Lincoln Prairie's Background

Lincoln Prairie School opened its doors to students in grades Pre-K through 7 for the first time in September 1999. This beginning brought to fruition two years of visioning, planning, and collaborating among students, teachers, parents, administrators and community members. The 2000-2001 school year brought the addition of eighth grade students and the first graduation class of Lincoln Prairie School.

In May, 1997 the Board of Education approved the creation of a Design Team to plan a School of Choice within the district. The approval for the formation of this team was based on the district’s commitment to continuously seek ways to improve educational opportunities for each student, and was in keeping with the ideas supported through the district’s strategic plan, Partners for Progress.

Background

During the past several years there has been a great deal of productive discussion in our district on many topics including: restructuring of learning environments, instructional practices, school governance, and learning technologies among others. As a result, a recommendation was made to modify the school structure allowing for accommodations of student needs and individual learning styles.

Concurrently, on the national and state level, there is increasing interest in charter schools and offering more choice to parents. All of these efforts have one goal in mind. That is, to encourage and promote innovative practices to better meet the needs of students.

The Design Team was established to create a philosophical framework for the School of Choice. The efforts of the team were geared toward a school where parents could choose to have their children attend, where district standards and the needs and interests of students and parents are the driving force for the curriculum. The School of Choice is designed to be a school where innovation, differentiated instructional practices, and risk taking are supported.

An innovative group of students, teachers, parents, administrators and community members dreamed of a school that was responsive to the needs of all learners, was respectful of its environment, would provide meaningful, real-life learning experiences, and would give students an opportunity to explore their particular areas of interest. It was through this dreaming, and through our district’s commitment to choice, that Lincoln Prairie was born.

District 54’s School of Choice – a Pre-K through 8th grade public school – will feature a diverse community of learners focused on the original Greek meaning of school – "discussion" – an exchange of ideas and thoughts among learners. Students will be taught in multiage groups taking part in authentic curriculum studies. Personalized learning plans will foster students taking responsibility for their own learning. Teachers, as facilitators will engage students in critical and analytical thinking, encourage collaborative work and provide opportunities for students to demonstrate their learning in a variety of projects/products. The school facility will support interactive learning.

The School of Choice is founded on the following essential components:

• Individual Learners
• Best Instructional Practices
• Collaboration & Diversity
• Family & Community Centered

  (See The Framework and School of Choice Proposal for more detail)

First, school wide themes are chosen that will allow all students to connect on a common topic. From there, staff members work to connect curriculum to state learning standards. The curriculum is thematically organized, allowing connections to be made among and between the different subjects (reading, writing, listening, speaking, math, social studies, science, visual and performing arts, physical education).

Evidence of children’s learning and accomplishments may take many forms. The product of a hands-on activity, like weighing and measuring, may be reported orally, illustrated, described in writing or presented through a project. Brainstorming sessions may be recorded on charts or made into classroom books, which are used as reference materials for the classroom. Writing is considered a process, which may take days or weeks before bringing a product through all stages of publication. Frequently, the children’s works are displayed in school rather than taken home.

Student assessment is accomplished by a variety of means: teacher observations, individual reading and writing conferences, samples of student work, performances, peer and self assessment, rubrics and ongoing continuums in the areas of literacy and mathematics. The aim of the program is to continually question and hold conversations with students in order to understand and extend their thinking. Teachers observe, collect, and record information over time to reflect each student’s individual growth.