SPENCER ELEMENTARY TECHNOLOGY ACADEMY
ILLINOISPROGRAM(S) PARTICIPATED IN: Sprint 2014, Solution 2015
TEAM
Tracie Sanlin, Principal
Curtis Antoine Diggs, Counselor
Deborah Bradley, Math Coordinator
Hollie Jaye, Assistant Principal
Nyree Tucker, Counselor
PROBLEM
Students are not aware of the skills necessary to have a successful 8th to 9th grade transition.
HOW MIGHT WE…
Better manage student and parent understanding of the needed pathways from elementary school to high school to college and/or career as well as social and emotional skills needed for high school?
SOLUTION
Student mentoring, social emotional learning implementation into the curriculum, and parent programming resulting in providing students with an opportunity to learn and practice the skills necessary to succeed in HS and beyond; and providing parents the opportunity to learn what is expected of a new HS student so that they will be able to better support them during the transition.
IMPACT
Students were exposed to a wider variety of high schools and programming through this innovation. On an average, students applied to 15 high schools this year. This number increased from 10 last year.
“I think that having a mentor this last year has really gotten me on the right track for high school. I give the mentoring program an A because it helped me to get focused, teased out pertinent information and make a wise decision. Even though I had a parent that was helpful as well, I had many classmates who were lost in the process. By having a knowledgeable person help with what could be an overwhelming process was exceptional.” –Tabitha Elder, Student at Spencer