Dear District 100 Community:

I wanted to share the good news that I received recently.  For the school year 2005/2006 all six of our elementary schools:  Hiawatha, Komensky, Pershing, Piper, Irving, and Emerson have been awarded Spotlight School Awards from the Illinois State Board of Education.  Heritage Middle School, Komensky, and Hiawatha Schools also received Academic Improvement Awards.  The Illinois State Board of Education, in partnership with Northern Illinois University, delivers three kinds of awards to recognize schools that demonstrate exemplary academic performance.  These awards make up the Illinois Honor Roll.  Since this was Freedom’s first year as a new school, they were not eligible for an award.

The Spotlight Schools awards honor high poverty, high performing schools where at least 50% of students are classified as low-income and at least 60% passed (met or exceeded standards) the state reading and mathematics tests.  All Spotlight Schools made annual yearly progress and sustained their performance over the past three years.

The Academic Improvement awards recognize schools that have sustained an upward trend in test scores for at least 3 years and showed a 7.5 point increase this year or a 15 point increase in test scores over the past three years.

These awards are from the 2005/06 school year.  We have not received any awards information for the 2006/07 school year.  When that information becomes available, I will let you know the results. 

This is so impressive and would not have happened without the dedication, knowledge, and commitment of our internal and external community.  We should all feel proud of these accomplishments.

Our partnership has made a difference in children’s lives, and we thank you.

Patricia A. Wernet, Ed.D

Superintendent 

To accomplish good things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also

BELIEVE. 

Anatole France

French Writer