About
KNIGHTS CREED
We believe in the creation of inspired lives produced by the miracle of hard work. We are not frightened by the challenges of reality but believe that we can change our conception of this world and our place within it. So we work, plan, build and dream – in that order. We believe that one must earn the right to dream. Our talent, discipline and integrity will be our contribution to a new world because we believe that we can take this place, this time and this people, and make a better place, a better time and a better people. With God’s help, we will either find a way or make one.
PHILOSOPHY
Every student deserves a high-quality education.
THE MAKING OF A KNIGHT
Providence Englewood Charter School (PECS) is a Kindergarten through 8th grade Charter School serving the Englewood community. We are part of Chicago Public Schools and enrollment is FREE. Our purpose – the reason we exist – is to prepare our students for responsible citizenship and a successful high school career leading to enrollment in college.
Our course of study is intended to prepare our students for higher education. We strive for excellence in all aspects of the teaching-learning process. Students, teachers and administrators have high expectations of themselves and of one another. The curriculum is regularly evaluated to ensure that students have the tools they need to succeed in their academic pursuits. Course offerings are designed to support all students with reaching their fullest intellectual potential. Students are encouraged to develop personal study habits and motivation to attain their academic goals.
Along with intellectual growth must come personal development. We work to create and maintain an atmosphere based on mutual respect and acceptance of differences and concern for others. In doing so, we hope to guide our students in developing a moral value system and reaching out to those who are less fortunate than they.
We work to instill in our students a sense of personal and cultural pride; a mature acceptance of responsibility; a personal discipline which will enable them to attain their goals; and an unwillingness to accept anything less than their best. We believe that with these personal qualities, our students will be able to shape their own futures, as well as the future of our community.
“Members of the Providence Englewood Charter School community – students, parents, teachers and administrators – refuse to bend to the pressures of limited resources or to submit to the limitations imposed by low expectations. Rather, we perform out of a healthy sense of dissatisfaction, recognizing with pride how far we have come, but never losing sight of how far we have yet to go.”
– Angela Williams-Johnson, Principal
THE PECS DIFFERENCE
The PECS difference extends beyond the classroom and sets us apart from our peers.
PECS as a Safe Haven
The PECS Safe Haven program is designed to keep our students productive during the summer months and after school hours, exposing them to unique opportunities to learn, grow, and have fun.
- After-school programming provides students with academic support and opportunities to learn non-academic skills through participation in programs such as Science Club, Track & Field, Dance, Soccer, Choir, Basketball, African Drumming, Majorettes and more.
- Semester Three (S3) is a four week summer program for students entering Kindergarten through 8th grade. It includes the Kindergarten Transition Program which helps entering Kindergarten students build foundational skills while learning how to become successful PECS scholars. Students in 1st through 7th grade receive academic intervention in reading, language arts, and math; or participate in non-academic programming at PECS such as Football, Robotics Club, or Dance. Students in 1st through 7th grade also have to opportunity to attend off-site camp experiences through our SOAL (Summer Opportunity of a Lifetime) program.
- Alumni Summer Internships offer paid internships to high school and college aged PECS alums during which they learn employable skills such as customer outreach, strategic planning, program development, media creation, and time management.
PECS Promise
In 2015, the PECS Promise program was established to ensure that PECS’ students and alums were supported in accessing high-quality high schools and post-secondary institutions. PECS Promise begins with high school success because we know our students must build upon our foundation of college readiness by attending an academically rigorous college preparatory high school. Our External Affairs department supports our students and alums through programs and services designed to:
1. Connect them to resources to help them progress towards college access, persistence, and completion,
2. Provide community service opportunities and one-to-one mentoring, and
3. Build an alumni community that is deeply connected with PECS.
HISTORY
In 2006 Providence Englewood Charter School (PECS) proudly opened its doors on the former campus of Ralph J. Bunche Elementary School. At its inception PECS served 200 students in grades Kindergarten through five, with only 23 faculty and staff.
During the first year the PECS faculty quickly went to work on understanding the student’s academic performance by administering a nationally normed standardized test as a baseline assessment. The results revealed a school wide average score in the 9th percentile. PECS’ faculty and staff worked diligently under the advisement of educational leaders to develop a school improvement plan, which at its heart focused on four values: pride, expectations, community, and success. By the end of the first year, the new test results revealed that the students’ school-wide average had increased to the 44th percentile, surpassing the national average!
In the 2009-2010 academic year, PECS celebrated its first graduates. 17 graduates were honored at the 2010 commencement ceremony. 65% of the class of 2010 matriculated to high-quality college prep secondary schools such as Lindblom Math & Science Academy, Chicago High School for Agricultural Science, and Providence-St. Mel – schools with proven records of successfully preparing students for college. Each year since 2016, 100% of PECS graduates have been accepted to high-quality college prep secondary schools. Today, PECS continues to thrive and mold future leaders, serving 464 Kindergarten through 8th grade students with hopes to launch a Pre-kindergarten program.
In 2015 PECS established the PECS Promise program to support and engage our 234 alumni as they move towards college completion, provide advising and mentoring to our middle school students as they apply to high school programs, and deepen the overall college going culture within the school. Since the establishment of the PECS Promise program, 95% of our 8th grade graduates have matriculated to some of Chicago’s most competitive college preparatory programs, including Gwendolyn Brooks College Prep, De La Salle Institute, Noble UIC College Prep, Whitney Young, Providence-St. Mel, Marist High School, and Walter Payton College Prep. In 2018 PECS alumni included 5 boarding school students attending Lake Forest Academy, Wayland Academy, and our first international student at Upper Canada College in Toronto. PECS alums have also been selected to participate in the prestigious Daniel Murphy, Link Unlimited, HighSight, and HFS scholarship programs.
PECS exists to lay the foundation for future leaders. As we grow, we continue to challenge and prepare our students and graduates to become not only high school and college graduates, but responsible citizens.
*Please note: Providence Englewood Charter School is not associated with Providence-St. Mel School.