Noble Network of Charter Schools

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  • Investment to Date $2.7M
  • Students Served 12,755
  • Grantee Since 2015
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About

The Noble Schools (Noble) is a catalyst for educational equity in Chicago that empowers students with the scholarship, discipline, and honor necessary to succeed in college and lead exemplary lives. Noble prepares students for long-term success by focusing on college completion and the steps necessary to attain a college degree by bringing a relentless focus on talent and improvement to rigorous and highly autonomous schools. Noble offers students consistent learning environments with high academic expectations. School culture, combined with increased instructional time from dedicated teachers, leads to improved academic performance. 

Grantee Performance

Why We Invested

The Noble Network of Charter Schools (Noble) has consistently maintained strong high school and postsecondary outcomes at significant scale. Noble ninth graders are significantly more likely to earn a college degree by age 25 than their Chicago Public Schools (CPS) peers attending schools with similar student demographics. Noble outpaces CPS on other indicators including school quality rating, freshman on-track, SAT attainment, high school graduation rate, and college enrollment and persistence. Since 2005, Noble has expanded from one school to a network of 17 campuses across Chicago.

Looking Ahead

Since taking the helm in late 2018, CEO Constance Jones has brought about significant strategic and operational improvements to chart a compelling path forward for the organization. The network has demonstrated an ongoing commitment to improving student programming and outcomes with a comprehensive and deliberate approach. Noble is focusing on creating more equitable student experiences across its network by providing additional capital and resources to its highest need campuses and developing updated policies and practices with an anti-racist approach to improve the experience of Black students. Noble is continuing efforts to increase student enrollment and retention, and projections indicate that Noble will grow to serve more than 13,000 students in the next two to four years as schools maximize capacity, more than any year prior. 

Our Impact

  • Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Leadership Development: The Noble leadership team participated in a training led by Overcoming Racism LLC to evaluate organizational policies and build the foundation for a revised Student Code of Conduct and Staff Handbook through a DEI lens. A Better Chicago covered 50% of fees. 
  • Leadership Team Development: Noble worked with the Table Group to build a more cohesive senior leadership team to drive greater alignment on organizational goals and priorities. A Better Chicago covered 50% of project costs. 
  • Executive Coaching: Several leadership team members received executive coaching to support their professional development. A Better Chicago covered 50% of fees.