New Investment: Noble

Students in high poverty areas in the west and south sides of Chicago can now take advantage of a warm and safe environment to come to school and learn.

The Noble Network of Charter Schools is comprised of open-enrollment, college preparatory high schools (and one middle school) operating in the west and south sides of the city.  Schools have autonomy in carrying out academic programming but are connected through data transparency and an overarching goal to drive Network results. Noble was founded on many of the same entrepreneurial principles that have built successful businesses—strong leadership, meaningful use of data, and a high degree of accountability. In addition, Noble provides students with a disciplined, consistent learning environment that stresses high academic and behavioral expectations.

Through their culture of high expectations and efficient management, Noble has built a tremendous track record of results while achieving significant scale in Chicago.  A Better Chicago brought Noble to its portfolio because the organization is widely recognized as a leader in closing the achievement gap and putting students on a path to college completion. 

Building on this success, Noble has an ambitious plan to expand the network to reach 15% of CPS high school students in the next five years.  By 2020, the network is projected to add 6,000 high quality seats and add four new campuses, which could significantly impact Chicago’s college graduation rate.