Camelot Opens Two More Accelerated High Schools in Chicago for Overage Students Who Want to Drop Back In

Posted October 30, 2014

(Chicago, Il. – October 30, 2014) – The high school graduation rate in Chicago has climbed from 58% to 65% over the past three years and Camelot Education is proudly making its contribution to that success with programs to help students ages 16-21“drop back in” to school and graduate.

Already operating Chicago Excel Roseland and Excel Academy of Englewood, Camelot has now joined with Chicago Public Schools to open two more locations, Excel Academy Southwest at 7014 S. Washtenaw Ave., and Excel Academy of South Shore at 7530 S. South Shore Drive. Each of the new sites will serve up to 375 students.

“There are tens of thousands of kids in Chicago who have dropped out. Our message to them is it’s not too late to turn their lives around. We are already proving that in Roseland and Englewood and we will do the same at these two new sites,” said Camelot VP of operations in Chicago Pedro Segarra.

The curriculum is the same Common Core taught in main stream Chicago schools but Camelot also uses the Jobs for the Future instructional model, which has proven to be highly successful at Camelot schools nationwide. The model emphasizes students working on projects in teams, expressing themselves through writing every day, and active questioning and participation in the classroom. In addition, the school day is longer than at standard schools so that students can take more courses and graduate faster.

Camelot’s accelerated schools stress graduation and post-secondary success. The two new campuses offer ACT and SAT Prep, field trips to colleges and other schools, and college and career fairs.

Both schools are actively recruiting in the communities they serve. A parent or guardian must accompany the student in order to submit an application.

“We know that people who have a high school diploma live longer, healthier lives than high school dropouts,” Segarra said. “That alone should be incentive enough for these young men and women to drop back in.”