Intentional learning: How Sycamore Trails Elementary in Bartlett earned ‘exemplary’ status

For the first time since 2019, an Elgin Area School District U-46 school has earned an “exemplary” designation on the Illinois School Report Card.

Sycamore Trails Elementary School in Bartlett is among dozens of suburban schools with that status, according to the 2024 school report card.

“Exemplary” schools perform in the top 10% of all schools statewide.

“We’re still very excited about it,” said Principal Jaclyn Jones, who delivered the news to students, teachers and staff in late October. “I’m so proud of the Sycamore Trails community. Our teachers, students and staff worked hard to earn this designation.”

Since 2018, when the state started using summative designations, Sycamore Trails has been classified as “commendable” — one step below exemplary.

The Illinois State Board of Education designates schools into five categories: exemplary, commendable, targeted, comprehensive and intensive. Schools in the bottom three categories receive additional funding and support to help improve student outcomes.

Eighteen out of 51 schools in U-46 improved their designation over the last school year, and 30 remained the same this year.

Three schools in the state’s second-largest district received a lower designation, officials said.

According to report card data, Sycamore Trails earned 100% of the points available in the categories of English language arts, math and science proficiency and 92% of the points available for English language arts growth.

“Our educators and all our support staff members are working very hard for our students to see these gains and make this growth,” U-46 Superintendent Suzanne Johnson said at a recent school board meeting.

As the district’s second-largest elementary school, Sycamore Trails serves about 630 students and has two self-contained classrooms for students with special needs, six Ignite — or gifted — classrooms and three preschool classrooms.

School and district officials noted that part of Sycamore Trails’ success involved teachers being intentional about what happens in the classrooms and partnering with parents. At the start of each school year, parents are informed about what the school’s goals are and teachers regularly keep parents updated about what’s happening in the classrooms and what students are working on each week, said Jones, who served as assistant principal at Sycamore Trails before being named principal this year.

“The administration and teachers are constantly asking the parents how can we serve you,” said Kyle Bunker, executive director of elementary schools for U-46’s Bartlett network. “The doors are always open. It’s a school that serves the community, not just leads the community.”

He noted the school’s parent-teacher organization is an integral part of the school and often attracts large groups to events it hosts.

PTO President Jennifer Casolari said the organization usually hosts at least one event a month and typically can expect at least half the families to attend.

“That’s one way we build community,” said Casolari, who has two children at Sycamore Trails and a third who is in middle school.

She said the “exemplary” designation for Sycamore Trails helps reaffirm what the school is doing.

“It makes me feel like my kids are really in a good place to be set up for a successful future,” she said.

Lisa Cardenas, Sycamore Trails’ former principal, and Jones said teachers have focused on being deliberate in their classrooms. They examined state standards, data from previous years and student performance to tailor instruction to help address student needs at all academic levels.

Jones added that in the last three or four years, the school honed in on reading and writing skills and that’s when the school started to see growth.

“It’s important to note this wasn’t done overnight,” Jones said. “It was years of very intentional work that built off each other to get to this point.”

Cardenas, who now leads Laurel Hill Elementary School, said this year’s exemplary designation shows the years of work paid off.

“We’re on the right track,” she said. “All the work was worth it.”