Mitchell School has provided the West Town neighborhood with a quality education for over 100 years. The school name honors a dedicated pioneer in education, Ellen Mitchell, who was the first woman appointed to the Chicago Board of Education. Her spirit thrives within our dedicated staff, parent volunteers and community partners who daily collaborate to help students succeed.

 

School Overview

Mitchell is a Small School, serving fewer than 300 students in grades K-8. The safe, nurturing environment and high academic expectations help students excel as individuals and develop into literate, lifelong learners.

Mitchell School has designed curricula, instruction and assessments that align with the Illinois State Goals. The instructional process begins with identifying Standards and Performance Descriptors to be addressed during an academic year, and the development of authentic assessments that measure student progress as a result of instruction. Analysis of student understanding toward State Standards is consistent and ongoing. Our goal is to explicitly articulate what students know, understand, and are able to do by the end of each grade level. We meticulously construct, implement, and assess our high quality instruction and use Action Research to confirm that our students and their families are receiving the best urban public education.

 

The balanced literacy framework guides our reading and writing instruction. Mitchell School is part of the prestigious Literature and Writing Magnet Cluster School Initiative. We host poets, children’s book authors and illustrators to provide professional development to teachers and direct services to students. Students and staff take pride in being thoughtful readers and creative writers. Recent literacy successes include:

 

• Students published in the 2005& 2006 Anthology of Poetry by Young Americans, a national publication.

• Students published in Time for Poetry, a Chicago publication.

• 3rd place student at the 2006 Area Level Speech Arts competition.

• 1st place student at the 2005 Area Level Young Author Competition

 

Mitchell School implements an annual school-wide Reading Theme that serves as a framework for celebrating the home-school connection to literacy. Students are expected to independently read at least 10 books per Quarter outside of the school arena for the purposes of information gathering, research and pleasure. With the leadership of parent volunteers, we plan special events to honor progress made toward the goal. The theme for 2006-07 is “Reading: The Sport of Champions.”

 

We provide after school activities including team sports, book discussion groups, academic/homework assistance, and fine arts. For families in need of before and after-school services, we work with Onward House, a neighboring family services center.

Student Body

 

Mitchell School serves a population that includes Latino, African-American, Euro-American and Asian students. The most recent graduating students were proudly accepted at high schools including Lincoln Park, Whitney Young, Lane Tech, Nobel Charter, Steinmetz and Wells.

Staff Profile

 

The exemplary Mitchell faculty includes veteran, novice, and student teachers. Several staff members have achieved Master’s degrees or higher. Additionally, our teachers continuously engage in Graduate Level studies beyond their degree to pursue State endorsements in one or more core curricular areas. Currently, two dedicated teachers are pursuing the highest level of teacher accreditation, National Board Certification. The Principal of Mitchell School is the first Latino to achieve National Board Certification in Chicago and is the recipient of the esteemed Kohl/McCormick Early Childhood Teaching Award.

 

The combined efforts of students, staff, parents, and the community have enabled Mitchell School students to demonstrate tremendous growth on summative standardized tests. In June of 2005, Mayor Daley chose our school library as the backdrop for his announcement about improving test scores in the city of Chicago. He acknowledged the accomplishments of Mitchell and encouraged the entire school community to continue the great work. The State Board of Education also recently recognized Mitchell as a “School of Distinction” for meeting yearly progress goals.

 

As indicated in our SIPAAA, School Beautification is one of our next major endeavors. We are developing plans for a School/Community Garden with Skyline Design and the East Village Garden Club to create a safe-haven Green Space for students, families, and community members. We envision integrating our beautiful garden into the Mitchell School community by: aligning the garden planning and construction with the Illinois State Goals; involving students in the planning, building, and designing of the space; reaching out to community members and businesses; and creating sculpture, mosaic, and art projects. As we have in the past, the Mitchell School staff will continue to work toward increased rigor in student performance.