Kenwood Academy

Kenwood Academy is a comprehensive public 4–year high school and magnet middle school located in the Hyde Park–Kenwood neighborhood on the south side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Operated by the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) district, Kenwood opened in temporary quarters in 1966 and in its permanent building in 1969. Kenwood limits acceptance of high school students to those living in Hyde Park: from Lake Michigan to Cottage Grove Avenue east to west, and 47th to the Midway Plaisance north to south. Kenwood was recognized as a School of Distinction for its academic achievement and a Model School by the International Center for Leadership in Education in 2004. In addition to being a local high school, Kenwood has a magnet program that accepts students entering into 7th grade who pass a rigorous admissions test. The magnet program accepts students citywide using a random lottery with a standing of 6 or higher in both reading and math. History The Chicago Public Schools (CPS) began the planning process to build Kenwood Academy, then called Kenwood High School, on November 3, 1965. With Northern big cities undergoing the final years of the baby boom, the CPS felt the need for a modernized new high school on Chicago's South Side. During the time of planning for the new school, CPS operated Kenwood Upper Grade Center; a neighborhood elementary school that was later converted into a high school to relieve overcrowding at nearby high schools in 1962. At the time, the school served 900 students in a building meant for only 500. The question of whether to build Kenwood High School was the center of intense interest and tension for community members in Hyde Park, Kenwood, and Woodlawn who were concerned about the impact a new school would have on the racial composition of the surrounding neighborhoods and schools. Before the construction of Kenwood High School all students from these communities attended Hyde Park High School in Woodlawn. Community activists from Woodlawn argued that building a new high school in Hyde Park/Kenwood would drain all of the white students from Hyde Park High School, effectively segregating the school. These activists argued for an expansion of Hyde Park High School to alleviate overcrowding rather than the construction of a separate school.