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District 300 to launch new program to help at-risk students

Starting this fall, students struggling with emotional traumas and behavioral issues will get additional support in smaller classroom settings at a Carpentersville elementary school to improve their academic performance and overall health.

An initiative called the DREAM (Dedicated Reinforcement, Engagement And Motivation) Academy will help up to 100 Perry Elementary School students in first through fifth grades who have been identified as at-risk because of adverse childhood experiences. That includes physical, emotional and sexual abuse, homelessness, poverty, substance abuse, divorce, death of a family member or sibling and incarceration of a parent.

Algonquin-based Community Unit District 300 created the program, which is unique in the state, according to officials.

Students going through such traumas often are in a state of fight or flight and predisposed to failure, District 300 Superintendent Fred Heid said.

"If a student constantly is in survival mode, you really never get them into a safe place where they can feel they can shift their focus to academics," Heid said. "You can't get at the academics unless you address those triggers that are keeping students from being attentive and being successful in class."

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, positive and negative childhood experiences have a tremendous impact on future violence victimization and perpetration, and lifelong health and opportunity. Adverse childhood experiences can lead to health risks, including alcoholism and alcohol abuse, depression, illicit drug use, heart and liver disease, poor work performance, sexually transmitted diseases, smoking, suicide attempts, adolescent pregnancy, sexual violence, and poor academic achievement, according to a CDC study.

District 300 serves nearly 21,000 students in 15 communities, including Carpentersville, East and West Dundee, Gilberts, Pingree Grove and Sleepy Hollow. At Perry, 6.4 percent of students met or exceeded standards on the PARCC test, with 24.3 percent approaching standards - well below the state average, according to the 2016 Illinois School Report Card data. The school's demographic makeup is 62 percent Hispanic, 33 percent black and 2.5 percent white.

Heid said Perry administrators have been tracking students with adverse childhood experiences for some time, which is why the district chose the school for the DREAM Academy pilot. The goal of the academy is not only to improve academic performance, but also ensure students are healthy and well-rounded, he added.

Currently, the school's employees and contracted staff from Streamwood Behavioral Healthcare System work with at-risk students providing behavioral interventions and support as needed, but it's not at the level the academy will offer.

For the past two school years, fourth- and fifth-graders at Perry who were struggling academically and tested below grade level in reading and mathematics were placed in a smaller classroom setting where teachers worked with them individually or in small groups.

"The ability to differentiate in this classroom was much better," Heid said. "Their attendance rates and academic performance increased."

Through the academy, each student will be evaluated independently and be placed on an individualized care plan, somewhat similar to an Individualized Education Plan for special needs students. This approach will include family and community outreach, Heid said.

"This will be essentially a school within the school," Heid said. "These students will basically work hand-in-hand with their psychologist or behavior specialist each day whether it is direct involvement, counseling or supports, individual or small groups, or just observation in the classroom. This is another layer of support that we've never been able to address previously."

The program will cost the district $570,000 for hiring the necessary employees. Officials estimate much of the cost will be covered through Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements and funding through the state's Alternative Learning Opportunities Programs.

"District out-of-pocket expenses should not exceed $100,000 in a worst-case scenario," Heid said.

The academy will be at Perry for at least a year and evaluated by administrators monthly. District 300 also will partner with Clemson University in South Carolina to analyze the results and study the program's success.

"They (students) will be compared to other peers that are demographically similar to make sure that we can accurately determine what's having the greatest impact on student outcome," Heid said. "We are actually working to truly close the achievement gap. If this works, we will look at how we are going to expand this and serve more kids."

  James Olivera of Carpentersville volunteers with the Rotary Club to deliver winter coats to kids at Perry Elementary in Carpentersville. This fall, a new program is being launched at the school to help at-risk students improve academically and behaviorally. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
Fred Heid, superintendent of Community Unit District 300, says a new initiative to help at-risk students will be launched at Perry Elementary School in Carpentersville this fall.
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