitable solution for the remaining Computer Science requirement.

By March 2025, it became clear that despite repeated attempts to discuss the Senn Arts program enrollment and programming with the administration, Principal Dacres indicated that incoming Senn Arts freshmen would be programmed for one arts class and the required Computer Science course, instead of the two arts classes that distinguish the program.

Cutting the Senn Arts first-year program in half, and only offering freshmen one Arts class, means that incoming freshmen will be introduced to foundational skills at a slower rate and some delayed until sophomore year. That would mean incoming Senn Arts students will be less prepared and less likely to succeed in college-level classes, and the skills they need to create effective portfolios will be less developed. The result: Senn Arts students will be awarded less financial aid and fewer scholarships, and be less likely to be admitted to selective colleges.

Recognizing this issue, the Senn LSC unanimously agreed at the March 12 meeting to advise Principal Dacres to program incoming Senn Arts students for two Arts classes in the first year, with Computer Science to be taken in sophomore year if no solution can be found for the Computer Science requirement. This option ensures full graduation compliance and, if the Computer Science requirement waiver issue is resolved, will allow these students to participate in the full 8-class Senn Arts sequence.

The Senn Arts curriculum is an intensive study program designed to nurture and challenge students of varying arts backgrounds, from beginner to advanced, and help them develop professional skills that will continue to serve them no matter what career path they choose. Here are some of the benefits:

• The intensive Senn Arts curriculum is designed for students who may have a passion for their art, but not necessarily a lot of in-depth prior arts experience. The audition / portfolio process focuses on passion and dedication and teachers take the time to get to know prospective students, teach them about the program, and find out about their passion and goals. The two daily classes and professional partnerships are designed to take students from novice to college ready in four years. Other than ChiArts, we offer more arts curriculum than any other CPS high school.

• Senn arts classes are taught by certified CPS teachers who are not only masters of their craft, but also experts in arts education. Teachers work directly with students to plan and achieve postsecondary and career goals.

• Senn Art’s professional partnerships, which include prestigious organizations like Raven Theater, Lookingglass Theater, Joffery Ballet, Gus Giordano Dance, DePaul Community Music, Lyric Opera, Jazz Institute of Chicago, Joel Hall Dance Center, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, The Goodman Theater, Steppenwolf Theater, Writer Theater, Porchlight Theater, Museum of Contemporary Art, and Loyola University (Ralph Arnold Gallery), provide hands-on, real world experience that directly translates into college readiness and career success.

• Senn Arts students have access to higher level IB and AP coursework, both in the arts and core subjects like math and science. Many higher level classes, such as IB Physics and IB Biology are two year sequences that are only accessible to arts students because of the PE and CS waivers.

• Senn arts students are routinely accepted into competitive colleges such as NYU, Pratt, Vanderbilt, Northwestern, and SAIC. Additionally, Senn has direct relationships with Loyola and UIC. Students get to visit both campuses as part of their curriculum.

• Senn Arts students are able to win competitive arts scholarships. The Class of 2024 received over a million dollars in arts scholarships.

If you have questions about Senn Arts or would like to get more involved in our efforts to preserve this wonderful program for future generations, please reach out to us as strongersenn.org.