Two Chicago Public Schools’ Departments Update Names

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CHICAGO-Chicago Public Schools Wednesday announced two central office departments are now operating under new names. The Office of Diverse Learner Supports and Services has been updated to the Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD) and the Office of Language and Cultural Education is now the Office of Multicultural-Multilingual Education (OMME). Both name changes are intended to more accurately reflect the student population the respective departments serve and clearly identify the provided programming, support, and services. The new names will be noted during Thursday's monthly Board of Education meeting.

The OSD name change follows months of community engagement with the Special Education Advisory Committee, which includes families, students, and staff. In addition to accurately reflecting the population the department serves, the new OSD department name helps combat the stigma often associated with disability, raises the profile of students with disabilities, embraces an inclusive culture to promote students with disabilities to feel a sense of belonging in our schools, and provides clarity for families new to CPS or new to special education that there is a team to support and advocate for all students with disabilities.

"I want to acknowledge the thoughtful contribution and collaboration of the Board's Special Education Advisory Committee, and, specifically, the working group tasked with addressing the culture of Special Education within CPS," said Board of Education Member Mary Fahey Hughes, who also serves as chair of the advisory committee. "I also want to commend OSD Chief (Josh) Long, who took the working group's recommendation, got feedback from stakeholders, and ran with it."

OMME's name change also follows community engagement with the Chicago Multilingual Parent Council. OMME's new name reflects the Office's vision of offering multiple pathways for all students to become proficient in English and other languages, embracing multilingualism and multiculturalism, and providing all students with access to the personal, academic, and socio-economic advantages of multilingualism. Most importantly, OMME's name change emphasizes the District's commitment to diversity, and the more than 190 cited home languages listed by CPS students and their families.

"Our office is focused on providing multilingual education for all students," said Karime Asaf, Chief of the Office of Multicultural-Multilingual Education. "We are committed to offering robust pathways where our English language learners become proficient in English and our non-English language learners are proficient in a world language by the completion of high school."

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About Chicago Public Schools (CPS)

Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is dedicated to providing a high-quality education to all students, beginning with the District's free full-day preschool programming for four-year-old scholars and continuing through neighborhood, magnet, and selective-enrollment elementary schools that provide a rigorous K-8 education with schools that specialize in the fine arts, world language and culture, dual language, STEM, International Baccalaureate (IB), classical programs, and more. The rising District-wide freshmen-on-track and high school graduation rates reflect the hard work of the CPS community, including families, staff, and students across 635 schools. CPS celebrates the diversity of its more than 322,000 students, who cite more than 190 home languages. Learn more about CPS at www.cps.edu and connect with CPS on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.