Central Middle School Makes Elite List of National Schools to Watch

The familiar quote, “Without risk, there is no reward” holds true for Central Middle School (CMS) of District 124. Being critiqued can be rather intimidating for most people. Nevertheless, CMS Principal, Rita Sparks, and her leadership team solicited the Association of Illinois Middle-Grade Schools (AIMS) to bring in a panel of their elite educators for a full day of observation. The outcome left them leaping with joy.

AIMS selected CMS as one of 2016’s newest National Schools to Watch!

The AIMS panel visited Friday, January 29th as part of the District’s application for the National Schools to Watch program, an initiative launched in 1999 by the National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform. Their objective is to identify schools across the United States that embody exemplary performance in academic excellence, developmental responsiveness, and social equity.

“I wasn’t sure if we’d meet the standards in all three categories,” said Mrs. Sparks.

She said her curiosity spiked after joining the AIMS Network two years ago.

“My leadership team and I decided to do a self-study. The standard is to have at least 50% of your staff’s participation, we had 90%. The rubric shows your strengths and areas of concern. Based on our findings, we felt ready to write the application to see what would happen.”

Mrs. Sparks hasn’t solely relied on a self-study to prepare for this designation. As a member of the AIMS Network she attended workshops and took part in various roundtable discussions where she gained valuable insight on enhancing programs, practices and policies. She also credits District 124 for their commitment to invest in District wide programs like Rachael’s Challenge.

Rachael Scott was the first student killed in a 1999 school shooting in Columbine, CO. The organization, which Rachael’s family started in her memory, is on a mission to motivate, educate and bring positive changes to young people.

CMS has applied what they’ve learned from Rachael’s Challenge and incorporated acts of kindness along with anti-bullying initiatives into their 4SADD Program. Mrs. Sparks explained, “The acronym stands for (Students Against Destructive Decisions). There’s about 80 students comprised of all grade levels. They promote positivity in various ways throughout the building.”

Mrs. Sparks said she doesn’t believe CMS students have grasped how their daily efforts aided this designation. “We were vague with the students about the AIMS visit to keep the evaluation process natural. AIMS didn’t want a dog and pony show. They wanted to see who we were authentically,” she explained. “We randomly selected students from each grade for the student panel to ensure it was a true representation of who we are.”

District 124 Superintendent, Dr. Robert Machak, said the decision came sooner than everyone expected. “We were told we could expect a decision within two weeks. Instead, they contacted Mrs. Sparks before 5:00pm that same afternoon.”

Mrs. Sparks smiled. “This is a really big deal to us. We were told AIMS is only evaluating 10 schools in Illinois in 2016, of them CMS was the only school up for an initial designation. The others are being evaluated for re-designation. Turns out we were the first school in 2016 to earn the Schools to Watch designation,” she stated excitedly.

Dr. Machak said visitors were obviously and rightfully impressed with the students, parents, and staff at Central. “One principal visiting told me, ‘The Central students are the most polite group of kids I’ve ever seen in all my years working in middle school,’” shared Dr. Machak. “AIMS panel was equally impressed with the contribution and involvement of our parent community, the level of supports in place for struggling learners, and dedication of Central’s teaching staff.”

Mrs. Sparks said AIMS will return for a presentation to the entire student body. Additionally, Mrs. Sparks and her leadership team will be traveling to Washington, DC this summer to attend an AIMS conference where they will be honored at a formal gala.