Schools

Morgan Park High School, New Principal Showcase Academic Offerings

The Morgan Park High School community and Ald. Matt O'Shea are working to spread the word about what the school has to offer local students.

By Christine Schmidt

Where you invest your time, you invest your heart.

Members of the Morgan Park High School community proved this sentiment to be true during a showcase Monday night that highlighted the school’s academic programs and recent changes, including infrastructure renovations and a new principal.

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Dr. Carolyn Epps, a Beverly resident, recently began her tenure as the school’s principal after two years of stops and starts in the school’s quest for permanent leadership.

Carissa Parker, the Local School Council’s chairperson is excited about the new era at the school.

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“Our goal has always been to have the best principal for Morgan Park,” Parker said. “And we didn’t want any principal; we wanted the right principal. This is why we engaged our entire community” in a two-year search for a new administrator.

In an effort to get the word out about the school’s positive attributes, Epps, Ald. Matt O’Shea, parents, students, teachers and alumni reflected on Morgan Park’s past, present and future and the Mustang sense of community for a crowd of about 50 attendees.  

Beth Nelson, a parent of two students, spoke highly of the school’s location and plethora of perspectives. “I’m very proud that our girls are having a bicultural experience,” Nelson said. “We think that enriches them . . .  diversity is good for everybody.”

The students were also vocal in their support of the school. Junior Jaleel Hampton described the rigor of the IB college credit program and how he recently had to write a lengthy essay for an class. Now, “I believe if I can write three thousand words in a month [for the essay], it will really help me with the transition to college,” Hampton said confidently.

Lamonte Davis, a senior involved in football and JROTC, spoke with passion about his high school experience but became somber as he reflected on his upcoming graduation.

“I wish I had one more year because it seems like you’ll never get this again in life,” he said. “Everybody’s just so unique—there’s no other place in the world that’s going to be like it. I’m going to miss it.”

Students can begin earning credit at Morgan Park  in seventh grade. The school also offers AP and IB classes and sends students like Janae Meaders to the University of Chicago and other top colleges. In the IB program, “you learn about things from a global perspective, which is good when you’re in an environment that may not be as culturally diverse as you would like it to be,” Meaders said.

According to a flyer distributed at the event, 95 percent of the Class of 2010 applied to college. Seventy-seven percent of those students are still enrolled in higher education.

While the students and parents discussed the Mustang community, O’Shea and Epps emphasized the importance of the larger community.

“I am dedicated to preserving the traditions that have given Morgan Park its stellar reputation and I am determined to help move Morgan Park even further,” Epps said. “We must work collaboratively—and by ‘we’ I mean the community as a whole, not just the Morgan Park High School community.”

Later Epps reinforced her point, stating, “We need to get our community to realize that we’ve got a great school here.”

O’Shea echoed these sentiments, pledging to work with Mayor Emanuel and CPS Superintendent Barbara Byrd-Bennett to fund more renovations at the school. These are in addition to current $20 million infrastructure developments, including a chilling system and electrical and plumbing upgrades. 

“I’m going to work to bring everything and anything we can to make this school better because the children of this community deserve it,” O’Shea said.

He sent the audience out with a mission, encouraging them to “Talk to your neighbors, talk to your friends; talk about the passion you heard tonight. How proud these young kids are of their school. The commitment these teachers have to these kids. This is what the school is all about…This school is 97 years old. I think we can get another 97 years out of it.

O’Shea hopes that 19th Ward residents rethink their perception of the school.

“When people say, ‘why Morgan Park?’ [I say] why not? “ O’Shea said “Take another look at Morgan Park.”


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