Jones will soon have a Student Voice Committee intended to create a link between the student body and administration as early as the second semester of the 2023-2024 school year.

“The SVC is recognized by CPS, and because of that there is a guidance for a voice committee in the first place,” said social science teacher Sarah Lee. “That gives them more power and more stake when they do come to administration to voice the issues students are facing.”

Committees have five to thirty members and work through a facilitator to have conversations with school administrators.

“The SVC is really focused on having a direct relationship between students and admin,” said Naomi Glanton ‘25, who is working with Lee on developing the committee. “We’re focusing on really bringing together students of all backgrounds, students with bad grades and good grades, students of all ethnic and racial backgrounds.”

Leader of Jones’ CPS Reform, Aid, and Advocacy Society, Evelyn Ronan ‘24, said it’s important to remember that SVCs have proven successful tools for change at other high schools.

“A lot of schools…have taken a lot of suggestions from their student voice committees as to how to handle IEPs and 504s, how to handle public fights, or to what extent admin should be involved in disciplinary action,” said Ronan.

Jones will soon join those schools in an effort to foster better relationships between administrators and students.

“Selective enrollment schools are not the models for administrative planning and disciplinary action,” said Ronan. “Having an SVC at Jones…is recognizing that other non-selective enrollments have done it better first and modeling it off of them.”

Another thing that sets SVCs apart from student government associations is that they lack the barriers to access that come with many student governments.

“One of the things that especially drew me to the SVC is that it represents underrepresented students,” said Lee. “Black students, queer students, Latino students…students who have never had straight A’s, students who have had issues with admin, they’re all allowed on student voice committees, because their voices matter.”

A current member of the Student Government Association, Emet Shifrin, is also looking to help start the SVC.

“We’re a liaison of sorts,” said Shifrin. “It’s a place for students to go to make sure their voices are heard and a place for admin to go to hear student’s voices.”

Students can come to the committee with concerns, different from a normal club.

“It’s not like you join SVC like a club, so we’re more of an outlet of sorts,” said Shifrin.

Jones’ multiple affinity groups might have a role to play on the SVC as well.

“We have a lot of affinity groups, and they are kind of forced to stay in their bubble with their own activities,” said Ronan. “I think representatives from the different affinity groups would make a great addition to the SVC.”

Lee chose to lead SVC because of their goals to foster student self-advocacy.

“I’ve always very much cared about SEL and for students advocating for themselves, and being part of the CIWP and as a younger teacher, I felt I was the best fit,” said Lee.

Students say as the relationship between school administration and the student body at Jones has eroded over recent years, an SVC could help heal the wound.

“I think over the past few years the whole ethos of ‘We don’t really care what you think’ has been so ingrained in the student body that no one wants to participate anyway,” said Ronan. “So I think that this is a really good way to get people back in on it.”

The committee could play an important role in elevating the ideas, opinions, and thoughts of students as soon as the start of the second semester, though the current time frame could change.

“People feel so discouraged when they come to admin about literally anything,” said Ronan. “There’s more than one kind of kid at Jones, and I think that’s sort of been neglected.”

“It’s really cool because students are stakeholders and we often don’t have those spaces or avenues for students to be able to voice issues and come to the table to discuss the problems that they’re facing,” said Lee.