History Labs
Students examine artifacts, investigate mysteries, take sides, test competing claims, and build transferable historical thinking skills.
ORR ACADEMY HIGH SCHOOLChicago Public Schools · Social Studies
SIGNATURE STUDENT EXPERIENCES
Students learn history
by doing history.
The most memorable learning happens when students investigate authentic questions, create something meaningful, and share their thinking with an audience.
Chicago Metro History Fair
Students choose meaningful topics, conduct authentic research, create original projects, and compete with young historians from across Chicago and Illinois.
AP U.S. History
Scholars deepen historical knowledge while mastering advanced source analysis, argumentation, writing, and academic independence.
Our City Is Our Classroom
Museum visits connect classroom learning to mummies, early human history, Roman artifacts, and art. These experiences turn the city into a place for discovery.
CHICAGO CONNECTIONS OUR CITY IS OUR CLASSROOM
Chicago is part of the curriculum.
Our students connect classroom learning to the real world at Chicago’s remarkable museums. Standing before the objects, art, and evidence they have studied makes history immediate, memorable, and meaningful.
Through partnerships with the Field Museum and the Art Institute of Chicago, scholars explore mummies and ancient Egypt, early human ancestors, Roman artifacts, and art from across cultures and centuries. Every trip is designed to enrich what happens before and after students return to class.
When students encounter history face to face, curiosity becomes deeper learning.
PROOF OF POSSIBILITY CHICAGO METRO HISTORY FAIR
Orr scholars belong on every academic stage.
Orr Academy was one of the few neighborhood schools from Chicago’s West Side to compete at the regional Chicago Metro History Fair. We then became the only West Side school to take students to the Illinois state competition.
Our students did more than attend. Their group exhibit ranked among the top 20 exhibit projects in the state.
“We believe in the greatness of our students because we know they are scholars who can compete with students from any school.”
STUDENT VOICE
At Orr, students are not spectators in their education. Their questions, identities, interests, and ideas help drive the work.
JOIN FIND YOUR PLACE AT ORR
Your future has a history.
Start writing it here.
Meet our educators and discover a rigorous community where students are known, supported, and challenged to grow.
Orr Academy High School730 N. Pulaski Road · Chicago, IL 60624Phone: (773) 534-6500PLAN YOUR VISIT →
