Palatine junior high now part of No Excuses

A Palatine school is the first junior high in the nation to be involved in a program that encourages kids to attend college.

Winston Campus Junior High in Palatine Elementary District 15 learned this week that its application into the No Excuses University network of schools was accepted.

The program works to aggressively promote college readiness for every student.

"We hope that, as we get kids more focused on setting goals for college, they will raise their academic achievement," Principal Mary Baum said.

Already, the junior high has injected some college-related aspects into the school.

Students have always been broken up into academic teams. This year, those teams were renamed Big Ten, Big 12, Pac 10 and Big East. Within each conference, every homeroom class adopted a university name.

More substantively, the school also recently held a College Life Day, where students talked to alumni, learned about scholarships and visited with 26 higher education officials.

A couple of other elementary schools in the Northwest suburbs are also part of this program and have been vocal with their college-related activities offered to students.

Across the country, 17 schools from California to Texas have joined since the program's inception less than three years ago.

"It says a lot about the school system that the junior high wanted to be involved," said Dan Lopez of the No Excuses University company.

Baum said she's excited to start working with some of the other schools in the network and hopes to pool their resources.

She heads to San Diego with other teachers today to learn more about the program.

"A lot of our students don't have the experience of having anyone before them go to college," said Baum. "We think it's important to share that knowledge."

For more information, go to turnaroundschools.com.