Welcome Students...
In August 2000, the Young Women's Leadership Charter School of Chicago opened its doors to 75 sixth graders and 75 ninth graders chosen by lottery from an applicant pool of students from all over the city. Today, we start our school year with over 300 young women in grades 7-12 and we graduated our fifth class of seniors in June 2008.
For all of our students, the learning goals of solid academic achievement and college and career preparation are paired with clear goals for the development of leadership potential and personal and social growth.
Working together with our students' families and community leaders, we aim to graduate young women who meet the five qualities of a YWLCS student that our first class of sixth and ninth graders determined to be the most important characteristics for success:
Responsible, Respectful, Scholarly, Hardworking, and Creative...
YWLCS inspires urban girls to engage in rigorous college preparatory learning in a small school that is focused on math, science and technology and that nurtures their self-confidence and challenges them to achieve.
Read What Our Students Have to Say About YWLCS:
"When I first arrived at YWLCS, I was shy, timid and quiet. Through these last four years, I have grown. Now I actively participate in class. I ask questions if necessary. I do not fear that I will be embarrassed by asking so many questions, because the more questions I ask, the more I understand, and the more I grow."
- Latrise Miller, Class of 2008
"[YWLCS] has given me opportunities that I would not have gotten at any other school in the city and a support system that is unique to this school. I am ready to take on the world, the future, and the unknown. I cry out with a loud voice, 'I am coming, and I am not afraid.'"
- Angelica Alvarez, Class of 2008- Latrise Miller, Class of 2008
"Young Women's Leadership showed me the way out by showing me a whole other world that I never knew existed. I completed internships at a local cable access station and got my own television show. I went on summer programs - to Mt. Holyoke, to UCLA, to China. I worked hard and graduated in the top five in my class. I begin my freshman year at my first choice college next fall. I am confident I will succeed there because I now believe in my ability to achieve my dreams."
- Whitney Smith, Class of 2007
When we say that the Young Women's Leadership Charter School of Chicago is the place you want to be, we mean it.
