Students in Churchill’s Puppetry Club, The Playful Puppeteers, participated as the opening act for Opera In Focus,  a professional puppet theatre located in Rolling Meadows.

The Churchill Puppetry club, Playful Puppeteers, received a wonderful hands-on experience on Saturday, May 15th, by participating as the opening act for Opera in Focus, a professional puppet theatre located in Rolling Meadows. The Playful Puppeteers is a club open to third through sixth graders at Churchill Elementary School and helps build English Leaner students’ confidence while increasing their oral language skills and reading fluency. Opera in Focus has been mentoring the club since 2012 and offers a puppet workshop for the students.

Read the full article, published by The Daily Herald.

Students got the chance to operate the Opera in Focus puppets and fog machine with the professional puppet masters during the puppet opera.

Angie Argueta, an eighth grade student at Keller Junior High, spreads kindness through assisting sixth grade students who are new to this country. Her experience is shared through an article written by student Janvi Gandhi and published in Keller’s Monthly Student Newsletter, The Wildcat Spotlight.

Schaumburg School District 54’s Department of Language and Culture is excited to be hosting our annual Multicultural Event in collaboration with the Schaumburg Park District on Saturday, April 14th, at the Community Recreation Center (CRC). The purpose of the Multicultural Event is to celebrate the diverse cultures in District 54 and the surrounding communities. Students and their families have the opportunity to experience and showcase their cultures through performances, crafts, games, and food.

The event will take place at the Community Recreation Center from 11:30-2:30 PM. The Community Recreation Center (CRC) is located at 505 Springinsguth Road, Schaumburg, IL 60194. Parking is available at the Schaumburg Park District and Church of the Holy Spirit. During this free event, students and families can participant in games, crafts, and activities that represent countries around the world. There will also be food available to purchase. Food vendors will accept cash.

For more information, please see the flier.

2018 Multicultural Event Flier

We look forward to seeing you at the Multicultural Event on April 14th!

Multicultural Event 2018:  Performance Information and Interest Form

Each year the Department of Language and Culture, along with the Schaumburg Park District, presents a Multicultural Event.  This event takes place at the Community Recreation Center (CRC) and showcases the diversity represented by the students of District 54.  During last year’s event, over 30 student groups had the opportunity to give performances that reflect various cultures.

Preparations are already under way for this year’s event, which will take place on Saturday, April 14^th.  We are looking forward to seeing many of the cultures in District 54 represented and are looking  for students, or groups of students, who would like to perform.  To be eligible to participate, performances must meet the following criteria:

• Performances should have a cultural tie or significance
• Performances can include various talents including dancing, singing, instrumental music, etc.
• Performances should be 5 minutes or less in length
• Students need to have parent permission to perform on Saturday, April 14th at the Schaumburg Park District CRC location
• Parents must provide transportation

If your child is interested in performing, please complete the Performance Interest Form by February 9th.  If you are unable to complete the electronic form, paper forms can be picked up in your school office.

Thank you for your interest in performing during the Multicultural Event!  We appreciate your support in celebrating the wonderful diversity in Schaumburg School District 54!

Photo Overview: Roberto Garcia and Jose Antonio Benedicto from the Ministry of Spain visited Link Elementary School and Frost Junior High School on Nov. 29 to sign paperwork designating the schools as International Spanish Academies. Garcia and Benedicto also visited dual-language classes at both buildings.

Two District 54 schools named International Spanish Academies

Link Elementary School and Frost Junior High School are now on the roster of District 54 English-Spanish dual-language schools that have been named International Spanish Academies. This designation is part of an international cooperative educational program involving public schools in the United States and the Ministry of Education and Science in Spain.

A school in the United States or Canada that is implementing a high-quality dual language program can apply to be named an International Spanish Academy. The purpose of the International Spanish Academy is to develop Spanish-English bilingual education programs that promote high academic standards for all students and provide them with the values of multicultural education. The program’s goals include ensuring that students become as competent in Spanish as in English; contributing to the academic success of students in all subjects in the curriculum; and instilling the values of a multicultural education.

“This recognition as an international Spanish Academy reflects the quality of instruction provided to the dual language students by the staff at Frost and Link, as well as the continued commitment of students and families to the goal of becoming bilingual and biliterate,” said Danette Meyer, District 54’s assistant superintendent for language and culture. “Roberto Garcia and Jose Antonio Benedicto from the Ministry of Spain were so impressed by the students’ proficiency and ease in communicating in both Spanish and English, and the engaging instruction provided by the dual language teachers during their visit to Link and Frost.”

Link’s English-Spanish dual-language program was established in 2009, and Frost became a dual-language school in 2011 when students from Hanover Highlands’ program moved into seventh grade.

The other District 54 schools that have been named International Spanish Academies are

• Enders-Salk Elementary School in Schaumburg,
• Hanover Highlands Elementary School in Hanover Park,
• MacArthur Elementary School in Hoffman Estates,
• Eisenhower Junior High in Hoffman Estates and
• Keller Junior High in Schaumburg.

You are invited to join us for our meeting on November 14th  from 9:00-10:00 a.m. in the Board Room of the Rafferty Administration Center (524 East Schaumburg Road). Enter through Door F1. Childcare is available for children ages 3-5.

Our topic for this month’s meeting is “Getting Involved at School? Yes, You Can!”Come hear about the benefits of being a part of a multicultural community from MPAC parents who have successfully gotten involved in PTA and their school community. Learn strategies to help yourself and others feel comfortable volunteering and supporting your child.

Please see the flyers below for more information.

MPAC November 14th flyer

MPAC November 14th flyer–Japanese

MPAC November 14th flyer-Spanish

November 14th flyer Polish

We look forward to seeing you on November 14th!

You are invited to be a part of the Multicultural Parent Advisory Council for the 2017-2018 school year!

Please join us for our meeting on September 12th  from 6:30-7:30 p.m. at the Professional Learning Center.  Childcare is available for children ages 3-5.

Professional Learning Center

524 East Schaumburg Road

Door C1

Our topic for this month’s meeting is “ACCESS, MAP, and PARCC: What do they tell me about my child’s learning?”

Join us to learn:

• What MAP, ACCESS and PARCC tell you about your child’s learning
• Ways to stay in contact with your child’s teacher after conferences
• Tips from parents about effective communication with your child’s teacher

Links to event flyers

See the flyers below for more information. Please return the completed bottom portion of the flyer to your child’s school.

MPAC flyer September 12th

MPAC flyer September 12th-Spanish

MPAC flyer September 12th Japanese

MPAC flyer September 12th Polish

This is a great opportunity to be informed of important educational events happening in School District 54. We look forward to having you join us!

You are invited to be part of the Multicultural Parent Advisory Council for the 2017-2018 school year! Join us for the opportunity to meet other families in District 54, play games, and learn more about the Multicultural Parent Advisory Council!

Where: Meineke Park  located at 220 E. Weathersfield Way in Schaumburg

When: Thursday, August 10th from 11:00 AM-12:00 PM

No food will be provided but you can bring a picnic lunch to enjoy with your family.

Please see the flyer below for more information:

Summer MPAC Meineke Park Flyer in English

Summer MPAC Meineke Park Flyer in Spanish 

If it rains on August 10th, the event will be canceled. We look forward to having you join us!

After the dismissal bells ring in District 54, more than 1,200 first- through eighth-grade English Learner students at 26 elementary and junior high schools are still in classrooms working on their writing.“What are words that you think of when I say the word ‘winter’?” one teacher asks her second grade students. They eagerly take turns weighing in. Snowman. Ice skate. We can drink hot chocolate! Hibernate.“Oh, that’s a good one — tell me about that word,” the teacher prompts.“Animals hibernate in the winter,” the student responds.

The students continue the activity, developing a word bank to use in the writing assignment they are about to tackle. The learning target is sequencing in writing, so the group discusses that next.“What are some ways we could start a sentence, especially when we’re putting things in order?”First. Next. After that. Finally. Then…it is time to write. The students move to tables from the floor in front of the interactive whiteboard and begin thoughtfully and diligently putting their thoughts on paper.

This is just one snapshot of a lesson taught as part of District 54’s 10-week Targeted Assistance Program (TAP). TAP was developed by the District 54 Department of Language and Culture after a review of assessment data from the spring of 2015 indicated that writing is the area of greatest need for English Learner students.

TAP is connected to science and social studies content and concentrates on independent writing, with a focus on expository writing in the early grades and opinion/argumentative writing in sixth through eighth grade. TAP meets after school twice a week for 10 weeks beginning in early October. Students focus on one particular topic at a time, such as weather.

“The students are very interested in learning and writing about these topics,” said Danette Meyer, assistant superintendent of language and culture for District 54. “The design allows students extended time for writing. They build their stamina throughout the program and by the end they are writing for 50 minutes at a time.” 

TAP directly supports the district goal of getting every student to grade, and is aligned with the Traits Writing program and English Language proficiency standards. More than 100 teachers have been trained to deliver Targeted Assistance and provided with interactive flipcharts, lesson plans, videos, visuals and student reflection pages to support planning and instruction. The structure of the lessons and the training the district provided these TAP teachers has benefitted many classroom teachers, as TAP teachers share ideas during Professional Learning Community (PLC) planning meetings that can then be incorporated into classroom writing lessons.

Instructional Coach Kristine Wahlund told the Board of Education earlier this year that feedback from students and staff after the first year of TAP was overwhelmingly positive, with 97 percent of teachers stating that their students were much better – and more confident – writers than when they began the program.

In 2015, a total of 570 District 54 students met the State of Illinois’ English proficiency criteria as measured by the ACCESS assessment; in 2016 this number jumped to 707 students – 24 percent of District 54’s English Learner students, compared with 15.9 percent of English Learner students statewide.

“Students have told me they have fun going to the program, and they have been able to take what they are learning in writing and apply it to what they do in their classroom. Their confidence has increased as writers/authors, and the first-graders have also increased their confidence levels as readers,” said Aldrin Principal Mary Botterman. “We had some children who only signed up for one of the two days (each week). After experiencing only one day of TAP, those students’ parents called and told us they had rearranged their after-school commitments so their children could attend both days.”

JCCC Japanese Language Education Grants Awarded to Dooley School and Addams School

District 54 is proud to announce that the Japanese Dual Language programs at Thomas Dooley Elementary School and Jane Addams Junior High School are recipients of the 2016 JCCC (Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Chicago) Foundation Japanese Language Education Grant.

The JCCC Foundation honored District 54 representatives and presented the grant to Dooley and Addams during its annual JCCC Foundation Grant Ceremony this month in Chicago. Dooley and Addams each received a $3,000 grant to purchase materials to enhance the Japanese Dual Language program.

The JCCC Foundation’s Japanese Language Education Grant supports schools in the Chicago area that provide Japanese language and culture education to students. Each year, the JCCC Foundation awards grant money to schools and organizations that provide education-related programming.