Our community is ever changing, but the upcoming school year seems especially rife with new educational possibilities for local kiddos.
Here are some of the new schools and/or classrooms being added for fall 2014:
Campus Middle School for Boys Campus Middle School for Girls (disclosure: I teach there) just celebrated its 20th anniversary; now it’s time to let the boys start building their own history.
Slated to open in fall of 2014 at 304 S. Race St. in Urbana (in the basement of the First United Methodist Church near Lincoln Square Mall), the school will offer full-day schooling including core classes, arts, Spanish, P.E., and extra-curricular activities to boys entering middle school.
Currently there is a plan to hold sixth and seventh grade courses, but if there are enough incoming eighth graders there exists the possibility of adding that grade level as well. If there aren’t, the eight grade will be added as the current student body advances.
CMS is a private junior high to which anyone may apply (it does NOT have a religious affiliation).
Dual-Language Immersion Classrooms, Champaign Unit 4
Kindergarten/first grade classes that teach in both English and Spanish will open in the fall of 2014 at the former Carrie Busey School location on Kirby Avenue in Champaign. Plans are for the school to grow into a full K-5 in the coming years.
According to Unit 4’s website:
The new Dual Language Two-Way Immersion (TWI) Program will offer English/Spanish dual language bilingual education; classrooms will consist of roughly 50% native Spanish-speakers and 50% native English-speakers and will encourage bilingualism (speaking two languages), biculturalism (understanding two cultures), and bi-literacy (reading and writing in two language). Students will receive reading and writing instruction in both Spanish and English. Math, social studies and science instruction will also take place in both Spanish and English.
Montessori School of Champaign-Urbana Currently serving the needs of children from preschool-kindergarten using the unique Montessori approach, the school will add classes to cater to those in grades 1-6.
Montessori School will be adding a mixed 1-3 classroom, with grades 4-6 being added as their current group ages out of the younger class. The new classes will be held in recently-purchased building on the corner of Burwash and Regency drives in Savoy, which is currently undergoing renovations.
University Primary School University Private School has welcomed children from preschool through grade 3 for a number of years now, but will be adding 4th/5th grade classrooms in the fall 0f 2014. The educational programming at UPS is Reggio Emilia-inspired and learning is project-based.
University Primary (which has no affiliation with University High School) partners with the University for teacher training. It is, however, a private school. According to the website, if you want your child to be considered in the first round of applicants for the 2014-15 school year, submit your application by no later than Wednesday, March 19th.
Know of any other new options for the upcoming school year? Leave a comment!
Rachael McMillan teaches sixth and seventh grade history at Campus Middle School for Girls. She also tutors at The Reading Group and serves as the education coordinator for Ten Thousand Villages, a fair trade retailer in downtown Champaign. She is totally in love with her Chambana life, which she shares with husband Scott, third grader Jack, second grader Kate, and super smiley baby William.