North Lawndale College Prep: A Legacy of Uplifting Chicago's West Side

North Lawndale College Prep (NLCP) stands as a beacon of hope and a testament to the transformative power of education in Chicago’s North Lawndale community. Founded in 1998, NLCP was established with a clear mission: to create a pathway to a college degree and to uplift Chicago’s west side. For more than 20 years, the mission of North Lawndale College Preparatory Charter High School (NLCP) has been to prepare students for graduation with the academic skills and personal resilience necessary for successful completion of college. NLCP’s rich history of innovation and dedication is reflected in its partnership with Phoenix Pact; connecting qualified, college-ready NLCP graduates with colleges that have a track record of graduating students of all backgrounds.

The Genesis of NLCP and Addressing Community Needs

North Lawndale is a community that has struggled for decades with poverty. Schools suffered, along with the rest of the community, through white flight, the riots of the 1960s and the departure of businesses like Sears, Roebuck and Co. The community's population dropped from almost 95,000 in 1970 to just shy of 36,000 in 2010 with foreclosures brought on by the Great Recession accelerating the pace of decline in recent years. Today, the community is 92 percent African-American, with high rates of poverty still a constant.

Recognizing these challenges, The Steans Family Foundation, which has funded many education efforts in the community at privately run and district-run schools, was involved in the startup of North Lawndale College Prep. Joining with the Steans family, other NLCP founders included a wide range of community and foundation leaders including Harold & Adeline Morrison, Thomas & Maxine Hunter, and Burt & Anne Kaplan. In the long-troubled North Lawndale community, Chicago Public Schools has turned to private operators to solve the problem of failing schools more than anywhere else in the city.

NLCP opened in 1998 to meet the community need of developing an academically rigorous neighborhood school with a strong element of social support. NLCP asks students to hold themselves to a higher standard. Students and staff at NLCP work together to create a school culture that encourages and supports everyone to succeed.

NLCP began doing everything it could to ensure that its students got the quality education they deserved and graduated high school college-ready. Entering freshmen at NLCP are 99% African American, 95% low income, and come from a census tract where only 4% of the population held college degrees when NLCP opened.

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Campuses and Facilities

NLCP has two campuses - the Christiana Campus (original) and the Collins Campus opened in 2007. The Christiana Campus extends NLCP's educational mission within the North Lawndale area, increasing access to its programs and serving a distinct student population within the broader community. NLCP’s operations are concentrated on serving the North Lawndale community and surrounding areas within Chicago, Illinois. It does not have a global operational presence in the traditional corporate sense. Both school campuses offer the same curriculum and extra-curricular activities.

The Collins Campus serves as one of the main high school campuses and a hub for academic programs, student services, and administrative operations for the North Lawndale College Prep network. The campus is equipped with modern classrooms, science labs, technology resources, a library, and athletic facilities designed to support a comprehensive college-preparatory curriculum and extracurricular activities.

Academic Model and Curriculum

DRW College Prep challenges and supports students to become highly educated people of integrity who positively impact their community. Our vision is live our G.R.I.T. Our students engage in a rigorous, four-year college preparatory curriculum preparing them for college success. We proudly offer more math, science, and history courses and instructional time than any other neighborhood school on the west side of Chicago. We also offer a state-of-the-art drama and music department, foreign language, and physical education. Our goal at DRW College Prep is to engage our students in rigorous academics, with a view toward attending and succeeding in college.

The school serves primarily African American students from low income areas. Many of the students arrive 2-4 grade levels behind. The school is made up of 78 staff with 55% holding master's degrees and a 14:1 student/teacher ratio.

NLCP administrators believe that measures of academic gains while in high school are better predictors of academic success in college than ACT scores. Mentorship, tracking and supporting students are also important. NLCP assigns a counselor to each freshman upon entering high school. That counselor not only stays with the assigned freshman for all four years of high school, but also follows them through their first year of college.

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North Lawndale Prep frequently communicates its motto of "The Phoenix Way: Be Peaceful, Responsible, Respectful, and Prepared" to its students and provides opportunities for them to engage in college level work during their senior year. One example of this is a senior project that students continually revise and develop in their last year of school. Nash Brothers will support the Senior Project Mentor Program at NLCP which provides feedback and encouragement to seniors as they complete their final projects.

60% of juniors and seniors take at least one Advanced Placement course. Courses offered include: AP Literature and Composition, AP Language and Composition, AP US Government, and AP Government and Politics.

The Phoenix Pact: Supporting Students Through College

NLCP soon discovered that gaps in financial aid, unexpected material costs, medical bills, or even trips to and from home can derail the college plans of a student with limited resources. In 2001, Irv Lewis started the Roberta Bachmann Lewis Scholarship Fund (RBL). The fund provided 10 graduates each year small scholarships and enhanced support- the extras that often make the difference between collegiate success and going home permanently before obtaining a degree. Students being supported with financial aid and personalized counseling excelled. Nearly 80% earned college degrees.

In 2015, The RBL Scholarship Fund became Phoenix Pact. By strengthening ties with Partner Colleges who are committed to seeing students from all backgrounds earn degrees, leveraging financial aid and providing wraparound support, Phoenix Pact Scholars are succeeding like never before. NLCP and Phoenix Pact are committed do whatever it takes to support ambitious students to and through college, making a difference in their lives, their families, and communities to come.

NLCP is the only school in Chicago that offers full-tuition college scholarships to qualifying students who attend partner schools of NLCP’s Phoenix Pact program. Phoenix Rising, a program for NLCP students that puts them on college campuses during the summer.

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The Legacy of Irv and Roberta Lewis

Irv and Roberta Lewis lived and practiced the Hebrew imperative - “Tikkun Olam” - Repair the World. When Roberta passed away in 1999, Irv started the Roberta Bachmann Lewis Scholarship fund (RBL) in loving memory of her and their marriage of 47 years. The RBL Scholarship ensured that each year 10 students graduating from North Lawndale College Prep (NLCP) had enough money to go to college. Since then, nearly 500 students from NLCP have benefitted from Irv’s vision as the RBL Scholarship grew and became Phoenix Pact.

Harrison Steans envisioned the Phoenix Pact as a capstone program in the family’s support of NLCP, taking great pride in its success before passing away in February 2019.

Student Support and Well-being

NLCP’s trauma-informed support team includes student life counselors, social workers, mentoring programs and community partners to ensure that every student has someone to turn to in times of academic and personal crises. Our nationally recognized Peace Warriors program reduces violence within the community and provides intensive support to those who have experienced trauma. NLCP is the only school in Chicago that operates a home for students experiencing housing insecurity.

Community Partner Highlight: Ms. Meet Ms. Ontiveros, a Licensed Social Worker and proud partner of NLCP through Communities in Schools of Chicago! With nearly 6 years of experience in CPS and entering her second school year at NLCP, Ms. Ontiveros brings passion, care, and consistency to our students every day.

Notable Achievements and Recognition

NLCP develops a college-going culture from day one through college visits, a college seminar,. 99% of NLCP seniors have been accepted to college over the last 17 years.NCLP graduates earn college degrees at more than double the rate of Chicago Public Schools’ graduates.

In Winter, 2013, the school was featured in the Illinois Network of Charter Schools Policy Brief Measuring What Matters: Building Effective College Pipelines. The report examined the long-held belief that an ACT score of 21 was required for college success. 95% of NLCP students live in poverty with an average ACT score of 15.7, but they have a college acceptance rate of 100%, a college enrollment rate of 82% and a college persistence rate of 83%.

In 2013, a student from the school was featured in the Al Jazeera America documentary series Edge of Eighteen. Episode 2: Maurice Massonburg lives on the west side of Chicago, which is often called “Chi-raq” due to the wave of gun violence sweeping across the city. Despite the distractions and bad influences in his neighborhood, Maurice attends a charter school (NLCP) committed to helping underprivileged students go to college. Episode 3: Once a promising student Maurice Massonburg has all but abandoned his college dreams, resigning himself to the hard knocks of life on the west side of Chicago. Despite impassioned pleas from both his guidance counselor and mother, Maurice remains fixed to his downward spiral of smoking weed and slacking off at school.

NLCP officially opened its new Phoenix Common Room & Lounge at the Christiana campus. This renovated space, funded by generous donations, is designed to provide students with a comfortable area for study, collaboration, and relaxation, enhancing the campus community experience.

Leadership and Staff

As of April 2025, North Lawndale College Prep' leadership includes:

Dr. Garland Thomas-McDavid - President & CEO
Fatimah Traore - Chief of Schools
Danielle Kissee - Principal, Collins Campus
Terrence M. Mccants Sr. - Principal, Christiana Campus

With an incredible 21 years of teaching and 5 years at NLCP, Mr. Hokenmaier continues to set the bar high.

Financial Backers

North Lawndale College Prep has been backed by several prominent investors over the years, including:

Chicago Public Schools (Authorizer and Funder)
Illinois State Board of Education
A Better Chicago
AbbVie Foundation
The Allstate Foundation
Boeing
CME Group Foundation
Crown Family Philanthropies
Grosvenor
Michael & Susan Dell Foundation
Steans Family Foundation
Polk Bros. Foundation
Numerous individual donors and community partners

NLCP's Vision and Values

Since our founding over two decades ago, NLCP has been guided by an unwavering mission: to empower students with the tools necessary to earn a college degree. academically and socially for success in college, career and life. rigor to a web of support. to and through college. Our students’ success will have a positive ripple effect on North Lawndale and the greater Chicago community. Of the nearly 2,000 students who have graduated from NLCP, 99% have been accepted to college. just their academic selves to school.

The work culture at NLCP is highly collaborative, mission-driven, and student-centered. Staff are dedicated to fostering academic rigor, supporting student well-being, and creating an inclusive environment that encourages growth and achievement. The campus environment and operations reflect NLCP's core values of excellence, equity, perseverance, community, and leadership, aiming to provide a safe, supportive, and challenging space for students to thrive.

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