Civic leaders and families joined new CPS contract school, Academy for Global Citizenship, 5101 S. Keeler Ave., on Sept. 13, 2008, as the school flipped the switch, turning on new solar panels that will offset 75 percent of the school’s energy usage.

Academy for Global Citizenship opened Aug. 18, 2008, with 88 kindergarten and first-grade students, and the school will add one grade level each year until the school is a kindergarten- to eighth-grade building in the 2015-16 school year.

The solar panel installation is made possible by a $10,000 grant from the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation, a $10,000 grant from the Illinois Department of Economic Commerce and Opportunity, and private donations.