The Elmwood third, fourth, and fifth-grade Professional Learning Teams, along with the Interventionist Team, completed two cycles of inquiry to enhance instructional practice and student achievement, according to an April 13 announcement.
This initiative focuses on using the four Professional Learning Community guiding questions as a framework for improving teaching methods and outcomes for students. The effort is part of ongoing work within Zion Elementary School District 6.
Zion Elementary School District 6 represents Lake County and includes Beulah Park Elementary School, East Elementary School, Elmwood Elementary School, Lakeview School, Shiloh Park Elementary School, West Elementary School, and Zion Central Middle School according to the Illinois Report Card. The district enrolled 2,483 students in the 2019-2020 school year and serves grades pre-kindergarten through eighth grade in Zion and Lake County according to the Illinois Report Card.
The district has a diverse student body: it is made up of 4.9 percent White students, 36.6 percent Black students, 50.9 percent Hispanic students, and 0.2 percent Asian students according to the ISBE. In terms of staffing, there are a total of 164 teachers earning an average salary of $58,629 before pension contributions; women make up about 83 percent of teachers while men account for about 17 percent. There are no teachers in the district with more than ten absences during a school year according to the Illinois State Board of Education.
Financially, Zion Elementary School District 6 spent $27,927 per student in the year 2020 for a total expenditure of $69 million as reported by the Illinois Report Card. The district also recorded a chronic truancy rate of seven percent—179 chronically truant students—in that same period; this figure is below the statewide average but highlights ongoing attendance challenges facing some schools across Illinois according to ISBE data.
These efforts at Elmwood reflect broader strategies aimed at supporting both staff development and student learning throughout Zion Elementary School District 6.
