Alyssandra Jaquith

Framework: Site Description

I work at Patrick Henry Elementary School (sometimes referred to as Henry Elementary)
in Chicago, IL. Patrick Henry is a Pre-K through 6th grade, district run school through the
Chicago Public Schools System. It is a neighborhood school located on the northwest side of the
city in an area called Irving Park. The school is 96.6% low income and 49% of students are
English Language Learners. Approximately 82.6% of students are Latino, 7.5% are White, 4.6%
are Black, 2.7% Asian, 0.7% American Indian, 1.3% Two or More Races, and 0.4% Pacific
Islander. We have 15% student mobility, which is lower than the district rate, but higher than the
state rate. 0.9% of the student population is homeless. Additionally, we have 13.8% of students
with disabilities. There is no available disaggregated enrollment information on the proportion of
boys and girls enrolled at Henry, however a rough estimate is approximately 40% girls and 60%
boys. Enrollment has been slowly declining over the last 20 years as wealthier white families are
moving into the neighborhood buying and developing new homes, while driving rent prices up and
the families that our school serves out.
Our school is involved in a variety of programs this year. Our principal is very invested in
the Schooling by Design framework and we have deconstructed our schools mission and vision
in order to better align teacher and student mindset around our work. Teachers were trained in the
Unit by Design process and staff is currently writing Units for Literacy for the entire year. We
follow the Go Math! curriculum for math, and loosely follow Lucy Calkins for writing. Most
teachers use the Daily 5 structure (or some variation of it) for centers/stations based Literacy and
small group, guided-reading instruction. We do not follow any scripted curriculum. This year we
were granted a $280,000 grant through Breakthrough Schools, funded by Next Generation, to
implement a personalized learning program. This involves less direct instruction and more
intentional planning around student choice, student interest, and tracking student growth through a
competency based progression. I will be piloting this project in my 2nd grade classroom this year.
Students travel to specials classes for 1 hour/day taught by a different teacher. They go to
the following specials classes: Science, Health, Gym, World Language, and Art. Additionally,
each classroom has access to technology. The K-1st grade classrooms have access to iPads
(approx 15-20/room). The 2nd-6th grade classrooms have access to chrome books (15-30/room).
We also have a school-wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) system. I
submit lesson plans on a weekly basis through a Google drive shared folder for all staff members.
This is where all documents for the school are stored.
For the last two years I taught in a 1st grade bilingual classroom. This year I looped with
my students, so I am now teaching 2nd grade in a bilingual classroom. I have 23 students; 13 boys
and 10 girls. All of my students are native Spanish speakers, but their English proficiency varies
greatly. My students received instruction in reading and math in Spanish for K-1, and will be
challenged to use more English in 2nd grade. I currently have 4 special-needs students in my
classroom. Three are serviced through inclusion minutes (a special education teacher co-teaches
with me for 2 hours a day) and one is serviced through separate setting minutes for 2 hours a day.
My students academic proficiency varies greatly. Interestingly, most of my students are either at
grade level, or far below grade level. Few are slightly below grade level standards.
The 2nd grade team consists of two bilingual classrooms and one ESL classroom. This
year I am the chair of the 2nd grade team. I am also a part of the Instructional Leadership Team
(ILT), the Language Matters/UBD initiative, and the Summer Design team. I am very involved in
the academic and leadership decisions for our school.

Relevant links:
School system website: http://cps.edu/Schools/Find_a_school/Pages/findaschool.aspx
State report card website:
https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/School.aspx?schoolid=150162990252260
Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) Report Card:
http://webprod.isbe.net/ereportcard/publicsite/searchBySchool.aspx?searchby=schoolName&lang
uage=english&year=2015&keyword=Henry%20Elem%20School&type=card and
http://webprod.isbe.net/ereportcard/publicsite/getReport.aspx?year=2015&code=1501629902260_
e.pdf