Dist. 33 awarded $2.2 million to help neediest families

Some of West Chicago Elementary District 33's youngest and neediest students will benefit from a $2.2 million, five-year grant recently awarded by the U.S. Department of Education.

The grant - one of 12 awarded nationwide - is part of the department's Full Service Community Schools program, which encourages communities to bring together partners that can offer academic, social and health support to students and their families.

District 33 has been working to create the full-service community school model with its WeGo Together for Kids initiative. More than 50 community partners work with the district through WeGo Together for Kids to help the district's neediest families.

Some of those partners will be part of a new push to provide more services to those families through the grant funding. They include: Benedictine University, Breaking Free, DuPage County Health Department, Federation for Community Schools, KidCare Medical, Literacy DuPage, Metropolitan Family Services, Neighborhood Food Pantry, Northern Illinois Food Bank, Outreach Community Ministries, People's Resource Center, United Way DuPage and the West Chicago Park District.

The focus will be on Currier Elementary, the district's preschools and Project Hope, a home-based program that serves children through age 3.

The district's grant application stated those three could benefit because of the high rates of low-income status, lack of English literacy and limited parental education, limited access to quality health services and challenging social environments.

According to the application, 100 percent of Currier students are eligible for free or reduced fee lunch, signifying they come from low-income households. In the preschools, 92 percent are low-income. In addition, the percentage of English language learners is 73 percent in the preschools and 66 percent at Currier.

To receive the grant funding, the district had to identify 11 full-service community school services that it will provide to families. Some plans it proposed included:

• Inviting students performing at the lowest 15 percent to take part in an after-school program Monday through Friday.

• Inviting parents with kids through age 5 to weekly bilingual education sessions on child development, parenting skills, financial literacy and more.

• Offering more mental health support, exercise and nutrition classes and screenings, immunizations and dental support to families that need it.

• Hosting after-school family night activities and providing summer programming for students.

Superintendent Charles Johns expressed his excitement for the grant and said he thinks of effective "community schools" as a three-legged stool, with the legs representing schools, municipal and nonprofit supporters, and healthy families.

"When all three legs are each strong and are working together in harmony, the stool stands strong," he said. "In order to be truly effective, each element of the community school model must work together in a careful partnership that includes regular coordination and an adherence to shared values."