Our May 18th meeting featured a field trip to School District 54 headquarters hosted by our newest member, that being SD54 Superintendent Andy DuRoss, who shared a bit of his personal background with us including his professional journey from teacher to school district administrator now responsible for overseeing the education of more than 14,000 elementary students.
 
Dist 54 demographics have changed significantly in more recent times and now reflects the present day ethnic, cultural and socioeconomic diversity found in the families and students who reside within its boundaries that includes Schaumburg, Hoffman Estates, Hanover Park, Elk Grove Village, Roselle, Rolling Meadows and Streamwood.  58% of the student population are minorities, 22% are English learners and 31% are low income.
 
The highlight of our visit was a tour through the Early Learning Center (ELC), which opened in August 2014 and now serves more than 700 students, conducted by Director of Early Childhood Programs & ELC Principal Sue Mayernick.  The Schaumburg ELC is one of the largest pre-school programs of its kind in the state of Illinois and focuses on providing early childhood (pre-natal through age 5) intervention programs, community resources and education to high need, at-risk of academic failure students.  ELC program student eligibility is determined through a screening process that evaluates a number of at-risk factors including intellectual processing, academics, speech/communication, social-emotional development, and/or motor development and family and home environment.   The ELC was recently recognized as one of three early childhood programs in the state of Illinois to receive the Award of Excellence for the Inclusion of Children with Special Needs.
 
We thank Andy and SD54 for this unique opportunity to learn more about the educational needs and challenges facing the district and applaud the efforts of ELC administration, teachers and staff for their efforts to best position high need, at-risk children in our community for future academic success.