What is an AUSL school? How are AUSL schools different from Turnaround Schools managed directly by CPS?
CPS has selected the Academy for Urban School Leadership (AUSL) to manage three of the six 2008-09 Turnaround Schools: Howe School of Excellence, Morton School of Excellence, and Orr Academy High School. AUSL is a nonprofit organization with a two-part mission: to improve student achievement in Chicago Public Schools by preparing and retaining Chicago’s next generation of exceptionally effective teachers and school leaders; and to transform chronically failing schools into schools of excellence by opening and managing Turnaround Schools, capitalizing on the strengths of its pipeline of AUSL-trained teachers. AUSL already has led the turnaround of two Chicago Elementary schools. The Sherman School of Excellence opened in Englewood in 2006, and the Harvard School of Excellence opened in the Auburn-Gresham neighborhood in September 2007. In addition, AUSL manages six other CPS schools (two high schools and four elementary schools) as training sites for its Urban Teacher Residency program.
