General Information
Purpose and History
The O.A. Thorp Academy Local School Council (LSC) serves as the policy-making body of the school. LSCs have remained an important vehicle for participatory democracy, allowing not only educators but parents the opportunity to make important decisions about how their children will be educated in Chicago. It is through these decisions that parents are connected with educators to better align family and community engagement goals to student achievement; community members to help leverage community resources for the school; and other parents to share best practices and success stories.
LSC membership is a reflection of engaged and empowered parent, community, student, and educational leaders. It is through LSCs that parents are given a unique opportunity to have a voice in the decision-making table and engage in student-driven dialogue with community members, educators, students, and other parents.
Chicago Public Schools have Local School Councils (LSC) which are responsible for three main duties:
The Local School Council (LSC) has three main responsibilities:
- To select and evaluate the principal
- To develop and approve a Continuous Improvement Work Plan (“CIWP“)
- To develop and approve a school-based budget with control over flexible funds provided by the state.
Traditional Local School Councils consist of the following members:
- 6 parents
- 2 community members
- 2 teachers
- 1 non-teacher staff
- school’s principal
- non-voting student representative (Thorp Student Council President)
| Jennifer Alper – T |
| Vincent Coughlin – T |
| Kristine Limanni – N |
| Diana Bonete – C |
| Dave Feller – C |
| Matthew Capozzoli – P |
| Tiffany Cotton – P |
| Joel Paulraj – P |
| Ryan Richter – P |
| Gary Stanton – P |
| Kinga Witek – P |
| Efren Toledo – Principal |
| T – Teacher P – Parent C – Community N – Non-Teacher Staff |
2025-26 Meetings
(All LSC Meetings are available via Google Meets 15 minutes before the meeting a oathorpacademy.org/lscmeeting)
2nd Wednesday of each Month except where noted.*
LSC Meeting should last around an hour and a half with suggested times below:
- Opening Roll Call – 5 Minutes
- Principal’s Report – 20 Minutes
- Cmte. Reports – 10 Minutes (per Cmte.)
- Old Business – 10 Minutes
- New Business – 10 Minutes (New business will be emailed to Chair one to two weeks before LSC Meeting)
Meetings Alternate between Evening 6:00PM / Morning 7:00AM in the school library and at oathorpacademy.org/lscmeeting
Scheduled Parent Meetings: LSC Meetings are generally the 2nd Wednesday of each month at 6:00PM.
(Meeting Dates for the 2025-26 School Year: 9/10, 10/08, 11/12, 12/10, 2/11, 3/11, 4/08, 5/13,) Meetings.
07/20: Organizational Meeting
agenda-minutes / no principal’s report
09/10/2025
agenda-minutes/principal’s report
10/08/2025
agenda-minutes/principal’s report
11/12/2025
agenda-minutes/principal’s report
12/10/25
agenda-minutes/principal’s report
02/11/26
agenda-minutes/principal’s report
02/25/26
LSC Candidate Forum
03/11/2026
agenda-minutes/principal’s report
03/18/2026
LSC Elections 8:00AM to 7:00PM
04/08/2026
agenda-minutes/principal’s report
05/13/2026
agenda-minutes/principal’s report
2024-25 Meetings
(All LSC Meetings are available via Google Meets 15 minutes before the meeting a oathorpacademy.org/lscmeeting)
2nd Wednesday of each Month except where noted.*
LSC Meeting should last around an hour and a half with suggested times below:
- Opening Roll Call – 5 Minutes
- Principal’s Report – 20 Minutes
- Cmte. Reports – 10 Minutes (per Cmte.)
- Old Business – 10 Minutes
- New Business – 10 Minutes (New business will be emailed to Chair one to two weeks before LSC Meeting)
Meetings Alternate between Evening 6:00PM / Morning 7:00AM in the school library and at oathorpacademy.org/lscmeeting
Scheduled Parent Meetings: LSC Meetings are generally the 2nd Wednesday of each month at 5:30PM or at 7:00AM.
(Meeting Dates for the 2022-23 School Year: 9/14, 10/12*, 11/9, 12/14*, 2/8, 3/8*, 4/12, 5/10*, 6/14) Dates marked with an (*) are 7:00AM Meetings.
07/20: Organizational Meeting
agenda-minutes / no principal’s report
09/14: evening
agenda-minutes/principal’s report
10/12: morning
agenda-minutes/principal’s report
11/09 evening
agenda-minutes/principal’s report
12/14 morning
agenda-minutes/principal’s report
02/15 morning
agenda-minutes/principal’s report
03/08 evening
agenda-minutes/principal’s report
04/12 morning
agenda-minutes/principal’s report
05/10 evening
agenda-minutes/principal’s report
2023-24 Meetings
(All LSC Meetings are available via Google Meets 15 minutes before the meeting a oathorpacademy.org/lscmeeting)
2nd Wednesday of each Month except where noted.*
LSC Meeting should last around an hour and a half with suggested times below:
- Opening Roll Call – 5 Minutes
- Principal’s Report – 20 Minutes
- Cmte. Reports – 10 Minutes (per Cmte.)
- Old Business – 10 Minutes
- New Business – 10 Minutes (New business will be emailed to Chair one to two weeks before LSC Meeting)
Meetings Alternate between Evening 6:00PM / Morning 7:00AM in the school library and at oathorpacademy.org/lscmeeting
Scheduled Parent Meetings: LSC Meetings are generally the 2nd Wednesday of each month at 5:30PM or at 7:00AM.
(Meeting Dates for the 2022-23 School Year: 9/14, 10/12*, 11/9, 12/14*, 2/8, 3/8*, 4/12, 5/10*, 6/14) Dates marked with an (*) are 7:00AM Meetings.
07/20: Organizational Meeting
agenda-minutes / no principal’s report
09/14: evening
agenda-minutes/principal’s report
10/12: morning
agenda-minutes/principal’s report
11/09 evening
agenda-minutes/principal’s report
12/14 morning
agenda-minutes/principal’s report
02/15 morning
agenda-minutes/principal’s report
03/08 evening
agenda-minutes/principal’s report
04/12 morning
agenda-minutes/principal’s report
05/10 evening
agenda-minutes/principal’s report