Purpose and History
The O.A. Thorp Academy Local School Council (LSC) serves as the policy-making body of the school. LSCs have remained an important vehicle for participatory democracy, allowing not only educators but parents the opportunity to make important decisions about how their children will be educated in Chicago. It is through these decisions that parents are connected with educators to better align family and community engagement goals to student achievement; community members to help leverage community resources for the school; and other parents to share best practices and success stories.
LSC membership is a reflection of engaged and empowered parent, community, student, and educational leaders. It is through LSCs that parents are given a unique opportunity to have a voice in the decision-making table and engage in student-driven dialogue with community members, educators, students, and other parents.
Chicago Public Schools have Local School Councils (LSC) which are responsible for three main duties:
The Local School Council (LSC) has three main responsibilities:
- To select and evaluate the principal
- To develop and approve a Continuous Improvement Work Plan (“CIWP“)
- To develop and approve a school-based budget with control over flexible funds provided by the state.
Traditional Local School Councils consist of the following members:
- 6 parents
- 2 community members
- 2 teachers
- 1 non-teacher staff
- school’s principal
- student representative (high school LSCs only)
All are welcome. If you have a question or concern and can’t make a meeting though you can also reach out to us via the LSC Suggestion Box. Please check out the Wikipedia Page about Chicago LSCs. During our Remote Learning all LSC Meetings will be held on-line. You may request to attend our LSC Meetings by signing up at our Public Meeting Participation Form.
Current Members
Our LSC is made up of 11 members: six parents, one member of the community, two teachers, one non-teaching staff member, and our principal Mr. Toledo. Here’s the current roster as of July 1, 2022:
| Jennifer Alper – T |
| Vincent Coughlin – T |
| Kristine Limanni – N |
| Mahmoud Bambouyani – C |
| Matthew Capozzoli – P |
| Tiffany Cotton – P |
| Joel Paulraj – P |
| Ryan Richter – P |
| Gary Stanton – P |
| Kinga Witek – P |
| Efren Toledo – Principal |
| T – Teacher P – Parent C – Community N – Non-Teacher Staff |
2022-23 Meetings
(All LSC Meetings are available via Google Meets 15 minutes before the meeting a oathorpacademy.org/lscmeeting)
2nd Wednesday of each Month except where noted.*
LSC Meeting should last around an hour and a half with suggested times below:
- Opening Roll Call – 5 Minutes
- Principal’s Report – 20 Minutes
- Cmte. Reports – 10 Minutes (per Cmte.)
- Old Business – 10 Minutes
- New Business – 10 Minutes (New business will be emailed to Chair one to two weeks before LSC Meeting)
Meetings Alternate between Evening 6:00PM / Morning 7:00AM in the school library and at oathorpacademy.org/lscmeeting
Scheduled Parent Meetings: LSC Meetings are generally the 2nd Wednesday of each month at 5:30PM or at 7:00AM.
(Meeting Dates for the 2022-23 School Year: 9/14, 10/12*, 11/9, 12/14*, 2/8, 3/8*, 4/12, 5/10*, 6/14) Dates marked with an (*) are 7:00AM Meetings.
07/20: Organizational Meeting
agenda-minutes / no principal’s report
2021-22 Meetings
(All LSC Meetings are available via Google Meets 15 minutes before the meeting at oathorpacademy.org/lscmeeting)
2nd Wednesday of each Month except where noted.*
LSC Meeting should last around an hour and a half with suggested times below:
- Opening Roll Call – 5 Minutes
- Principal’s Report – 20 Minutes
- Cmte. Reports – 10 Minutes (per Cmte.)
- Old Business – 10 Minutes
- New Business – 10 Minutes (New business will be emailed to Chair one to two weeks before LSC Meeting)
Meetings Alternate between and Evening 5:30PM / Morning 7:30AM in the school library and at oathorpacademy.org/lscmeeting
07/14: morning
Organizational Meeting
agenda-minutes / no principal’s report
No August Meeting
09/08: evening*
Our LSC meeting was held on September 8th, 2021 at 5:30PM.
agenda – minutes / principal’s report
09/20: evening *
Our Special LSC Meeting was held on September 20th at 5:30PM.
10/13: morning*
Our LSC Meeting was held on October 13 at 7:30AM.
agenda – minutes / principal’s report
11/03: evening*
Our Special LSC Meeting was held on November 3rd at 5:30PM.
agenda – minutes / principal’s report
11/17: evening*
Our LSC Meeting was held on November 17 at 6:00PM.
agenda – minutes / principal’s report
11/29: morning*
Our Special LSC Meeting was held on November 29 at 7:15AM.
12/08: morning*
Our LSC Meeting was held on December 08 at 7:30AM.
agenda – minutes – principal’s report
01/10: morning*
Our Special LSC Meeting was held on January 10 at 7:15AM.
02/09: evening*
Our LSC Meeting was held on February 09 at 5:30PM.
agenda – minutes – principal’s report
03/09: morning*
Our LSC Meeting was held on March 09 at 7:30AM.
agenda – minutes – principal’s report
04/20: evening*
Our LSC Meeting was held on April 20 at 5:30PM.
agenda – minutes – principal’s report
05/11: morning*
Our LSC Meeting was held on May 11 at 7:30AM.
agenda – minutes – principal’s report
06/08: evening*
Our LSC Meeting was held on June 08 at 5:30PM.