HUMBOLDT PARK — The future of the arts curriculum at the Chicago High School for the Arts is getting finalized thanks to its new partnership with the Puerto Rican Arts Alliance.

ChiArts, 2714 W. Augusta Blvd, officially become a Sustainable Community School under the Chicago Public Schools’ district model earlier this month, just in time for the new school year kicking off next week.

The new partnership assuages some concerns from ChiArts teachers over the future of art programs after its transition to being managed by the district had resulted in turmoil, staff layoffs and confusion over its art classes.

The Avondale-based arts organization, which has worked with various area schools on art programs, will provide budgeting, hiring and funding support for after-school and parent programs at ChiArts.

Megan Pietz, a ChiArts English teacher and union chair of the CTU Union for Scholar Artists who worked on the application for the Sustainable Community School program, called the partnership with the Puerto Rican Arts Alliance a “lifeline” that will keep it an arts hub for students from all over the city.

“This is a real opportunity for us to become the community hub that we should be and to partner with a community organization that really embraces our community’s background and opens up programming for everyone,” Pietz said.

The entrance to the Puerto Rican Arts Alliance at 3000 N. Elbridge Ave. in Avondale is seen May 14, 2025. Credit: Ariel Parrella-Aureli/Block Club Chicago

Ignacio López, executive director of the Puerto Rican Arts Alliance, said the partnership is set to last five years and will help bring investments to students while collaborating with other community partners.

“It’s a blessing that ChiArts and the Puerto Rican Arts Alliance were given this opportunity,” López said. “We’ve been serving community schools for over six years now. We run full-service programming and learning center grants so running a sustainable community school is similar to the work that we’ve been doing.”

While the arts alliance cannot commit to replicating the full previous conservatory model at ChiArts — which had classes in theater, music, arts and dance as part of the school day — the group is exploring ways its programs can fill at least two class periods for students, specifically the 7th and 8th class block, López said.

“It may not be as long or robust, but it could be it could be a different model that’s every other day or however we’re able to accommodate that programming,” he said.

Each community school has required positions that need to be filled as part of the model, which includes a Sustainable Community School coordinator being hired by the Puerto Rican Arts Alliance and a parent coordinator and a restorative justice coordinator hired by both parties, Pietz said.

A student performance at ChiArts on April 22, 2022. Credit: ChiArts

With the ChiArts staff and parent voices at the helm, the organization is exploring adding music and arts classes — two big requests from ChiArts students — into the school day, while also having after-school programs in more art sectors, López said.

Hiring is underway for each of the positions, and the team is looking at rolling out an arts programming plan in stages, which could be implemented within 30-90 days and use art partners or teachers the school has previously worked with, he said.

Under the Sustainable Community model, some of the hiring and budget comes from the partner organization and some is shared by the school and district. This district model pairs schools with community-based organizations to provide integrated support, including health and wellness services, trauma-informed care, restorative justice practices and expanded after-school learning.

Launched in 2018 as a joint initiative between CPS and the Chicago Teachers Union, the model centers community voice and collaboration to address both academic and non-academic needs, said Evan Moore, a district spokesperson.

Three ChiArts freshman students embrace outside the Humboldt Park arts school, 2714 W. Augusta Blvd., on Oct. 3, 2025, the day after finding out the school’s art board voted not to renew its contract with CPS amid funding challenges. Credit: Ariel Parrella-Aureli/Block Club Chicago

While the partnership provides relief for the ChiArts community, questions still remain about its teaching artist staff. As it’s now a CPS school, it employs 70 staff members, which include 20 resident artists, district officials said. That’s 50 fewer teaching artists from when it previously operated as a philanthropic conservatory model, Pietz said.

“Those 20 teachers are only set to receive about half their historical pay and will only be offered to work for about approximately an hour per day because [the district] is choosing to … integrate full-time art staff that need to be licensed to teach the some of the credit-bearing arts classes, which were historically taught by the former teaching artists,” she said.

As of this week, not all of the 20 art teachers have been hired yet, Pietz said.

Staff said negotiations are ongoing to preserve positions and art classes during the afternoon class time, especially as the arts and creative fields are Chicago’s third largest economic industry, WBEZ reported in June.

“We believe that 20 resident artists will not be enough to educate our students, and we believe that in the district, there should be more arts education for all students,” Pietz said.

In recent years, ChiArts has struggled with disorganized leadership and staff turnover, budget shortfalls and layoffs that almost led to a teacher strike in 2023. The new partnership could be what the school needs to gain its footing again once staffing and schedules are final, Pietz said.