Gurnee School District 56

Rethinking professional development to rethink education

A layered approach to personalize learning for educators with badges and an educator-led summer academy

We know our students don’t all learn the same way, so why should we expect our teachers do? Within the structure of the traditional school day, we provide access to workshops,in-class coaching, building-based tech facilitators, and some traditional workshop models. Outside of the school day, we p...

Investing in a culture of continual, personal improvement through coaching

Adding two instructional coaches to support high impact instructional strategies

“Coaching done well may be the most effective intervention designed for human performance.” - Atul Gawande

In his work with hospitals, Atul Gawande found that checklists and coaching had an amazing impact when it came to improving the efficacy of surgical procedures and preventing mistakes....

Transforming learning spaces through design thinking

Redesigning and remodeling schools to center around teacher and student needs in a community design session

When you apply empathy to learning areas and honestly listen to the people who would like to use those areas, miraculous educational change and innovation can occur. To start the transformation of three of our oldest schools, our architects led us through a process called the Transcendent School ...

Annual Maker Faire sparks creativity and celebrates achievement

Creating space for students to show what they’ve made and be inspired by others

After launching makerspaces in three of our schools in 2017, we wanted to give our students a venue to showcase what they create. We hosted our first Maker Faire, a family-friendly festival of invention, creativity, and resourcefulness. The Maker Faire was the brainchild of our STEM Coordinator w...