The new year will bring a bevy of changes to the School District U46 community.
Chief among them is a plan approved by the school board last month that will change the sprawling district’s boundaries, relocating 605 elementary students to new schools in the process this fall.
It is the district’s first boundary realignment since 2004. A Citizens’ Advisory Council assessment of the district’s middle and high schools is also expected to commence this year.
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The changes will mostly affect Lincoln Elementary families, with 246 of the 605 relocated students coming from that school.
Fifth graders in the affected areas will be allowed to stay at their olds schools for the 2016-2017 year.
A primary rationale behind the boundary changes was to allow for the implementation of full-day Kindergarten during the 2016-17 school year.
The final fate of that plan may come before the board in a few weeks, when members will vote on funding and building additions for the full-day Kindergarten program.
Documents on the district’s website state the plan could come before the board this month, and that the district believes it can extend kindergarten to six hours a day under the current tax levy.
While U46 may incur some additional costs, those should be minimized via reductions in other areas, according to the documents.
“For example, transportation costs would be reduced because the district would no longer have to operate midday buses to take kindergartners home from the half-day program,” according to the district website.
The full-day kindergarten will not be mandatory, according to the district. By law, districts must offer a half-day option to parents as well.
About 80 percent of Illinois schools already offer full-day kindergarten, according to the district.
“The extra instructional time available in a full-day program is especially important for children who come from non-English speaking homes,” according to the district. “(Full-day kindergarten) can be critical in providing the foundation in language skills that all students need to be successful.”
The new calendar year will also see a rolling out of new U46 science instruction when the next school year begins.
The Next Generation Science Standards have been in development across 26 states to move science beyond textbooks and into more engaging, real-world experiences, according to the district, with the hopes of better preparing students for the rigors of college and a competitive, global workforce.
“Early implementers” tested the new curriculum in their classrooms during the 2015-16 school year, according to the district.
Those early implementers will coach and mentor colleagues across eh district when the new curriculum fully rolls out this fall.
Much has been made in recent years of American students lagging behind their foreign peers when it comes to aptitude in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math scores, collectively known as STEM.
American 15-year-olds ranked 27th in science scores compared to other countries in a 2012 cross-national student assessment, according to the Pew Research Center.
“We want kids doing science — actually doing the things that scientists and engineers do,” Marc Hans, district coordinator of K-12 science, said in a statement. “All research points to the need for increased hands-on experience in order to be college and career ready.”
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