About Rowe
We prepare children to succeed in, and graduate from college!
What We Do
Rowe Elementary & Middle School, operated by Northwestern University Settlement House, prepares students to succeed in, and graduate from college by cultivating the desire and expectation to go to college and delivering an academically rigorous curriculum infused with unique social and emotional programming!
We best serve our students and their families by instilling in them the college mindset — holistically preparing them to successfully navigate the road to college graduation. We believe that our community is full of brilliant young people who, when provided an excellent education, are able to compete at colleges across the country.
In loving memory of John William Rowe (1945 – 2022)
The Rowe School History
We continue to evolve as a school, but our mission always remains the same...your child's future!
History
Northwestern University Settlement House has operated community programs in arts, education, and social services in Chicago’s West Town neighborhood for more than 130 years. In 2008, the Chicago-based Renaissance Schools Fund helped facilitate a partnership between Northwestern Settlement and Bain & Company, a global business and financial consulting firm with a deep interest in actively participating in public education reform. The two organizations joined forces to create a new contract grammar school campus based on intensive research and national best practices. In 2009, the John Rowe family and Exelon Corporation joined the team, adding to the financial and operational strength of the newly named Rowe Elementary School, which opened at the Cleaver Avenue location. In 2014, Rowe expanded to the Middle School building on Augusta Boulevard for grades 6-8. Today, Rowe scholars attend some of the most elite high schools in Chicago, including Walter Payton, Whitney Young, Lane Tech, Jones, and St. Ignatius.
Rowe Today
There are many factors that go into a school being an exemplary school – specifically, effective leaders, collaborative teachers, ambitious instruction, involved families, and fostering a supportive environment. Rowe continues to build strong, trusting, and respectful relationships with scholars, parents, and the community. Our staff of caring and committed professionals show up each day to ensure that the children who pass through our doors receive a world-class education. Our scholars are passionate and motivated, continuously striving for success. From day one, they are instilled with the academic skills and determination to set them on a path to a successful future!
Describe your image
Approach and Philosophy
Rowe has grown from a school of 125 scholars to a school with more than 750 scholars. What attracts many of our families, as well as many of our staff to Rowe are the values the school believes in. Our work in this area revolves around defining what those values mean for us as a much larger school and how we, as adults, internalize and embody our values of PRIDE, SUCCESS, and HONOR.
We best serve our students and their families by instilling in them the college mindset — holistically preparing them to successfully navigate the road to college graduation. We believe that our community is full of brilliant young people who, when provided an excellent education, are able to compete at colleges across the country.
What are our goals?
Here is how we go about achieving our vision:
CULTIVATE THE EXPECTATION AND DESIRE TO GO TO COLLEGE/TRADE SCHOOL
When we say we instill the "college mindset", we mean that we familiarize or scholars and their families with the idea of going to college – what college means, what it takes to be academically and socially ready for college, and what it takes to get into college. We believe this preparation cannot begin too early, so beginning with kindergarten we build familiarity with college. Our classrooms are named after universities, we provide college visits and presentations so that our scholars and families can learn and be well informed.
High School Readiness
At Rowe, we pride ourselves in ensuring that our scholars matriculate into high performing high schools in the city and the nation. However, our ultimate goal is ensuring that our scholars can successfully navigate the road to and through college graduation.
High School matriculation is a very important step in our scholar’s academic career. Therefore, aside from having a full time Director of High School Readiness and Alumni Success we have developed a high school readiness program to help our scholars and their families have the support systems necessary to navigate through the application process and can make a successful transition to high school.
In addition to incorporating high school readiness into our middle school culture, Our readiness program consists of:
– advisory lessons
– parent workshops
– one-on-one parent meetings and guidance from application to matriculation.
