Herrick students, PTA highlight new facilities, incentives and curriculum pilots
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Summary
Students and PTA leaders from Herrick Middle School presented school incentives, student programs, and upcoming events; district administrators highlighted construction finishing work, increased student growth on MAP assessments and a pilot to replace Carnegie Learning with Amplify Desmos in math.
Students from Herrick Middle School opened the Dec. 8 Downers Grove GSD 58 board meeting to describe school programs designed to build positive culture and engagement. Seventh-grade student William (Will) Zellner described the school’s “golden tickets” program and the Spartan store, where students redeem tickets for small rewards and larger group prizes.
Seventh-grade vice president Colin Behrens described student-council efforts including spirit days, fund-raising contests and the Kindness Advent Challenge. PTA president Jim Meggis and president-elect Adriana Carawan outlined recent PTA events (a Herrick Hangout that drew more than 135 students), planned social events, staff appreciation efforts, and fundraising support for field trips such as the Kane County Cougars game and Great America.
Administrators reported that construction at Herrick is winding down and called attention to early assessment results: district combined assessment data from the previous year showed about 63 percent of students met expected growth in ELA and 62 percent in math; current fall MAP projections showed roughly 69 percent of seventh graders and 63 percent of eighth graders on track in ELA and 67 percent (7th) and 61 percent (8th) on track to meet expected math growth. The presentation also noted the district is piloting two math curricula and is transitioning from Carnegie Learning to Amplify Desmos for the pilot cohort.
The board thanked students and PTA representatives and presented small gifts to the student council members. The Herrick spotlight concluded with board appreciation for the school’s community and the construction progress.
Next steps: administration will present a fuller update on middle-school schedule revision and exploratory-course impacts in a future January spotlight.
