SEL in Illinois » CASEL Work » Collaborating Sites

• Catlin School District #5
• Cossitt Elementary School, District #102
• Consolidated School District #181
• Mill Street Elementary School, District #203
• Spry Community School, District #299
• Williams Elementary and Williams Preparatory Academy, District #299

Mill Street Elementary School, District #203
Naperville, IL

School web site: http://www.ncusd203.org/millst/

Mill Street Elementary School Mission Statement
Our mission, as educators at Mill Street School, is to create a center of learning where all students: develop academically to their full potential in all subject areas; become life long learners by accessing, evaluating, and applying information; think creatively, integrate information, and work cooperatively to solve real life problems; and learn to make decisions that lead to honest behaviors, self- reliance, productive citizenship, and respect for all people.

District 203 SEL Policy
In response to the 2003 Illinois Children's Mental Health Act, District 203 adopted the following policy regarding student social and emotional development:

Student social and emotional development shall be incorporated in the District's educational program and shall be consistent with the social and emotional development standards to be contained in the Illinois Learning Standards. The objectives for addressing the needs of students for social and emotional development through the education programs are to:

• Enhance students' school readiness, academic success, and use of good citizenship skills;
• Foster a safe, supportive learning environment where students feel respected and valued;
• Teach social and emotional skills to all students;
• Partner with families and the community to promote students' social and emotional development; and
• Prevent or minimize mental health problems in students

Mill Street Elementary School serves the suburban community of Naperville, Illinois, which is located 30 miles outside of Chicago. Approximately 775 children attend Mill Street in grades Kindergarten through Fifth. The entire school community of teachers, staff, and parents is deeply caring and dedicated to the children they are charged with educating. Parents are highly involved through the Home/School Association, and there is a strong tradition of volunteering in classrooms and active engagement with the school to enhance the school community.

Mill Street's school improvement plan includes a commitment to helping students “learn skills and strategies to improve their social development”. As one part of Mill Street school's efforst to meet that goal, staff have been implementing the I Can Problem Solve (ICPS) social and emotional skill-building program for almost 10 years. During the 2004-2005 school year. Mill Street completed a comprehensive needs assessment, surveying staff, students and families. Currently staff are in the process of using the data to refine and enhance their SEL planning and programming.

As a CASEL Collaborating Site, Mill Street Elementary School has established the following short-term objectives for the further development of their SEL practice. Specifically, Mill Street is working to:

• Interpret the results of a needs assessment that gathered information from students, staff, and parents about the social and emotional culture of the school and the effectiveness of ICPS, with the goal of improving SEL planning and programming at the school
• Share the results of the needs assessment with the entire school community in a way that will facilitate the understanding and use of the data collected
• Use the assessment to determine next steps to take regarding SEL programming based on this information.