Urbana school board votes to permanently end Wiley Elementary classes, reopen building as sixth grade center
The Urbana District 116 school board voted 4-to-3 on Tuesday to open the sixth grade center in the former Wiley Elementary.
Construction begins on Illinois school renamed after local Tuskegee Airman
Born in 1919 in Decatur, Ellsworth Dansby, Jr., was fascinated by planes. He first flew alone at age 12 – without ever previously riding in a plane. He used knowledge from books he had read to land his solo flight safely.
Tuskegee Airman honored in new Decatur public school
Born in Decatur, Dansby served in World War II as the master sergeant for the Tuskegee Airmen, the first African American division of the U.S. Army Air Corps. The airmen first formed at Chanute Airfield Base in Rantoul.
“This is not an isolated incident.” Decatur school closure exposes gaps in state-required inspections
Decatur Public Schools District 61 only found out it had problems in the two century-old buildings when they brought in a structural engineer in May to look at ceiling leaks and other issues raised by teachers.
Decatur Public Schools increases literacy and school attendance with extended day program
The pre-K through 8 students in the DPS 61 Extended Day program had higher attendance, higher reading scores and fewer disciplinary issues than their peers, according to the district.
The newest Decatur Public Schools teaching assistants and security guards make about $19 an hour. Tuesday, they rallied for higher wages.
Teaching assistants and security officers rallied Tuesday in front of the Decatur Public Schools Board of Education meeting.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth visits Champaign in quest to require school bus seat belts
Sen. Tammy Duckworth has been introducing her School Bus Safety Act since 2018. It would require all school buses be equipped with seat belts, automatic breaks and other safety features.
COVID-19 on the rise at University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign
Students and staff can still access free, take-home, COVID tests on campus. Two weeks in, those tests are in high demand.
Mexico, Illinois research exchange blooms at the University of Illinois
“We have common problems, so we need to find common solutions. And there are very, very talented researchers and scholars,” Elvira de Mejia said.
After Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action, University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign plans to use socioeconomics, geography instead of race in admissions
“We’ve had a holistic review process that considers all sorts of factors and that [race] has been one of them,” said U of I spokesperson Robin Kaler. That will not be true next year, she said.
Illinois now requires K-12 students to learn Native American history. What has to be in the lessons, and who is checking?
The law requires teachers to cover contemporary Native American history and urban communities like Chicago.
Garden Hills Academy in Champaign reopens for fall as pre-K-8
The Unit 4 School District decided to add grades to both Garden Hills and International Prep Academy last year. The rationale was to decrease pre-kindergarten and middle school overcrowding, as well as promote socioeconomic diversity.
Danville school board votes to add fourth police officer next year
The Danville School District 118 school board voted Wednesday to add the officer at South View Upper Elementary School.
Some school districts are using COVID-19 aid to catch up on construction. Is your district one of them?
While the focus of federal COVID-19 relief money for schools was on recovering from the pandemic, districts were allowed to use some for construction. For many districts, it was a once-in-a-lifetime infusion of cash.
Teachers prepare for new Asian American history requirements at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign
Some sessions focused on how to teach amidst political backlash, while others helped attendees learn which children’s books were helpful and which promoted stereotypes.