Article Summary: The Crete-Monee Board of Education has approved the 2025-2026 School Improvement Plans (SIPs) for all eight schools in the district. The plans, which are a federal requirement for Title I schools, set specific academic goals and strategic initiatives for the upcoming school year.

School Improvement Plans Key Points:

• The board approved annual School Improvement Plans for all eight of the district’s schools.

• The plans outline specific goals in areas like literacy and math, based on needs assessments and data analysis.

• Strategies include initiatives such as implementing Cornell Notes at the high school and using explicit teaching for reading at Crete Elementary.

CRETE — The Crete-Monee Board of Education gave its official approval to the 2025-2026 School Improvement Plans (SIPs) for all schools in the district at its meeting on August 12. The annual plans are a requirement for districts receiving Title I federal funding and serve as a roadmap for academic progress.

In a memo to the board, Dr. Ghantel Perkins, Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning, explained that the plans include a needs assessment, specific achievement targets, and the strategies designed to meet those targets. The district has streamlined the process so that one comprehensive plan for each school meets the requirements for both Title I and other grant programs.

The approved plans cover Balmoral Elementary, Crete Elementary, Monee Elementary, Talala Elementary, the Early Learning Center, Coretta Scott King Magnet School, Crete-Monee Middle School, and Crete-Monee High School.

Each plan details specific strategies tailored to the school’s needs. For example, the Crete-Monee High School plan outlines a strategy to use Cornell Notes and annotation techniques to improve students’ ability to determine central ideas and understand vocabulary in context. At Crete Elementary, one strategy focuses on using explicit teaching in Tier 1 instruction to enhance students’ ability to interact with grade-level text.

These plans are funded through a combination of federal, state, and local dollars and are central to the district’s strategic goals of ensuring instructional quality and effectiveness.