Philosophy

Designing Programs

Because we believe students and teachers have special areas of interest, unique motivations, strengths and weaknesses and different learning or teaching styles, we are strongly committed to designing our programs to match the individuals.

Learning Styles

As babies, we learn to walk at different ages and at different speeds than our playmates. In school, some students learn best in a small group, others in a large group, from each other, or one-to-one with adults. Some learn best by reading, some by watching, some by doing. Frequent testing in each subject tells us who can move on, who needs more time.

Teaching Styles

Just as students don't all learn in the same way, teachers don't teach alike. Some teach fractions by cutting up pies, others by dividing recipes. Some like one textbook, some another. And just as students have favorite subjects and hobbies, so do teachers.

By placing students in grade level teams in elementary school, we offer them the chance to pursue subjects at their own pace, in their own style. Teachers are placed in teams of 3 or 4 with the assistance from one or more instructional aides, with team planning time built into each day. This system gives teachers the opportunity to utilize time to the best of their abilities.

Teaching areas are built around a central media center with trained personnel to give students and teachers a wide range of teaching and learning material. Support staff provides students and teachers with above-average amounts of adult-student contact time.

Sharing Responsibilities

The District Cabinet, chaired by the Superintendent, includes the Directors of Teaching & Learning, Student Services, Business & Finance, Buildings & Grounds, and Technology as well as all building Principals. The District Cabinet implements policy set by our seven elected board members.

District-wide committees are made up of teachers from each building. Staff in-service training for the district is also provided.

We believe a student's education is a shared responsibility between school and home. District 13 encourages parents to take part in their child's education.

District 13 also joined several Bloomingdale governmental organizations to form the Bloomingdale Intergovernmental Group (BIG). Members meet bi-monthly to discuss activities and issues occurring at each organization and work to develop cooperative programs.

To foster increased parental involvement, the district sponsors programs to provide information on current educational strategies and ways parents can enhance their children's educational experience.