Families are an essential part of our culture, and play a big role that is often uncommon for schools serving middle and high school students. Intrinsic families are true partners, and together we support student dreams, goals and pathways. Our schools are also inclusive hubs for their neighborhoods – true community assets.
Parents and families are each student’s first teacher. Parents have a real voice in the design and continuous improvement of both schools by providing a vital voice on annual goals, progress and any changes to make us better. The Parent Advisory Councils and Bilingual Parent Advisory Councils are extremely active at each campus and collaborate across schools.
Intrinsic exists to serve the community at large. We host community education events on topics identified by parents such as Cyber Security, Vaping and Immigration issues. Community members also speak directly to our students on topics such as identity, understanding your heritage and female empowerment.
The Intrinsic community across both campuses benefits from a wide-range of student and adult experiences. Though our Belmont Campus is more than 90% Latinx, this student body represents 20+ different countries. At the Downtown Campus, students come in from all all corners of the city – from all 77 of Chicago’s different neighborhoods. As a community, we explore our cultural richness and heritage via immersive experiences and field trips. Recent visits have been to The National Museum of Mexican Art, Gallery Guichard, The Miracle Center and the Black Ensemble Theater.
We believe that partnerships are critical to providing the best possible experience for our students, families and staff. Organizations such as Code Nation, After School Matters, the Miracle Center and Champs Mentoring provide direct programming to students. More than 200 professionals meet with students each fall at our annual Networking Night. We work closely with local churches on community programming and support for families in need.
It is not unusual to see Intrinsic students and staff cleaning up local parks and sidewalks. Many advisories participate in community service events to build camaraderie. Individual students and student clubs lead efforts around food and supply drives, voter registration and activism.