The Rochelle Elementary School District board heard a bilingual/dual language programming update Tuesday, Jan. 13, from District Language Services Director Celeste Canfield.

Current enrollment in the dual language program is 348 students. About 50% of those students are in the “developing” phase, meaning they’re producing more language in domains of listening, reading, writing and speaking.

The district’s goal is to see 25% of students at each level increase their reading and writing proficiency by one metric.

“We’ve seen some growth after our last winter benchmark scores,” Canfield said. “It’s great to see that progression continuing on with each of the buildings.”

District dual language program students recently reached eighth grade in the program, and next year the program will send its first class of students to Rochelle Township High School. A second dual language cohort will start at Rochelle Middle School as well next year.

“This has been a planning year for us with RTHS staff and being able to prepare for our students to go there and transition into that environment,” Canfield said. “It’s been really exciting to see how motivated students are for that transition and how RTHS staff is getting prepared for their arrival next year.”

Canfield said the elementary school district now has an expanded representation of Spanish speakers enrolled in schools.

“Typically we have had Spanish speakers come from Mexico,” Canfield said. “Now we have other countries such as Colombia, Cuba, Guatemala, Peru and Spain represented. We really have a special mix of students that are Spanish speaking now enrolled. We also get to embed some of that within our curriculum and they get to see some of their cultures represented in programming.”

Canfield said the district wants to see its dual language program students achieve the Seal of Biliteracy and recently found an assessment to track their progress toward it. About 85% of seventh graders recently tested at or above the desired benchmark. About 76 fifth grade students are at or above the desired benchmark.

RMS Grading

The board heard an update from RMS Principal Katie Smith regarding the potential future change from standards-based grading to a more traditional grading system.

Last spring, RMS teachers raised concerns about the effectiveness of standards-based grading and a climate and culture survey was sent out to teachers and it was evaluated that a change was a priority in the building, Smith said. A principal advisory committee agreed with the need for a change.

“Some of the needs highlighted were strengthening students’ academic behaviors and a desire to prepare students as they transition to RTHS,” Smith said. “Staff also recognized that they had put in a significant effort in the past five years on standards-based grading and practices. However, over time they’re noticing it’s not as effective as they had hoped.”

Smith said ongoing challenges include inconsistent impact on student motivation and engagement and maintaining consistency across grade levels and content areas. Fifty-six percent of RMS staff joined the school one to four years ago, Smith said, which has also caused complications with the standards-based grading practice.

Smith said at parent-teacher conferences, families “frequently” express confusion and ask questions about standards-based grading at RMS.

RMS is the only middle school in a 30-mile radius that uses standards-based grading. Most school districts use standards-based grading kindergarten through fifth grade and transition to traditional A-F grading in middle school to prepare for high school, Smith said.

Smith said the RMS principal advisory committee wants to develop a grading policy that incorporates traditional A-F reporting while also holding on to standards-based grading practices such as detailed feedback, using performance descriptors and rubrics, and opportunities for redos and retakes.

“Once the grading policy is developed, we’d provide an update with clear communication to students and families so they understand what they’re coming into in August,” Smith said. “Our principal advisory committee did a great job of bringing their concerns and issues forward and being solutions-oriented.”

District Superintendent Jason Harper said a transition to a modified grading system at RMS will be brought before the board for a vote next month and the change would begin at the start of the 2026-2027 school year at RMS.

Personnel

The board unanimously approved changes to certified personnel, including in the resignations of Emmanuel Hernandez (art teacher) and Josie McCune (third grade dual language teacher, end of 2025-26 school year) and the employment of John Dobbs (art teacher, long-term substitute).

In extracurricular personnel, the board unanimously approved the resignation of Hernandez as art supervisor and the employment of Mike Green as math coach.