Community Corner
Southland College Prep's Faculty, Staff of 2013-2014 Academic Year
Dr. Blondean Davis, (c) CEO of Southland College Prep Charter High School and the new school’s key administrators: Andrea Kidd, (r) Director; Assistant Superintendents Lee Stanton (r center) and Dr. Douglas Hamilton, (l) stand with the three-year old school’s fully constituted faculty and professional staff who teach and mentor to the student body that is capped by the Illinois State Board of Education at 500.
Southland’s educational program is both creative and rigorous. Opened in temporary quarters in August of 2010, the new charter high school moved into a remodeled former insurance company call center in Richton Park in April of 2011.
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Southland has a 17:1 pupil teacher ratio, an extended school day from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and an emphasis on foreign languages and the arts. Southland has a full schedule of athletics, music, dance and speech and forensics programs.
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The new charter school, “is designed to prepare all of its graduates for academic success in college,” says Dr. Davis.
Southland’s students use 21st century classroom tools including an electronic portfolio of work and a blog for each subject area. Students engage in technology-based collaborative learning with other students, have access to video conferencing and technology assisted home-school communication to keep parents informed of progress
According to Dr. Davis, “Southland College Prep offers a choice for students and a hope for the future. Every child has a right to learn and can achieve the 21st century skills needed for success—to think critically and to problem solve.”
Dr. Davis’ conviction that “children can achieve their highest learning potential when given the opportunity in an encouraging, student-centered, academically challenging environment,” was a major factor in creating the new public charter high school for students who reside in Rich Township District 227 that draws students from nine south suburbs-- Country Club Hills, Flossmoor, Hazel Crest, Homewood, Matteson, Olympia Fields, Park Forest, Richton Park and Tinley Park.
