3 Education Articles to Read Right Now

3 Education Articles to Read Right Now
​

Distinctive Schools teachers and staff are #ALLin the 2018-19 school year, whether they’re driving student achievement in the classroom, attending professional development sessions and conferences, or connecting with our school communities and partnerships.

So, dive in and discover what Distinctive Schools teachers and staff are up to in the following three articles. You will learn how Chicago International Charter (CICS) Bucktown is scaling personalized learning, how school leaders are ideating and collaborating in design sessions, and find out more about innovative technology initiatives at CICS Prairie.​

1.

Back to School in Bucktown
by The Chicago Public Education Fund

Sarah O’Connell is entering her third year as director at Chicago International Charter School (CICS) Bucktown, managed by Distinctive Schools. . . Sarah’s biggest push as school director has been towards personalized learning. This encompasses everything from training teachers to creating flexible learning environments. “Our classrooms aren’t always desks in rows,” Sarah says of the model; “teachers design the classrooms to fit the needs of the students.” She adds that the ability to dive into students’ individual needs has helped build relationships across the campus, contributing to CICS Bucktown’s “positive and collaborative” climate.

Learn more about Sarah, and how CICS Bucktown is scaling personalized learning this school year, in The Chicago Public Education Fund’s article Back to School in Bucktown.

2.

Dreaming of an 11-Star Experience to Build a 7-Star Experience
by Jin-Soo Huh, Executive Director of Academic Innovation at Distinctive Schools, Education Week

What kind of school learning environments and experiences would be so compelling that everyone who was a part of it wouldn’t just enjoy it, but be compelled to tell others  about the experience? The leadership of Chicago International Charter School (CICS) CICS Bucktown and CICS Prairie, managed by Distinctive Schools, met during the summer to dream about what this could be like for their schools.

. . . In addition to setting up the schools for a year of innovation and transformation, these sessions can also invigorate educators as they start a new school year. “As a school leader, you tend to get bogged down with meetings about numbers, results, data, high stakes testing, et cetera,” said Assistant Principal Sophia Halkias of CICS Bucktown. “This process was a breath of fresh air to me—where leaders and teachers were given the space to think creatively, dream big, and set some innovative and inspired thinking into motion all for the sake of creating the best school experience possible for our kids. It reminded me of why I got into education in the first place.”

Discover ideas that the school leadership generated during the summer workshop, and how creating transformation through schoolwide design anchors leads to a 7-star experience in Education Week’s article Dreaming of an 11-Star Experience to Build a 7-Star Experience.
​

3.

This software company has donated millions to local schools for tech equipment  By Alton Zenon III, Built In Chicago

To help schools ensure access to learning technologies, Relativity, a provider of cloud-based data management and analytics tools for companies in the legal industry, has established a Wired to Learn technology grant for local schools.

The most recent recipient of that grant is Chicago International Charter School Prairie (CICS)​​ — a public institution in Chicago’s Roseland neighborhood on the South Side managed by Distinctive Schools. The grant will be used to provide new tech devices for the K-8 students, build a STEAM Lab and offer tech-related professional development opportunities to staff.

To learn more about the Wired to Learn Grant, and CICS Prairies’ technology initiatives, take a look at Built In Chicago’s article, This software company has donated millions to local schools for tech equipment. ​

For more Distinctive Schools reads, take a look at our Spotlight Distinctive page at https://www.distinctiveschools.org/spotlight.html.

The site includes articles, blog posts, interviews, and videos that highlight Distinctive Schools’ campuses and the extraordinary work that is being accomplished each and every day.