A Place Where Everyone Belongs

From community read-aloud projects to cultural showcases to supporting student-created extracurricular clubs, Deerfield Public Schools District 109 has shown our commitment to be a place of growth, learning, and belonging for all. As our district's vision reads:

 
"We will develop each student to be emotionally resilient, socially skilled, and academically prepared by forging connections within, across, and beyond our classrooms, and by embracing each student's uniqueness."

 

We intentionally work towards achieving this through creating different learning opportunities and experiences for students, including but not limited to: 

• Civil rights units taught in 3rd & 8th grades
• An Inclusive Practices student committee at Walden
• Field trips to the Holocaust Museum
• "No Place for Hate" student-led work at Shepard and Caruso
• Pictured to the right: a "Cultural Corner" at Kipling where students and staff showcase artifacts & customs from their heritage

Another very fun and interactive learning opportunity is the Migration & Movement Wax Museum, currently held at both Walden and Kipling, where students get the opportunity to research an ancestor and then tell their story. See highlights from Walden's recent event below.

Creating a space where everyone belongs also serves as a key pillar in our strategic plan.

Core values that specifically reinforce the district’s commitment to the success of every student in every school are as follows:

• We are committed to inclusive practices that ensure equitable outcomes across educational environments for all students.

• We embrace people of all identities, races, ethnicities, genders, ages, religions, abilities, orientations, education levels, national origins, or any other distinguishing characteristics or traits. 
   

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Goal 3 reads “District 109 will ensure every student’s unique identity is valued by working towards equitable outcomes in all educational identifiers: general education, advanced learning, special education, Section 504, EL, RtI, co-curriculars, extra-curriculars, etc.” 

Some of the objectives attached to that goal include:

• Creating collaborative pathways to co-serve all students.
• Providing ongoing professional development opportunities in identity development and equity best practices.
• Cultivating culturally responsive classrooms by examining curricular and educational materials to ensure inclusion of diverse populations and perspectives.
• Measuring educational access to ensure equitable opportunities for success are available to all students.

As you can see in the graphic below, we work incredibly hard to serve students with IEP's largely in a general classroom setting.

We also deeply appreciate the involvement of our our community in this work. Goal 4 of our Strategic Plan focuses on communicating, both internally and externally, "in ways that assist all stakeholders in feeling knowledgeable and connected to their schools and the district." 

Over the last few years, District 109 has significantly expanded its community outreach efforts, sending a twice-yearly magazine out to all addresses within our boundaries to keep all residents & businesses within our district boundaries informed of the happenings in our district. You can click here to see recent issues.

 

 

 

Another wonderful example: we have been fortunate to partner with our police & fire departments on a charity basketball game between our Shepard 8th graders and the first responders. The game, which has now been held for 3 straight years, fills the gym with a lively energy and spirit of goodwill and competitive fun.

We are exceptionally proud of the value that our community leaders put on the importance of reading and a strong educational foundation. We teamed up with a number of notable faces across Deerfield to produce this video for "World Read Aloud Day."

We know, however, that this work never stops.

To ensure we remain focused on creating a space that truly feels like a place of belonging for everyone, advisory subcommittees comprised of parents, staff, and community members focusing on the areas of Community Relations & Collaboration, Curriculum & Instruction, Policy, and School Culture have met on a semi-regular basis over the previous few years to guide 109 leadership on these topics.

If you have any questions related to DPS 109's work in this area, please feel free to contact Ms. Danielle Arnold, Assistant Superintendent for Teaching & Learning, at darnold@dps109.org.