Columbia College Chicago is extending its impact in the community through its Center for Community Arts Partnerships (CCAP). CCAP was recently awarded two grants to expand its Community Schools Initiative, which works on-site at Chicago Public Schools to holistically support K-12 students through after school programs, parent engagement, and other needed services. This program received the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award for excellence in after school programming last year, bestowed by First Lady Michelle Obama at the White House.
 
A grant from the Illinois State Board of Education’s 21st Century Community Learning Centers program will allow CCAP to expand to three new schools: Guggenheim Elementary School in Englewood, North Lawndale College Prep Charter High School, and Sullivan High School in Rogers Park. Another grant, from the United Way of Metropolitan Chicago, will allow CCAP to provide more services to middle school students at Herzl Elementary School and Crown Community Academy in North Lawndale to ease the transition to high school and prepare for college. CCAP puts Columbia’s best in the community – CCAP will be hiring students, alumni, and faculty to work as teaching artists and assistants in these expanded after school programs.