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Focus Areas
The board determined four areas to focus on to make more widespread impacts to the schools, teachers, and students in the district. The following areas are where we have decided to commit ourselves for the next few years. We are invested in these focus areas and believe they can bring about transformative change and measurable results. If you have any ideas of how we can create an impact in any of these focus areas, please contact us.
A student cannot progress to higher levels of growth (think Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs) until their lower level needs have been met first. Counseling for students begins to address some of the lower level needs of a child with a hope that the child can begin to progress up the hierarchy. When we help one child succeed, we help everyone succeed because students who receive counseling show great improvements in the classroom, ranging from better performance on school work to fewer behavioral referrals. While the district provides certain services for counseling, those services need to be increased to adequately meet the needs of the students in the district. Click here to learn more about our Counseling for Students focus area
School-readiness begins at birth. Studies show children who participate in early learning programs develop early language skills and improved social and emotional skills. This early development has lasting impacts on later success in school and in adult life.
KEF hopes to give every child under 5 the opportunity to participate in early learning programs, starting at birth until they enter kindergarten. Children will benefit from early learning by helping them to achieve academic concepts needed for Kindergarten, socialization within an organized learning environment, socialization with other children, and better communication skills as they relate to language, vocabulary, listening, and expressing their thoughts. Both private and public preschools in our district are operating at very close to their maximum capacity, and there are still many preschool age children who do not currently attend preschool. Click here to learn more about our Preschool and Early Learning focus area.
Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) are fields which require skills that are critical when competing for 21st century jobs. Like many districts, Kane County is trying to increase the aptitude and interest for STEM. KEF supports the district in this endeavor by providing accessibility to programs, augmenting teacher resources, exposing STEM to students early on, and finding ways to get students interested in STEM careers. Click here to learn more about our STEM focus area.
Education in the arts is an integral part of the development of each human being. Those who have studied learning processes throughout the ages, beginning with Plato, have emphasized the importance of the arts in the education process. Arts education refers to education in the disciplines of music, dance, theatre, and visual arts. Study in the arts is integral to our society. They are a part of the cultural heritage of every American. The arts are what make us most human, most complete as people. Sufficient data exists to overwhelmingly support the belief that study and participation in the fine arts is a key component in improving learning throughout all academic areas. Click here to learn more about our Fine Arts Programs.