Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos Puerto Rican High School (PACHS) is an
alternative high school located in the
Humboldt Park neighborhood on the Paseo Boricua in
Chicago,
Illinois, United States. It is named for
Puerto Rican
nationalist Pedro Albizu Campos, and was founded in 1972 as La Escuelita Puertorriqueña, originally in the basement of a Chicago church.
[Antrop-Gonzalez]
"This School is My Sanctuary: the Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos Alternative High School"
, ''JSRI'', Jun 2003 The school is NALSAS accredited, a founding member of the Alternative Schools Network, and a campus of the
Youth Connection Charter School
Youth Connection Charter School (YCCS) is a charter school in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1997 it is the only charter school in Illinois that targets dropouts and other at-risk students. YCCS serves over 3,500 students through 17 campuses throu ...
in Chicago. PACHS celebrated its 40th anniversary in January 2013.
School history
PACHS was founded by concerned community members in response to a March 1971 study that cited a 71.2% high school dropout rate for Puerto Rican youth. Originally named "La Escuelita Puertorriqueña", the school began in the basement of a Chicago church as a response to alleged Eurocentric curricula and purported negative pedagogical conditions faced by Puerto Ricans in public schools. By 1974, the school had been moved two miles northeast of
aseo Boricua where it remained until moving to its current location on Division.
The
Lolita Lebrón Family Learning Center is a satellite program of the high school which integrates educational activities for young adults and children, provides daycare services, and offer classes in women's health and wellness at the high school. In March, 2011, PACHS inaugurated a rooftop
greenhouse
A greenhouse (also called a glasshouse, or, if with sufficient heating, a hothouse) is a structure with walls and roof made chiefly of Transparent ceramics, transparent material, such as glass, in which plants requiring regulated climatic condit ...
as an extension of its science lab in order to teach students about
urban agriculture and help address the high rates of obesity and diabetes in Humboldt Park, which may explain its 2006 designation as an urban "Food Desert".
Greening of a Food Desert
See also
*Puerto Ricans in Chicago
Puerto Ricans in Chicago are people living in Chicago who have ancestral connections to the island of Puerto Rico. They have contributed to the economic, social and cultural well-being of Chicago for more than seventy years.
History
The Pu ...
References
Further reading
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External links
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Public high schools in Chicago
Puerto Rican culture in Chicago
West Side, Chicago
1972 establishments in Illinois
Alternative schools in the United States
Educational institutions established in 1972