On June 14, 2024, the Community Education Network also known as It Takes a Village (ITAV) Family of Schools, held a groundbreaking ceremony to memorialize with speeches and photos the continued growth of the school network. ITAV purchased the shuttered Hales Franciscan High School, which once stood as the pride of the Archdiocese of Chicago for educating African American males for over fifty years. The school closed in 2019 due to declining enrollment and remained vacant until now.

The mission of ITAV is to provide high-quality, culturally responsive education and life-empowering social services that inspire students and families to positively transform and advance their communities, nation, and world. ITAV was founded in 2004 by former Chicago Public Schools educator, Gwendolyn Harris, her daughter, Nakisha Harris-Hobbs, and Anita Andrews-Hutchinson. Their goal was to provide a high-quality education to students and instill in them the need for social justice.

The school began with 47 students and one location and now has 1,000 students enrolled in seven different locations offering HeadStart, kindergarten through eighth grade school classes and a Village Leadership Academy for 1 – 8th grade students. The new location at 4930 South Cottage Grove Avenue will open with K-8 classrooms in the fall of 2024 and consolidate students and staff from two of its current locations.

Built in 1940, the school property consists of a main building with approximately 75,700 square feet and an annex building with just under 35,000 square feet sitting on approximately 9 acres. ITAV has plans to rehabilitate the property in three phases. The first phase will include work on the main building including roof repair, HVAC, and cosmetic updates. ITAV students will move into the main building this fall with phase one renovations occurring over the summer.

The second phase of the project will be the entire rehab of the annex building creating a new 150-slot Early Childhood Education center serving children in Bronzeville and Kenwood-Oakland. The third and final phase of the project will be an expansion to serve high school students.

CCLF provided a $5 million loan to ITAV for the acquisition and partial renovation of the former Hales Franciscan High School. CCLF’s loan is part of a larger co-lending structure with IFF that totals $11.5 million.

Anita Andrews-Hutchinson, co-Founder of ITAV stated during the groundbreaking, “I want to thank our partners in this process, CCLF and IFF. Thank you for taking a chance on us and helping get us to the finish line of this 9.1-acre campus.”

Co-founder, Nakisha Harris-Hobbs told the students in attendance that there were people that used their knowledge and skills to help make this groundbreaking possible, and she knows they too will grow to use their talents to help others. Harris-Hobb said, “This institution would not be possible without CCLF and IFF. They were able to give us the loan to acquire this property.”

The total project cost is expected to be $102 million after all three phases are completed. The co-founders continue to raise funds for phases two and three. Phase one is expected to create 12 jobs and another 50 during phases two and three along with 30 construction jobs.

Andrews-Hutchinson described the significance of the new building for ITAV. “This is our beacon of how we are going to love and educate black children so the world around us will know this place as the next generation of leaders.”

“This is a big deal that our village is growing, and we are moving into the Bronzeville community building a world class transformative educational model for black people, not only here in the city of Chicago but across this country and across the entire world,” said Harris-Hobbs, co-founder, ITAV.

The ITAV educational approach seeks to uncover the gifts and talents of students so that they reach their fullest potential. This means recognizing each child has unique talents, learning styles, and personalities. ITAV also recognizes that systems in place have historically prevented accessibility to high-quality education for many. The organization focuses on closing the equity gap by providing everything students need to be the leaders they were born to be.

Regarding the educational linage of ITAV, Harris-Hobbs described the work of the teachers and staff as, “working to produce something great, producing young people who love themselves and love their community so much that they will never pick up a gun.”

When complete, ITAV anticipates serving at least 530 students on site: 220 K-8 youth with some additional growth, 150 new early childhood education slots, and 160 new high school students. The new facility will provide outdoor space for physical education, organized sports, urban agriculture, community networking meetings, increased parent engagement, and organization-wide training.