Curriculum & Standards

In English and language arts (ELA), students learn to read and write. Along with stories and literature, they read non-fiction texts that provide facts and background knowledge in areas including science and social studies. They read challenging texts and are asked more questions that will require them to refer back to what they have read and to use higher-order thinking skills to make meaning. There is also an emphasis on building a strong vocabulary so students can read and understand challenging material.

Reading Intervention Programs

District 2 has reading specialists working at all of its schools in partnership with the classroom teachers in supporting student’s literacy needs.

Students in Grades K-8 are taught by fine arts specialists who extend student knowledge, understanding, and appreciation for the various art forms. In kindergarten, music is used to support student literacy development, build social interaction, and coordinate movement skills. In Grades 1-8, students are given opportunities to listen, improvise, compose, and perform music. In visual arts (Grades K-8), students are taught drawing, painting, sculpture, graphics, and various types of media.

Visual Arts

In visual arts, students in Grades K-8 are taught drawing, painting, sculpture, graphics, and various types of media. Art is a rotation in the middle school's Encore program. Encore art students conduct art research and create an artifact or image. They also learn how to read a painting based on the elements of art.

Music

In kindergarten, music is used to support student literacy development, build social interaction, and coordinate movement skills. In Grades 1-8, students are given opportunities to listen, improvise, compose, and perform music. Music is a rotation in the middle school's Encore program. Encore music students discover the evolution of “pop” music, exploring how music has changed and evolved into current pop music. They also compose songs and music and create rhythms using instruments, iPads, and additional electronics.

Instrumental Music

A band program is provided for students in Grades 5-8. Band gives students an opportunity to develop, enrich, and refine instrumental performing skills. Public performances are part of the program. Grades 4-5 have opportunities to participate in chorus, hand chimes, Orff Club and Music Makers.

Chorus

Grades 3-5 and middle school students are given the opportunity to develop and refine their vocal skills through participation in a mixed chorus. Public performances are scheduled during the school year.

Parents/guardians may request the opportunity to preview all materials used for instructional purposes on AIDS, family life instruction, sex abuse, anabolic steroids, or organ/tissue transplantation. Parents/guardians will be given at least five days written notice before instruction on avoiding sex abuse begins.

No student shall be required to take or participate in any class or course on AIDS, family life instruction, sex abuse, or organ/tissue transplantation if the student’s parent/guardian submits a written objection to the school’s principal. Refusal to take or participate in any such course or program shall not be reason for disciplinary action or academic penalty.

In mathematics, teachers concentrate on teaching a more focused set of major math concepts and skills. This allows  students time to master key math concepts and skills in a more organized way throughout the year and from one grade to the next. Teachers use rich and challenging math content to engage students in solving real-world problems and to reason logically in order to inspire greater interest in mathematics. Conversations about math and collaboration with peers is another component of engaging, hands-on math instruction that builds conceptual understanding.

Math Intervention Programs

District 2 has math interventionists that work in all schools. These individuals partner with classroom teachers to support students' instructional needs in math.

Physical education is taught in a developmentally planned and sequential curriculum that fosters the development of movement skills, enhances health-related fitness, increases students’ knowledge, offers direct opportunities to learn how to work cooperatively in a group setting, and encourages healthy habits and attitudes for a healthy lifestyle. Health and safety are also studied.

Unless otherwise exempted, all students are required to participate daily in P.E. class. A student may be excused from P.E. due to physical limitations or illness up to three days with a note from the student’s parent(s)/guardian(s). Any illness or injury requiring more than three days exclusion from participation must be accompanied by a physician’s note stating the reason for the excuse and the length of time the excuse will run. A student who is excused from participating in P.E. may receive alternative assignments relative to the current topic and may not participate in outdoor recess to prevent the student from exceeding physical limitations.

Illinois’ current science standards became effective in February 2014 and are based on the Next Generation Science Standards. These standards focus on the big ideas in science, and emphasize the common practices that scientists use every day, such as planning investigations, developing models, and designing solutions. They encourage students to learn the processes of science in a deep, meaningful way through first-hand investigative experiences, instead of just memorizing facts for a test. 

Hands-on experimentation and instruction are used to give students scientific knowledge and skills in the areas of earth, life, and physical science. Building upon students' natural curiosity about the world around them, students become engaged in lessons which explore science standards as well as integrate reading and math. Our science classes help our students to become problem solvers and to ask questions prompted by their observations. Proper safety procedures are followed including use of protective goggles and availability of eye wash stations within the middle school.

Illinois Social Science Standards became effective in July 2021. Learning experiences in history, geography, and economics are provided to children in the District 2 social science program. Children study citizenship, community, cultures, freedom and justice, government, human rights, and natural and human resources. 

In addition, all schools hold an educational program on the United States Constitution on Constitution Day each September 17 to commemorate the September 17, 1787, signing of the Constitution. 

The curriculum also includes a unit of instruction on the Holocaust and crimes of genocide, including Nazi atrocities of 1933-1945, Armenian genocide, the famine/genocide in Ukraine, and more recent atrocities in Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda, and Sudan. 

In all schools, the curriculum includes a unit of instruction on the history, struggles, and contributions of women, and a unit of instruction on Black History, including the history of the African slave trade, slavery in America, and the vestiges of slavery in this country, as well as the struggles and contributions of African-Americans. 

The social science curriculum also meets the Illinois Teaching Equitable Asian American Community History (TEAACH) Act that requires that students  learn about the contributions of Asian Americans to the economic, cultural, social, and political development of the United States.

All sixth-grade students receive an Encore rotation of Spanish, and students in Grades 7-8 may choose Spanish as an elective. In seventh grade, Spanish students cover greetings and basic conversational Spanish, people, descriptions, daily activities, sports, food and restaurants, and Latin American countries and culture. In eighth grade, Spanish students discover Hispanic culture through virtual trips to Mexico, Chile, and Argentina, and they learn vocabulary and phrases related to activities at home, sports, going on vacation, purchasing food at restaurants, and shopping at the mall.