Paul Beilfuss, Superintendent
Pam Bybee, Teacher
Successes at Wright will benefit all students in the district.
Wright School GOAL 4:
Innovations tested and proven at Wright School will be adopted by other schools in the district, presented at professional meetings, and described in professional publications.
All-day kindergarten – an innovation that works!
All-day kindergarten provided students with more time to master skills and concepts. Extra help came from NIU’s College of Health and Human Sciences faculty who worked with students at risk for problems in learning to read. At the end of the year, results showed that 96% of Wright kindergarteners were prepared were prepared to succeed in first grade, by far the best results in the district. These language assessments and interventions are now helping students at Littlejohn and Cheseboro.
According to Superintendent Paul Beilfuss, this innovation is a great success and should be available for all kindergartners in DeKalb. The barrier is lack of space to house the program in District 428’s overcrowded schools.
Arts and technology across the curriculum – ready to share!
Kindergarten teacher Tracy Paszotta says, “The children use songs and movement to learn, reinforce, and remember new concepts. Creating art helps them express their ideas.” Kindergarten students also used the Palm Pilots for spelling games and sequencing activities.
Pam Bybee, 4th grade teacher, connects content with technology and the arts in a unit on the Titanic. Students learn about life in 1912 by doing website research about the passengers and theories on the sinking, taking black and white photographs in art, and playing old-fashioned games in PE.
In 5th grade, Chris Perkovich’s students mastered geometry terms using technology and art. Student teams located examples of geometric terms by alphabet letter (I is for Isoceles) and photographed them with a digital camera. Then, they illustrated power point presentations with the photos and definitions of the terms.
Successes with integration of technology at Wright are being shared at Malta Elementary, where NIU’s College of Education has placed computer hardware. An NIU faculty liaison is providing special training and support for Malta teachers in classroom uses of technology.
Extending the school day with after-school programming – a proven success!
Wright After School provides a multitude of after-school classes that expand experiences with arts and technology, increase skills in the nine goal areas, and bring parents and community groups into the school. Student demand far exceeds the availability of these programs. NIU faculty joined Wright teachers in offering extended-day activities.
