Meet ChiS&E
MISSION
The Chicago Pre-College Science & Engineering Program (ChiS&E) is a national leader in K-12 STEM education. Activating students’ natural curiosity and wonder by engaging them early on with the building blocks of math and science, teacher-parent mentoring and active listening. Its extracurricular and experiential math-based program partners with world-class instructors, universities and research laboratories. Students learn what it takes to become scientists and engineers.
ChiS&E’s parent-as-coach model succeeds because it involves parents as partners in their child’s success. Program partners include top institutions such as the University of Illinois, the University of Chicago, Argonne National Laboratory, Fermilab, as well as school teachers and principals. Because of the robust environment ChiS&E creates, program graduates have gone on to prestigious universities, including Yale, University of Illinois, Purdue and Howard. They are nuclear engineers, doctors and tech innovators who see our world – and themselves – in a whole new way.
ChiS&E is a training ground for Chicagoland’s — and the world’s – future innovators.
VISION
The Chicago Pre-College Science & Engineering Program (ChiS&E) envisions future generations of math-fluent Chicagoland leaders accelerating local growth and global scientific advancement. They will take on rewarding careers in science, technology and engineering, with a mastery of the global language of mathematics. These future leaders will use logic and compassion as they collaborate with others from around the world to build a sustainable and just future.
80% of ChiS&E Students choose STEM Majors!
Mathematics
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Computer science
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Engineering
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Science
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Mathematics * Computer science * Engineering * Science *
Kenneth Hill,
CEO & President
ChiS&E
President & CEO
Chicago native Kenneth Hill is President & CEO of the Chicago Pre-College Science and Engineering Program, Inc. (ChiS&E), which he founded in 2008.
ChiS&E is based on the very successfulDetroit Area Pre-College Engineering Program, which founded in 1976. It serves close to 400 K – 8 students from more than 40 Chicago schools.
With initial support from Chase Bank Foundation and the National Science Foundation. ChiS&E began serving students in first grade in 2009, added grade K the following spring, and has added a grade each year. ChiS&E’s mission is to increase the number of historically underrepresented minority students (African American and Latino) who are motivated and academically prepared to pursue science, technology, engineering, and mathematics related careers.
He is a graduate of Howard University with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering and Wayne State University with a Master of Arts in Mathematics Education.
Board of Directors
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Kenneth Hill
President & CEO
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Ajamu Baker
Engineering Consultant
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Mayisha Ealey
Chemours
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John Gavin
Attorney (Retired)
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Greg Darnieder
US Department of Education Board Member Emeritus
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Rahman Henderson
United Airlines
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Barbara Bennett
Parent
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Crystal Gallegos
Parent
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Katherine Volt (Retired)
Chicago Public Schools
Why ChiS&E Works
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Students build early confidence through visual models, math storytelling, and hands-on experiments. Parents are active partners—learning, supporting, and celebrating progress together.
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Students take on more independence, working through complex geometry, structural reasoning, and formal algebra foundations. They're building bridges—literally and conceptually.
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Students apply knowledge across disciplines: algebra powers physics simulations, coding supports design challenges, and teamwork becomes second nature.
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It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
How ChiS&E Works
Mastery of computer science topics soared during a recent 4-week session.
At the beginning of the session, 10% of students graded very highly on tests. By the end of the session, 85% graded very highly.
Why Math First?
Math is not just another subject.
It’s the foundation every scientist, engineer, doctor and innovator stands on.
Every discovery in science, every breakthrough in technology, begins with math.
Before you can design a rocket, you have to calculate a trajectory.
Before you can build a bridge, you have to understand force and balance.
Before you can decode DNA, you have to know how patterns and probabilities work.
Math is the language that opens up every other possibility.
That’s why ChiS&E starts early, introducing algebra in kindergarten when children are still wide open to thinking big.
They learn to see how numbers, patterns and problems fit together to build something bigger. Memorization doesn’t help much here.
Because when a child masters math early, they don’t just get better grades.
They learn how to think systematically, solve creatively and build confidently.
ChiS&E grows that thinking year after year.
By the time our students reach high school, they’re not just ready for college-level work. They’re already thinking like scientists, engineers, coders and creators.
The future doesn’t wait. It’s built by those who can read its blueprint.
And math is the blueprint.
Math isn’t just preparation for science — it makes science possible. Without it, biology is memorization, engineering is guesswork, and coding is chaos.
ChiS&E Is Different.
Here’s Why.
Algebra in Kindergarten
We believe in meeting kids where they are—and then challenging them. That’s why we introduce algebra concepts as early as kindergarten. When you treat five-year-olds like problem-solvers, they rise to meet the challenge. Confidence in math shouldn’t be delayed—it should be built in from the start.
A Curriculum That Grows With Them
Our program builds year after year—not just in content, but in depth and complexity. Instead of repeating the same concepts, students move forward with real clarity and momentum.
Parents Are Part of the Process
You’ll never be left wondering how to help your child thrive. In the early years, you’ll be in the room, learning alongside them—so you can support their growth every step of the way.
Thinking, Speaking, Building
We don’t just teach students to get the right answer—we teach them to explain their thinking, collaborate with peers, and take on the next challenge with confidence. These are skills that last far beyond the classroom.
Prepared for College, Connected to Careers
By high school, your child won’t just be dreaming about the future—they’ll be preparing for it. With mentorships, mock interviews, and career exposure, they’ll have a plan—and people to help them make it real.
“ChiS&E catches the imagination of young people to the potential of math and science as tools for building their dreams by developing their skills to act in the world as professionals, doctors, engineers, scientists and computer scientists. It gives them the power of choice.”
Parents
ChiS&E works in partnership with Chicago Public Schools and currently focuses on the Chicago communities of North Lawndale, Little Village, Englewood, Bronzeville, and Woodlawn. The inaugural schools in the program were John J. Pershing East Magnet, Eli Whitney Elementary, Dvorak Technology Academy, Sir Miles Davis Magnet Academy, Wells Preparatory Elementary Academy, Spencer Elementary Math & Science Academy, and Woodlawn Elementary Community School. Today, ChiS&E serves parents and students in more than 50 Chicago Public Schools.
As co-learners with their children, parents are critical to the success of the program. Parents attend two orientation sessions to better understand their multi-year commitment to participate in the program. Parent training is designed to enhance their science and technology awareness alongside their children. Using digital technology, parents document their experiences and share them with students’ classrooms and with their families and communities. In addition, the family support team, made up of professionals from the fields of psychology, counseling, and social work, provide parent training and support.
ChiS&E’s Partners
Schools
ChiS&E teachers must be both certified and highly qualified, with a record of good attendance. Teachers must be creative, flexible, dedicated, highly motivated and able to demonstrate knowledge and application of best practices in teaching science to both children and adults.
The teacher training component prepares instructors to deliver quality program instruction. Teachers and administrators with experience in the DAPCEP program designed and implemented the initial ChiS&E teacher training in Chicago. Teachers participated in 90 hours of professional development during two summer sessions and two school years. They are trained on the program and activity-based focus, and on the specific activities for the fall and spring Saturday program. They continue to develop and refine the curriculum.
The Conductivity of Ideas: Ideas are electric they spark – Children transform from a glassy eyed internal gaze to the hair prickling on their skin, like electricity, with the power of being heard by a teacher, friend, parent who facilitates their insight into their own psyche and world of ideas. ChiS&E feeds energy to children’s innate sense of wonder. The universe of ideas lies inside the minds of our children. Our job is to send a jolt, stimulate, spark and excite children to recognize that inner world, their imagination, to see themselves and their own ability to think, act and create in the world.
