Catalyst Circle Rock Charter School 

 

Catalyst Circle Rock is more than just a school; it is a vibrant, dynamic community committed to fostering the growth and development of the whole child. Located in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood, we serve Kindergarten through 8th Grade scholars, providing an inclusive, culturally rich environment where each student feels valued, empowered, and ready to succeed.

At Catalyst Circle Rock, we understand that education is not just about academic achievement—it’s about preparing students to be well-rounded, confident individuals who will go on to become change agents for their communities and the world. Our mission is guided by the principle of “Teaching minds and touching hearts,” and we are intentional about how our school looks, feels, and sounds.

We pride ourselves on creating a school culture where scholars celebrate who they are and take pride in their cultural heritage. We provide opportunities for students to explore both "windows" and "mirrors"—the opportunity to learn about themselves and the world around them. This approach allows our students to see their own experiences reflected in what they learn, while also broadening their understanding of others' perspectives.

Our school theme, “One Team, One Goal,” reflects our collective commitment to working together—staff, scholars, and families—to achieve excellence. At Catalyst Circle Rock, we treat our community like family, ensuring that everyone feels welcomed and valued. We aim to develop leaders, thinkers, and innovators, and our work is rooted in the belief that when we come together as one team, we can accomplish anything.

We are proud to say that 100% of Catalyst Circle Rock graduates of high school age are enrolled and on track to graduate from high school. Our Graduate Support program is an essential component of our mission, ensuring that scholars not only have the academic tools but also the social-emotional tools they need to succeed in high school, college, and beyond.

At Catalyst Circle Rock, we don’t just teach—we nurture, support, and challenge our students to reach their fullest potential. We are dedicated to creating a school community that celebrates diversity, fosters pride, and provides the foundation for a lifetime of success. Together, we work to develop the whole child, ensuring that every scholar who walks through our doors leaves prepared to change the world.

 

 

Our Mission

 

Catalyst Schools holistically educate the young men and women entrusted to its care by a school community committed to teaching minds and touching hearts. We envision a life of meaning and purpose for all people in a world that is just and peaceful.

●        We are committed to these cultural values that shape our identity and form our scholars:

●        We show profound reverence for each scholar as a unique person

●        We foster respectful relationships and build community

●        We have high expectations of ourselves and each other, hold ourselves accountable, and deliver high results

●        We treat each other the way we want to be treated

●        We promote justice and peace

●        We serve children living in communities challenged by the effects of discrimination and economic poverty. We understand that each of the communities in which we serve have incredible gifts and whose assets, culture, and heritage hold the promise of a great future.

 Catalyst helps unlock the gift that is within each child by addressing the whole child: academic, social-emotional, physical and psychological. We value family because home is the context in which each child grows and develops. Parental involvement in the school is welcome, encouraged, and needed for a child to achieve full potential. 

 

 

Our Core Values

 

REVERENCE and RESPECT for each student as a unique person is critical to Catalyst’s success. We foster respectful relationships as a key to building a mutually supportive community that sets high expectations and demands mutual responsibility. The GOLDEN RULE is the foundation at the Catalyst Schools. By internalizing the demand of the Golden Rule, that we treat one another as we would like to be treated, we unite to promote justice and peace. As such, we have four core values that guide our work:

●        Relationship:  The heart of the Catalyst Schools is the bond, both professional and personal, that we build with one another among staff and with our students and their parents.  No teaching or learning will take place unless teachers are able to forge positive and appropriate relationships with their students and the parents who entrust their children to our care.  Positive, healthy, and appropriate relationship is the source of change.  The trust and love of a student for his or her teacher unleashes the behaviors that lead to success.

●        Rigor:  All faculty and staff are called to dedication and commitment for the well-being of the children we serve.  This includes high academic standards, a consistent and healthy culture of peace and calm throughout the school, a discipline code that is a teaching tool, and respect for each person’s talents, skills, and unique gifts.  Students are brought to higher levels of functioning and thinking through a no-nonsense academic program built on solid research.

●        Results:  100% of Catalyst elementary school graduates will be accepted by and enrolled in high schools with a proven track record of college placement and a mission that is compatible with Catalyst’s vision.  Other desired outcomes include superior teaching evidenced by excellent growth and attainment outcomes as measured by the NWEA; a healthy, vibrant, and diverse school community; student understanding and adoption of right relationships; a relationship with the larger community that emphasizes the school as a community asset; Catalyst school graduates will go on to college or receive the required preparation for a satisfying and life-sustaining career within five years of their eighth grade graduation.

●        Hope:  Catalyst pushes students beyond their perceived capacity so they discover they are capable of much more than they thought.  We raise expectations, set the bar high, and help our scholars succeed in their academic work, their personal socio-emotional development, and in what they come to believe they can be in life.  Education is at the service of human dignity and the freedom every person desires.  Catalyst is a vehicle through which those can be enhanced and attained.  Every student can and will learn and become a productive and positive agent for change in Chicago neighborhoods traditionally impacted by economic poverty, the greater Chicago area, the State of Illinois and the larger world community.

 

 

Our Virtues 

 

As a Lasallian school, we seek to exemplify the 12 virtues of a teacher in all our interactions with our school community.

●        GRAVITY seriousness, establish good order and classroom management

●        SILENCE speak when necessary, know what is important and what is not

●        PRUDENCE choose appropriate means to achieve a worthy goal

●        HUMILITY realize we have nothing that has not been given to us and we are called to share for the sake of others

●        WISDOM a deep understanding of what is worthy of our effort

●        PATIENCE peaceful possession of our very self – self-control – right perspective

●        RESERVE think, speak, and act with moderation, discretion, and modesty.

●        GENTLENESS goodness, tenderness, sensitivity – right relationship

●        ZEAL go the extra mile, do what is needed for the child’s success

●        VIGILANCE diligence in all of our duties, being accountable for the stewardship that has been entrusted to us

●        REVERENCE examine and be comfortable with the deepest parts of our very self and our relationship with the rest of creation and our understanding of life itself

●        GENEROSITY sacrifice our personal interests to those of our neighbor and those in need. It comes from awareness that we are not the center of the universe.

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