SEL in Illinois » CASEL Work » Collaborating Sites

• Catlin School District #5
• Cossitt Elementary School, District #102
• Consolidated School District #181
• Mill Street Elementary School, District #203
• Spry Community School, District #299
• Williams Elementary and Williams Preparatory Academy, District #299

Spry Community School, District #299
Chicago, IL

School web site: http://www.spry.cps.k12.il.us/
For an introduction to the educational philosophy and student learning opportunities at Spry Community School, watch a short video segment about the school created by the George Lucas Educational Foundation.

John Spry Community School Mission Statement
We believe that students of all abilities can learn. The mission at John Spry Community School is to provide an academic program that emphasizes literacy and challenges all students to become lifetime learners who respect themselves, others, and their environment.

District 299 SEL Policy
In response to the 2003 Illinois Children's Mental Health Act, District 299 adopted the following policy regarding student social and emotional development:

Since children’s social and emotional development is essential underpinnings to school readiness and academic success, the Chicago Public Schools (“CPS”) will incorporate social and emotional development into the CPS educational program. The goals for addressing these student developmental needs through an educational program are to:

• Enhance student school readiness, academic success and use of good citizenship skills;
• Foster a safe, supportive learning environment where students feel respected and valued;
• Teach social and emotional skills to all students; and
• Promote student social and emotional well-being by partnering with families and
  communities.

Click here to view the policy in its entirety.

John Spry Community School is a pre-kindergarten through high school Chicago Public School which serves approximately 1000 students in the Little Village neighborhood on Chicago's west side. As a community school, Spry reaches out to both parents and partner organizations to assist in educating its students. Spry is committed to increasing student academic achievement and students' attainment of post-secondary education. As part of this vision, Spry offers a wide variety of after-school programming to its students, including academic tutoring programs, recreational activities, and organized sports. Spry also provides programming for families, including GED and ESL classes.

In 2003, Spry expanded its mission to include an innovative secondary education opportunity for youth in its community. New Links Community High School is a small three-year, year-round high school program. It engages students in a personalized environment with an emphasis on academics, service learning and work components. In order to create linkages between the high school and elementary school, the high school students tutor, mentor and provide supports in the elementary classrooms.

The principal and staff at Spry Community School are dedicated to the school's community vision and to the success of their students . Spry works with many different foundations and programs to serve the needs of its students and their families. Spry's collaboration with CASEL focuses on the creation a comprehensive approach to students' academic, social, and emotional skills development within a community school framework.

As a CASEL Collaborating Site, Spry Community School has established the following short-term objectives for integrating SEL programming into the wider community school mission of the school. Specifically, CASEL and Spry are working to:

• Create opportunities for the entire staff to learn about the principles of SEL, how SEL and academics work together to promote student success, and how to integrate the new Illinois SEL Learning Standards into their teaching.
• Conduct a needs assessment to assess the social and emotional strengths and challenges at Spry to ensure that the social and emotional programming implemented at Spry addresses identified areas of need.
• Provide training and technical assistance to the Kindergarten through Second grade staff as they develop an action plan for the integration of SEL programming into their curriculum