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EDUCATION
Illinois’ Teacher of the Year felt like an outsider growing up. Decades on, she wants her students to know they belong.
Sign up for Chalkbeat Chicago’s free daily newsletter to keep up with the latest education news.Fourth and fifth grade teacher Rachael Mahmood wants to ensure all her students feel like they belong. That’s why she works hard to incorporate their identities, cultures, interests, and histories into her lesson plans and assignments.Mahmood, who has taught at Indian Prairie CUSD 204 for the past 19 years, was recently named the Illinois Teacher of the Year for 2024. The Illinois State Board of Education, which gave out the award, said in a press release that Mahmood has “a passion for designing curriculum that...
Naperville native earns award at Naval Supply Corps School
Ensign Peter Cogan, a native of Naperville, Illinois, recently received an award for their performance while training to join the Navy Supply Corps. Cogan graduated from Neuqua Valley High School in 2019. Additionally, Cogan earned a degree from The Ohio State University in 2023. Cogan was named 2nd Battalion’s Honor...
Here are Chicago’s new school board districts
Sign up for Chalkbeat Chicago’s free daily newsletter to keep up with the latest education news.This November, Chicago voters will elect school board members for the first time to govern Chicago Public Schools, the nation’s fourth largest school district.The change will end 30 years of mayoral control.Activists and parents started pushing for the ability to elect Chicago school board members roughly a decade ago, after years of education reform that changed how schools were funded, how teachers were evaluated, how many schools were opened and closed, and who operated them.In 2021, state lawmakers passed legislation to create a half-elected, half-appointed 21-member elected school board in Chicago by 2025 and a fully-elected board by 2027.Explore more in this interactive map.
The Rundown: A Chicago first: school board ballot shaping up
Good afternoon! Some of the rooftops across from Wrigley Field could be torn down and replaced with pickleball courts and apartments. Here’s what else you need to know today. After more than a decade of lobbying, years of negotiation and months of sorting out the logistics, it’s finally time...
Hemingway Foundation expands program to nearby communities
For the first time since the Hemingway Foundation Scholarship was formed, applications were opened to students outside of Oak Park and River Forest. According to the Foundation’s website, the scholarship essay contest is open to all juniors at OPRF High School, D201 Berwyn-Cicero, D209 Riverside-Brookfield, D209 Proviso Township and D401 Elmwood Park.
Chicago’s Opportunity Index takes center stage in school budget drama
Sign up for Chalkbeat Chicago’s free daily newsletter to keep up with the latest education news.Cheryl Connor, the mother of three students at Sabin Dual Language Magnet School, first heard of Chicago Public Schools’ Opportunity Index this spring when she learned her Northwest Side campus faced a tighter budget for the coming school year.The district overhauled its approach to budgeting this year, aiming to downplay enrollment size as a factor, provide all schools with certain base positions – and steer more dollars to schools serving the city’s most vulnerable students. The index, which factors student demographics, neighborhood metrics, and historical...
It’s about time | Illinois high school hoops gets 35-second shot clock beginning with 2026-27 season
Count Sandburg sophomore Daniel Morakinyo as someone who can’t wait for the 2026-2027 basketball season. The rising guard/forward will be a senior that year, and he will embrace the IHSA’s implementation of a 35-second shot clock for varsity boys and girls basketball. “It’s a good feature,” Morakinyo said...
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