60-Second Strategy: Pom-Pom Jar

Housed in the Chinatown neighborhood in Chicago, John C. Haines Elementary school is decorated with colorful Chinese mosaics, murals, and characters, a recognition of the considerable ethnic and linguistic diversity at the school, where nearly one-third of all students are immigrants and English language learners.

Practices throughout the pre-K to 8 school—where more than 90 percent of students are economically disadvantaged—encourage students to take pride in their identities and develop strong social and emotional competencies like communication with and empathy for others. The curricula and materials used in classrooms honor the diversity of students’ languages and cultures, including a recent Mandarin dual-language pilot program.

Recognized as one of the highest-performing public schools in Illinois, Haines Elementary has proven that giving equal weight to social and emotional development and academics brings about success:

• Performed in the top 10 percent of schools statewide in 2018,with no underperforming student groups, which meriteda ranking of “exemplary school” by the state of Illinois.
• Selected as a 2016 National Title 1 Distinguished School.
• Achieved Level 1+ for the past five years (since 2013),the highest ranking on Chicago Public Schools’ SchoolQuality Rating Policy (SQRP), which measures a broadrange of indicators such as test scores, culture and climate, attendance and graduation rates, and more.