At Catalyst Howland, we want to help you and your scholar be prepared for success at our school and beyond! Below you can find links to online resources, downloadable forms, and other documents.
At The Catalyst Schools, academic assessment is important, and we believe our scholars' families want to know more about the academic tools being used to demonstrate academic achievement and growth. The NWEA Measures of Academic progress (MAP) and is throughout each academic year year. This link will take you to the NWEA site that hosts the NWEA Parent Toolkit in both English and Spanish.
Well-trained youth-development specialists give individual attention to youth to help them with academic achievement and social and life skills development. Following the Positive Youth Development model, the goal is to give members the tools, support, and guidance they need to reach their full potential through age-specific programs. You can contact them at 773-762-5655.
The Douglas Park Cultural Center for Learning creates community through its parks and facilities, programs, athletics, events, and more. Call Douglas Park at 773-762-2842.
The Garfield Community Service Center helps individuals and families access a wide range of resources including shelter, food and clothing, information about rental, utility support, and other financial assistance programs. In addition, the centers are staffed with case managers who are able to assess the needs of residents and refer individuals to appropriate specialized services including domestic violence assistance and job training and placement. If you need their assistance, please call them at 312-746-5400.
The National Center for Juvenile Intervention, or JISC, works with both children and parents to effectively deal with child behaviors and family reintegration. The mission of the JISC is to provide intervention and prevention services to help youth become successful members of society, while reducing the levels and seriousness of juvenile crime and juvenile recidivism. Give them a call at 312-747-3934.
Lawndale Community Christian Center, or LCCC, provides quality primary care services in the North Lawndale and Garfield Communities without regard for a patient’s ability to pay. If you are in need of medical treatment, please call them at 773-843-3000.
Mt. Sinai Hospital is home to experts in many kinds of medical care, providing a wealth of valuable resources when your child needs them. Besides offering adolescent care and health education, other services include crime victim advocacy and domestic violence advocacy. Give them a call at 773-542-2000.
Support Hotlines
A range of support hotlines is available for community residents in need of assistance. Please reference the list below.
Elder Abuse Hotline: 866-800-1409 City of Chicago Sexual Assault Hotline: 888-293-2080 Sexual Assault National Hotlin: 800-656-4673 Domestic Violence Hotline: 773-278-4566 National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 800-273-TALK (8255)
Juvenile Protection Association (JPA) collaborates with Catalyst Charter School Howland. JPA provides counseling services to scholars attending Howland. The program provides one LCSW in-house and one intern to provide individual, small group and classroom counseling. “JPA offers Howland the "Schools Project" to help children in North Lawndale reach their emotional, behavioral, cognitive and social potential”.
Juvenile Protection Association
1707 North Halsted Chicago, IL 60614 Phone: 312-440-1203 Fax: 312-698-6931
Howland is very proud to have this service available to our scholars and their families.
The Catalyst Schools collaborate with a wide variety of community partners to provide resources and opportunities to our scholars. From the arts-based organizations who participate in the Renaissance Enrichment Program to our neighbors who share their facilities, our partners are vital and appreciated members of the Catalyst family.
Black Star Project
This is a resource dedicated to parental involvement with the Parent University Initiative curriculum for educational and social enrichment.
Chicago Children’s Choir
Chicago Children’s Choir, a participant in the Renaissance Enrichment Program, works with scholars to explore the expressive qualities of music.
Countdown to College
This college preparatory initiative is developed by Saint Mary's University, Minnesota. Qualified students participate in a four summer program at the university that includes academic, sports, and recreation activities. The program familiarizes students with college life and nurtures the desire for higher education and the belief that it is attainable.
Ignatian Volunteer Corps
Catalyst Circle Rock is honored to partner with this organization, from which volunteers provide one-to-one and small group tutoring for scholars during the school day!
Dominican University
Students from Dominican University come to The Catalyst Schools to engage in service opportunities including tutoring and programmatic support.
May I Have This Dance? Ballroom Dancing
This is an ongoing workshop in ballroom dancing, in which scholars learn several dance styles including tango, salsa, and waltz ! Catalyst Howland is the defending city-wide champion from the competition held annually at the Chicago Cultural Center!
Boys and Girls Club
This is a vital partner to the Catalyst Howland community, as the organization aims too enable all young people, especially those who need us most, to reach their full potential as productive, responsible and caring citizens.
Erwin Steans Center for Community Based Service Learning
The Erwin Steans Center partners with Catalyst to bringing service learning student-volunteers to Howland Charter. These student-volunteers are assigned to classrooms, where they provide support for students and faculty.
Future Founders
The Future Founders Foundation inspires low-income youth in Chicago to explore new career opportunities. The organization offers programs to connect scholars with mentors from various professions and provide engaging project-based learning experiences for 3rd through 12th graders.
Gear-UP
Project GEAR UP is dedicated to increasing academically prepared students, empowering parents, and strengthening communities by focusing on college preparation that emphasizes academic and community excellence.
Lawndale Christian Development Corp
Lawndale Christian Development Corp provides Catalyst scholars with a range of opportunities to get involved in community projects. Examples include the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. mural project, an environmental enhancement initiative, and collaborations with other Chicago agencies focused on art.
Prevention Force Family Program
Prevention Force Family Program’s free entrepreneurial training for eighth graders allow Catalyst students to create a business plan, develop and market a product, and establish and run a business.
Ravinia
Ravinia provides music-based opportunities to K–3 students. Ravinia helps to produce a concert by our younger Howland scholars, who perform both in the school and at the Ravinia Festival along with other program participants from around Chicago.
Sinai Children’s Hospital Community Health Education
Sinai Children’s Hospital teams with Catalyst to provide asthma awareness training to children 14 and under. In addition, they offer resources for families to help them create healthy living environments, resolve rental issues involving property upkeep, and connect them to resources for other health concerns.
Tumbling 4 Success
Tumbling 4 Success gives Catalyst scholars the chance to fall down — on purpose and to a positive end! The group offers an introduction to team and individual tumbling for all ages while incorporating collaboration, team work, and discipline.
Get Involved
To learn more about opportunities for parent, volunteer and community partnerships at Catalyst Howland, please contact the school's Director of Community Outreach Charlotte Myers at 773-527-7330 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
There are numerous ways to support Catalyst Schools. Please see below for some specific ways to support our scholars, staff and school communities- thank you for your support!
Support a Catalyst staff member on Donors Choose!
Find a Catalyst teacher or project to support by clicking on the link below:
Support Catalyst by shopping at Amazon Smile!
Choose Catalyst as your favorite organization when shopping on Amazon Smile and our organization will receive 0.5% of your purchase costs!
Volunteer:
Volunteers make a real difference at Catalyst Schools. Not only do volunteers help us provide necessary services to our scholars, they also expand the range of role models and supporters that our scholars can turn to.
A Wednesday Journal article highlighting the incredible impact of our volunteer Literacy Brigade at the Catalyst Circle Rock campus can be found at this link.
Volunteer opportunities include one-on-one tutoring, staffing extra-curricular or community outreach activities, or providing assistance with school related programs during the day. If you would like to volunteer, please send an email with your contact information and your area of interest and Catalyst campus to our team at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Please join our efforts as a champion for changing lives at The Catalyst Schools. If you would like to speak with a Catalyst staff member about your donation, please call us at 773-295-7001.
