Creating and sustaining an environment of equity and inclusion at District 88

District 88 Interim Superintendent Dr. Jean Barbanente (pictured above) discusses the district’s continued efforts to provide an inclusive and equitable environment for all students, staff and community members as we continue to process the ongoing social and civil unrest throughout the country.

THE STRENGTH OF DIVERSITY
One of the greatest strengths of District 88 is the rich diversity represented among our students and staff. We have about 40 languages and more than 30 countries represented among our families, and almost half of the nearly 4,000 students at District 88 speak a language other than English at home. Our core values include ensuring all students, staff and community members feel safe, valued, respected and welcome at District 88 – regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity. We know equity is a journey and won’t be reached quickly or easily. However, we need to be relentless in our pursuit of equity, inclusion and the elimination of racism in District 88 and our communities.

DOING THE WORK
We have been committed to creating and sustaining an inclusive environment for all students through equity work, Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Youth Equity Stewardship (YES!) series for more than half a decade, and we have put in place many programs to assist with these initiatives. We are maintaining our efforts in those areas, and we also have implemented the District 88 C.A.R.E. Team (Committed to Academics, Resiliency and Equity) for students and staff to expand and deepen our work.

ENHANCING CONNECTION
We are making it a priority to allocate resources to reconnect students as we move toward a post-pandemic environment. We are recommending to our Board of Education to use federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds to coordinate the expansion of extracurricular offerings (clubs/activities and athletics) at Addison Trail and Willowbrook, making an effort to include more students from diverse backgrounds. We are committed to ensuring all of our students can access our programs without barriers and that our offerings attract students who might not have considered participating in the past. More information can be found at https://www.dupage88.net/site/page/12788.

As we continue to implement programs and services to better serve our diverse student population, we also will recommend to our Board of Education to approve a Director of Biliteracy position during the April 26 Board meeting. We are establishing this position in partnership with Addison School District 4 and in collaboration with District 45 and Salt Creek School District 48. This new role will focus on meeting the rigorous goal of biliteracy and the Illinois State Board of Education Seal of Biliteracy credential for District 88 students, as well as the analysis and review of the bilingual and dual-language curriculum and programming and the eventual recommendations for streamlining our continuum of services K-12. We know providing students the opportunity to maximize biliteracy skills will not only enhance academic achievement in both languages, but when done through a culturally responsive lens, also can improve motivation, instill a sense of pride, foster self-efficacy and open the doors to more credentialing and post-secondary academic opportunities.

SAFETY AND SECURITY
At District 88, the safety and well-being of our students and staff is our No. 1 priority and is always at the forefront of our work. Our relationships with our students, staff, parents/guardians and community are critical to providing safe schools, and we truly value those partnerships. Bullying of any kind is not tolerated at District 88, and there is a bullying hotline at each school. Anyone who wishes to make an anonymous report can call the hotline at 630-782-2801 (Addison Trail) or 630-782-2803 (Willowbrook). More information can be found at https://www.dupage88.net/site/page/12803.

Thank you for your continued support of District 88, and we look forward to partnering in this critical work to provide an inclusive and equitable environment at District 88.

With District 88 Pride,
Dr. Jean Barbanente
District 88 Interim Superintendent