News From the Principal

Dawn Voss

Betterment For All!
For students, teachers and administrators alike,
making everyone at Ed-Co better is a constant
focus. All three of these groups collaborate with
each other and are challenged to think in different
ways each day. We encourage students to challenge
the teachers to think, because the teachers are
regularly asking the students to analyze and apply
new information to their own lives.

Students learn valuable information in each of
their classes, as well as how to be good citizens
during weekly advisory lessons. Studies done by
Chicago public schools have shown that attendance
plays an enormous role in the student’s academic
success. Even the slightest amount of school missed
increases the likelihood of a student to struggle in
classes or even drop out. When teens miss class,
they miss out on important learning. Ed-Co teachers
work hard to challenge each and every student to
be better than they currently are, and having the
student in class as much as possible will only help.

One way the teachers are getting better is through
observing each other. We have some great staff
members in this building, and this year is the third
year that each teacher will observe several others
through out the year. The observation is important
for the staff member to learn a new technique, but
more importantly is the conversation that takes
place after the observation. The staff members do
not evaluate anyone, but instead question each other
to try and improve on what they saw, or take to their
own class a strategy that worked well. Another way
teachers are bettering themselves is going on walk-
throughs with administration in order to have that
valuable conversation afterward to discuss what
they saw, and whether they thought students were
being academically challenged. A walk-through
is a 5-minute stop into a classroom to get a quick
picture of the level of engaging task the student
is involved in and what the teacher is doing to
enhance the learning.