National Louis University (NLU) is launching the second year of a community partnership, called the Chicago Urban Teaching Academy Program (CUTAP) with Wells Community Academy High School. The CUTAP is a first-of-its-kind program in Chicago that gives high school students a taste of the teaching profession before they enter college.

CUTAP exposes Wells Community Academy High School students who are interested in a career in post-secondary education to a rigorous, college-preparatory curriculum, which NLU helps to develop. Students also receive a first-hand look at a career as an educator, as they tutor and mentor elementary school students (K-8), and receive guidance from the elementary school teachers – all of which takes place after approximately 15 weeks of classroom instruction.

CUTAP students meet every school day for approximately two hours.

NLU, that is celebrating its 125-year anniversary,  has always been a pioneer in the field of education.  Its founder Elizabeth Harrison, in 1886, took the idea of early childhood education and built around it one of the first four-year colleges for teachers.