The organization was founded by Kim Day and Diana Shulla-Cose, two teachers at Chicago's Dyett Middle School.
[1] In 1993, Day and Shulla-Cose established their own small school within Dyett.
They chose the name "Perspectives" to reflect their hope of changing the way their students saw themselves and the world.
[2] In 1997, Perspectives became one of the first charter schools in Illinois.
The five current Perspectives schools are as follows:[4] Professional basketball player Anthony Davis attended the Joslin campus.