UNO Rowing

UNO Rowing is run in partnership with Chicago Training Center. Our practices run throughout the year with a focus on scholastic only training for the Spring Season. Additional paperwork and oversight is required to join the UNO team and you must be a member of the school. Please visit “I want to join” section of the website to sign up.

The UNO progam is overseen by Mr. Matthew Smith (UNO Athletic Director), Mrs. Josephine Gomez (UNO Principal), and Mrs. Heather Smith (in school teacher liaison). If you have any questions that are not answered by this website please direct questions to them or send a general email to the chat window at the bottom.

Major Hector P. Garcia M.D. Charter High School

Chicago's Archer Heights community welcomed the UNO Veterans Memorial Charter School Campus, which opened in Fall 2008. It includes two elementary schools, each of which has an enrollment of 600 students, and UNO’s only high school, which opened its doors with a freshman class of 150 students and has a capacity of 600 students. For the 2010 - 2011 school year, 436 students are enrolled in the school’s freshman - junior classes.

UNO CHARTER SCHOOLS

With the power and experience to enact widespread change, we opened our first charter school, located at two sites in Greater Tri-Taylor and Little Village, in 1998. UNO believed then, as it still does, that schools are the “vehicle” in communities that can drive the dreams of opportunities and success, and makes them come true for the children of local families and generations to come.

UNO manages nine charter schools in Chicago, making it the second-largest charter holder and the largest direct-service charter school management firm in Illinois, as well as one of the nation’s largest Hispanic-based charter managers. By the 2016-2017 school year, UNO expects to operate 19 schools and educate and serve more than 6,200 students and their families to close a widening gap in the public school system’s ability to serve the Hispanic community.

UNO’S EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY

UNO’s mission is to fulfill the promise of public education by proving that all children can achieve academic success, regardless of their income level or ethnicity. UNO chooses to open enrollment at its schools at full capacity from the first day of school, with full classes in grades K-8 and one high school in grades 9-11.

UNO’s approach challenges charter school “best practices” and demonstrates that all children can learn while building a culture of high academic expectations for younger students. With a “no excuses” approach to public education, the UNO educational philosophy has a 10-year record of success that emphasizes:

• Effective Management
• High Expectations
• Organizational Structures that Support and Challenge All Staff
• Parental Involvement
• Rigorous Curriculum, Structure and Discipline

UNO seeks to redefine the culture of public education, especially in urban settings among Hispanic and African-American students. Too often, inner-city schools are satisfied attaining the low standards that many administrators and society have set for them.

To change this scenario, UNO maintains structured learning environments focused on clear goals and standards. This philosophy applies not only to students, but to all faculty and staff, all of whom are held to the highest levels of performance and accountability. At UNO Charter Schools academic success is not a hope, it is an expectation.