Schools

Wendt Talks Growth, Challenges at Oswego Schools 'State of the District'

Wendt spoke on Wednesday, Feb. 19.

Submitted by Oswego District 308:

Oswego Community Unit School District 308 is now the eighth largest school district in the state and growing quickly.
 
Superintendent Dr. Matthew Wendt spoke to all certified teachers and staff, a group of more than 1,200, about district priorities, plans, and goals for the future at his State of the District address last Wednesday, Feb. 19, held in the Oswego East High School gymnasium.
 
“During one of the country’s worst recessions, we continued to increase in student enrollment,” Wendt said.
 
He spoke about the performance gap between whites and students of color in Community Unit School District 308, and how he wants to see that gap narrowed.
 
White students drastically outperformed students of color in both reading and math within the district from 2008 to 2013, he said.
 
For example, in mathematics, 90.3 percent of white students in the district met the “meets and exceeds” level during that time period, compared to 79.1 percent of Hispanic students, 71.4 percent of black students, and 73.1 percent of English Learners (EL). Wendt said that he wants to make it a district priority to take the measures necessary to close that student achievement gap.
 
“We have a curriculum review that is required in order to ensure that the birthright of all 18,000 students is met,” he said.
 
District 308 is rapidly growing and with that growth will come change, Wendt said.
 
He talked about what that change would look like by focusing on priorities approved by the Board of Education. He gave teachers and staff an idea of what it would take to make District 308 a world-class school district by offering suggested district goals to be achieved by 2020.
 
“We have to prepare our students to be able to compete internationally,” Wendt said.
 
To that end, Wendt talked about changing the culture within the district. School District 308 is currently the eighth largest in the state making it larger than CUSD 203 in Naperville. It is also one of the fastest growing districts with more than 300 new students this school year. Student enrollment is predicted to soon pass CUSD 365U in Romeoville.
 
Currently 17,265 students are enrolled in District 308 schools. By the 2017-18 school year, student enrollment is projected to reach 18,592.  
 
With that in mind, Wendt presented the district’s current priorities to those in attendance. One of the priorities is changing the way the district handles special education, Wendt said.
 
He noted that there is a 40 percent performance gap between general education and special education students. He wants that gap narrowed.
 
“We have a special education challenge before us,” he said.
 
The district will also be working toward implementing professional learning communities. The framework will give teachers the time to collaborate with other teachers within their departments and grade levels.
 
In the long term, the district will work toward implementing more online courses for students as well as dual-credit courses. Dual-credit courses give students an opportunity to earn college credits while in high school.
 
Current priorities also include ACT improvements, increasing staff retention, Common Core standards and curriculum, and teacher training.
 
Wendt is also looking to increase elementary, junior high, and high school academic performance by 2-3 percent each year between now and 2020.


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