Dyett High School

Walter Henri Dyett High School For The Arts (formerly known as Dyett Academic Center and commonly known as Dyett High School) is a public four–year arts high school located in the Washington Park neighborhood on the south side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. The school opened in 1972.[5] Dyett is a part of the Chicago Public Schools system and is named for American violinist and music educator Walter Henri Dyett (1901–1969).[6] The school became an arts high school for the 2016–17 school year.[7][8]

Dyett High School
Logo, 2016
Address
555 E. 51st Street

Chicago
,
Illinois
60615

United States
Coordinates41.8012°N 87.6123°W / 41.8012; -87.6123
Information
School typePublic secondary
Motto"New Century. New Needs. New Direction."
Opened1972
2016 (re–opened)
Closed2015[1]
School districtChicago Public Schools
CEEB code140726 [2]
PrincipalBeulah McLoyd[3][4]
Grades9
GenderCoed
Enrollment319 (2017–18)
Campus typeUrban
Color(s)  Black
  Gold
Athletics conferenceChicago Public League
Team nameEagles
AccreditationNorth Central Association of Colleges and Schools
Websitenewdyett.org

History
Dyett's main entrance, 2015

Dyett first opened in September 1972 as a neighborhood middle school. Connected by a tunnel to the Dyett Recreation Center, it was built under a joint governance agreement with the Chicago Park District, under which the community had access to the recreation center when school was not in session.[9] The recreation center's pool provided a particularly important community asset, because no other public pools were available in Bronzeville.[9]

At the direction of CPS head Paul Vallas, the school became a high school in 1999. Two years later, the recreation center was closed to the public.[9]

In contrast to the limited-admission King College Prep that was opened nearby at the same time, Dyett was deliberately starved of resources, suffering "over a decade of CPS disinvestment and destabilization."[10] By 2011, only 19% of students in the school's attendance area were attending Dyett, with most parents choosing to send their students to less under-resourced schools.[11] By 2012, Dyett students were deprived of all advanced placement classes and had to take art and physical education classes online.[10]

Dyett's dropout rate rose over the years, hitting a high of 81% during the 2009–10 school year. Despite persistent opposition from parents and community leaders arguing that CPS had set Dyett up to fail, the CPS board voted to close Dyett in 2012.[10] The closure took place as a teach-out, with the school closing after the students who were freshmen in 2011–2012 had graduated. During this phaseout period, members of the school community protested continuously, with several Dyett supporters being arrested for refusing to leave Chicago City Hall and 36 students filing a federal civil rights complaint against CPS.[12] In 2013 Dyett supporters organized the Coalition to Revitalize Dyett, presenting detailed plans to convert Dyett to a school focused on "global leadership and green technology."[12] CPS nonetheless closed the school in the spring of 2015, after graduating a final class of 12 students.[10]

During late–August through mid–September in 2015, a group of education activists went on a hunger strike for over 19 days in an attempt to save the school, which was the only remaining open-access school serving Bronzeville.[13] In September 2015, CPS announced that the school would open again as Dyett High School For The Arts, an open enrollment arts-focused neighborhood high school for the 2016–17 school year.[14] Bronzeville resident and Michele Clark Magnet High School principal Beulah McLoyd was picked by the school board to serve as principal of Dyett in October 2015.[15] The re-envisioned school also featured an innovation lab to offer training in technology for the Bronzeville/Washington Park community and nearby schools.[16]

Athletics

Dyett competes in the Chicago Public League (CPL) and was a member of Illinois High School Association (IHSA). The school's sport teams are known as the Eagles. The boys' basketball were regional champions in 2006–07.[17]

Works cited
  • Ewing, Eve L. (2018). Ghosts in the Schoolyard: Racism and School Closings on Chicago's South Side. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 9780226526027.

Notable alumni

References
  1. "Chicago Hunger Strike To Save Dyett High School Reaches Ninth Day, Goes Nationwide". August 25, 2015. Retrieved August 26, 2016.
  2. "- High School Code Lookup - Apply - Undergraduate Admissions - Vanderbilt University". Retrieved August 26, 2016.
  3. Tribune, Chicago. "Principal for new Dyett High School reprimanded in previous job". Retrieved August 26, 2016.
  4. "Principal's Message". Retrieved August 26, 2016.
  5. "Home". Retrieved August 26, 2016.
  6. Company, Johnson Publishing (December 4, 1969). "Jet". Johnson Publishing Company. Retrieved August 26, 2016 – via Google Books.
  7. "CPS announces two teams to help develop Dyett High School". Retrieved August 26, 2016.
  8. "Dyett to reopen as neighborhood arts school". Archived from the original on October 5, 2016. Retrieved August 26, 2016.
  9. Ben Joravsky. "Everybody Out of the Water". Chicago Reader. Retrieved February 5, 2020. The pool was especially important to the community. "Yeah, there are Ys and health clubs and university pools, but they aren't open to the public," says Townsend.
  10. Lipman, Pauline (2017). "Economic Crisis, Charter School Expansion, and Coercive Neoliberal Urbanism in the U.S.". In Ndimande, B.; Lubienski, C. (eds.). Privatization and the Education of Marginalized Children. Routledge. pp. 24–25. doi:10.4324/9781315205878. ISBN 9781315205878.
  11. Ewing 2018, p. 23.
  12. Ewing 2018, pp. 25-26.
  13. "Chicago Hunger Strikers Enter Day 19 Challenging Rahm Emanuel's Push to Privatize Public Schools". Democracy Now!. Retrieved September 19, 2015.
  14. "CPS Announces New Dyett High School, Innovation Lab". Retrieved August 26, 2016.
  15. "Bronzeville resident named new principal of Dyett High School". Retrieved August 26, 2016.
  16. Matt Masterson (September 1, 2016). "Dyett High School Reopening 1 Year After Activist Hunger Strike". WTTW. Retrieved February 5, 2020.
  17. "Chicago (Dyett)". Illinois High School Association (IHSA). August 19, 2012. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
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