Piper School celebrated its 100th year of teaching and learning and highlighted instructional strategies district leaders say helped lift student outcomes, especially for English learners.

At a School Board meeting on Nov. 15, a Piper representative said the school’s “Proud Piper” team — made up of district leaders, classroom teachers, coaches, social workers and interventionists — focused this year on explicit instruction. “This year, Piper is 100 years old,” the presenter said, adding that teams emphasized foundational literacy skills, small‑group instruction and a writing approach using claim, evidence and reasoning (CER).

Using last year’s IAR cut scores, the presenter said Piper met a 41.46% proficiency goal; under newly recalibrated state cut scores, about 62% of students now fall in the proficient or above range. The school set a results goal of a 10% year‑over‑year increase and a district‑aligned target that by 2026, 70% of K–5 students will be proficient or above in ELA on IAR.

Staff described classroom practices tied to that goal: structured sentence‑level instruction in grades 3–5, automaticity work for K–2 and common materials and rubrics across classrooms. The presenter credited a district literacy coach and professional learning series for helping teachers implement the approach.

Gladiola Mendez, an English‑learner teacher, reported that targeted efforts raised the EL subgroup’s index by roughly 30 percentage points on the 2024 Illinois report card, moving the subgroup out of a targeted range. The district credited actions including student goal setting, coaching, exposure to test formats and family partnerships for the gain.

The spotlight included student and staff recognitions. Students who won a spiritwear design contest and pupils nominated for a district “portrait of a graduate” award were honored, and veteran teacher Nancy Novacek was recognized for more than three decades of service.

Board members and the superintendent praised Piper’s results and staff work. The presentation concluded with an invitation for parents to take photos and continued district follow‑up on school goals.