Schools
Magnet Schools Gain Approval for Curriculum Changes
Bessie Rhodes and King Lab will move forward with hopes of specializing their curriculum and drawing more students from within District 65 as well as outside districts.
The Evanston/Skokie District 65 School Board voted unanimously Monday night to approve two new and distinct directions for its magnet schools Bessie Rhodes and King Lab.
The decision will mean a shift in curriculum for the two alternative schools; King lab will focus on fine arts and alter its official title to “Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Literary and Fine Arts School,” while Bessie Rhodes will focus on an increasingly connected, diverse world to become the “Dr. Bessie Rhodes School of Global Studies.”
The schools revamping projects were driven by their respective principals, teachers and PTA representatives, and came in response to the board’s directive over a year ago to pursue giving more specialized options to district parents while increasing the magnet schools draw from other districts.
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“The heart of what you’re seeing here with the transformation of these schools is what’s going to happen with the curriculum,” said Superintendent Dr. Hardy Murphy of the changes.
“I just want to say how glad I am to see this moving to this point. It’s wonderful to see,” said board member Bonnie Lockhart of the board’s decision.
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During the meeting, some concern was raised about the total cost for the schools’ new endeavors, which is still uncertain for the long run. Initial estimates for the implementation of King Lab’s new fine arts curriculum run at $59,000 over the next three years, while Bessie Rhodes is projected to cost $180,000 over the same time period, with a large portion of the funding ($108,000) going toward providing new teachers and materials for Mandarin Chinese courses. Representatives from Bessie Rhodes noted that they will be pursuing grant funding for these courses, thus reducing the estimated costs.
“This is just a guess for about three years,” said Assistant Superintendent Susan Schultz of the estimates. “I think everyone was very well aware [during the planning process] of what our financial picture looks like,” she added.
The school board also voted unanimously Monday night to hold a district-wide “Eco Power Challenge,” this coming April, Earth Month. Throughout the month, all schools choosing to participate will be giving instruction on energy usage and conservation to their students. Presentations will be given by representatives from Northwestern University and Exelon/ComEd, students will be shown how to read electric meters at their schools buildings, and graphs will be posted in school common areas charting the students’ progress on energy reduction for the month.
