D-205 Letter Leaves Public 'Very Confused': Official

ELMHURST, IL — A letter about social studies and science in Elmhurst's elementary schools confused many in the community, the school board was told this week.

At a board meeting, residents speaking during public input said they thought the district was cutting out social studies and science after reading the letter.

The letter in question was sent to elementary school parents through each school's weekly newsletter last week. It said the district was enacting changes to focus on the goal of having students gain grade-level reading skills.

"In order to provide additional class time devoted to grade-level reading, we plan to reassign the 30 minute science and social studies block as additional reading or math time," the letter said. "We are not cutting science and social studies out completely; we are just making the necessary time for our relentless focus on every student achieving grade-level reading skills — the learning skills that empower students for their entire lives."

Board member Courtenae Trautmann, however, said many found the letter unclear.

"I think the community is very confused at the elementary level about social studies and science. I think many of these parents felt this was being eliminated from the curriculum and this was not being taught at all," Trautmann said. "Many of the public comments tonight expressed the same thing — that we need to do a better job at communication."

Trautmann wanted confirmation that the standards for social studies and science were being maintained and that the subjects were simply being incorporated into reading blocks.

Superintendent Dave Moyer confirmed that was the case.

"We can construct a follow-up communication that tries to reiterate that," he said. "People try to be clear in their communications, but it's possible that we didn't make things as clear as we thought we did."

Here is the letter that was given parents:

Standards Based Reporting and Instructional Time
In order to provide additional class time devoted to grade-level reading, we plan to reassign the 30 minute science and social studies block as additional reading or math time. We are not cutting science and social studies out completely; we are just making the necessary time for our relentless focus on every student achieving grade-level reading skills - the learning skills that empower students for their entire lives. To adjust, we will continue to enhance our reading and writing blocks with science and social studies content and students will still encounter science and social studies in ELA and Math.
Our D205 Mission is to accelerate learning for all students. We believe that:

• ALL students must learn and grow
• We accept shared responsibility for student growth
• We make decisions based on what is best for students
• We are a future-focused community of learners

Our reading curriculum integrates significant time for science and social studies content. Students are reading about these topics on a consistent basis in their K-5 classrooms as part of the common curriculum and among the individual book choices students make. In order to provide additional class time devoted to grade-level reading, we must reassign the 30 minute science and social studies block as additional reading/writing/math time. We will not report on science and social studies achievement on the standards-based report card at the elementary level during any grading period this year.