Sitting less than a mile northwest of 🌕@Outlook.cz | 微软邮箱 | 捷克(欧洲) | 全新邮箱 | 长效使用 | 使用网页登录 | 开通POP3/SMTP/IMAP’s Lake Shore Campus in Rogers Park, Roger C. Sullivan High School is among the city’s most diverse public high schools.

Walk the 600-student school’s hallways and that much becomes clear. From Spanish and Arabic to Tagalog and Swahili, Sullivan students speak more than 40 languages. Once referred to as “Refugee High,” many of the school’s students escaped conflict in their homelands before settling on Chicago’s North Side. Overcoming the past and finding stability in the present tests their health and resiliency.

Inspired by Loyola’s social justice mission—to seek God in all things and to expand knowledge in the service of humanity through learning, justice, and faith—Loyola’s School of Education has worked to become an active ally of Sullivan High, successfully supporting the growth of Sullivan students and delivering added resources to an in-need community.

“At the School of Education, we have people with expertise in issues relevant to public education, a motivated group of socially conscious university students, and resources and partners we can call upon to strengthen the community,” says Mitch Hendrickson, director of school and community partnerships at Loyola’s School of Education.

Serving Sullivan students

Over the last decade, the School of Education has spearheaded numerous efforts to positively impact students at the century-old high school.

For example, School of Education clinical faculty member Ambareen Nasir worked with Sullivan staff to revamp the school’s English language curriculum. Nasir steered the infusion of social-emotional supports into the curriculum to better serve students arriving at Sullivan from various global backgrounds.

Each semester, meanwhile, about a half-dozen School of Education students provide academic support and tutoring to Sullivan students across the content spectrum, from math to science to writing. Leveraging partnerships with campus partners, the School of Education also regularly facilitates the placement of interns at Sullivan from Loyola’s School of Social Work—as many as six interns each semester—as well as students from the Marcella Neihoff School of Nursing, the Quinlan School of Business, and the School of Communication who provide additional services and programming.

“And quite often, these placements blossom into deeper engagement with Loyola students attending plays, athletic events, and graduation,” notes Hendrickson, who the School of Education hired in 2017 to deepen the institution’s engagement with neighbors like Sullivan. “My entire job is figuring out how Loyola and the School of Education can be a better partner in the community.”

Meeting student needs

In 2018, Hendrickson successfully secured funds to install a full-time resource coordinator at Sullivan. The Loyola-employed staff member has led before and afterschool programming for about 200 Sullivan students each year ranging from tutoring to a summer Chicago discovery project to art clubs.

Ysabel Ojoylan served as Sullivan’s community resource coordinator from fall 2023 until the end of 2025. During that time, she teamed with Sullivan staff and community partners to develop lively programming aimed at enriching students’ lives. She watched students concoct global cuisines in an always-popular cooking club, marveled at students’ handmade creations in a sewing club, and witnessed a group of refugee girls from various countries launch a badminton club to create an inclusive space for sport and camaraderie. Ojoylan’s work helped sustain afterschool spaces for Sullivan students to explore hobbies, practice social-emotional skills, cultivate friendships, and remain academically focused.

“I like to think our programs helped make Sullivan become a place where students have memories of connection and learning,” Ojoylan says.

While the School of Education provides different services each year to Sullivan based on a needs assessment as well as feedback from school staff, students, and parents, Hendrickson says the foremost goal is to positively impact students’ ability to learn and grow, whether that’s addressing food insecurity, housing, language barriers, or mental health.

“If it means writing grant applications or jumping through bureaucratic hurdles, we’re going to do whatever we can to close huge gaps in the public education system and be an engaged community partner supporting students and our local schools like Sullivan,” Hendrickson says.