Unit 1 educators preparing for another exemplary year

Exemplary is the designation given to Illinois’ highest performing schools, and the Unit 1 School District had four of its academic buildings recognized as exemplary by the Illinois State Board of Education last year.

There were just 66 high schools and roughly 300 elementary schools earning the designation this year. Unit 1 was the only district in Grundy County to achieve the ranking.

To be named exemplary, a school must meet specific criteria that includes having a graduation rate greater than 67% and perform in the top 10% of schools statewide.

The district attributes it academic success to its educators who spend several weeks each summer preparing for the academic year.

For more than a decade, the start of summer break finds faculty members gathering at the high school to conduct necessary curriculum and assessment work under the direction of Tammy Elledge, the district’s director of curriculum and instruction.

This year, summer curriculum work began May 30 and is expected to wrap up around June 16. On average, teachers log between 600 and 800 hours analyzing data, improving curriculum, creating new assessments and discuss pacing.

“We’ve had around 60 different teachers come in to do work in the first few days of work. It has been a busy, productive week of work so far,” said Elledge.

School officials say there is always room for improvement, and this process of review is part of the district continuing effort to provide curriculum and assessments that allow students to achieve academic success.