This school year, the Voices of D303 Podcast is taking you inside our schools and classrooms, to hear from our staff about how we’re advancing our mission of…Together, Building Pathways to Excellence. 

In this episode (which also includes video of the full conversations), we visit several classrooms and student spaces at Wild Rose Elementary School and North High School. These are two of the schools that members of the D303 Communitywide Education Facilities Committee visited as part of their work in prioritizing potential facilities investments for the Committee’s report to the D303 School Board in April. All of the details of the Committee meetings and discussions are available here.

This school year, the Voices of D303 Podcast is taking you inside our classrooms, to hear from our educators about their work in advancing the D303 mission of: Together, Building Pathways to Excellence.

In this episode, we navigated the teeming Thompson Middle School hallways. There we talked with 8th grade teacher Sandy Ishaq’s and Principal Matt Clark about the critical middle school years and the importance of the "teaming" model. Learn how Thompson educators work together to support and provide students with individualized attention while also fostering independent learning and growth skills, along with the challenges posed by Thompson’s exceptionally large (nearly 1400-student) enrollment.

As part of D303’s Student Attendance Campaign this year, the district hosted a parent-education and empowerment series with contextual-behavioral psychologist Dr. Megan Schmitz of Vital Living Wellness Solutions. In this special episode of the Voices of D303 Podcast, we talk with Dr. Schmitz about the topics covered in her three-part series and how her expertise can help remove barriers that may be in the way of strong and regular student attendance.

Families interested in accessing the video recordings of the parent-education and empowerment series can contact Dr. Schmitz at [email protected].

In this episode, we visit the classroom of Bell Graham 4th grade lead teacher Ruth Vostal to talk with her and Principal Amy Kleuppel about how educators come together in Professional Learning Communities to build a culture around the D303 core values of Achievement, Belonging, and Perseverance. We also discuss how the entire Bell-Graham community works together to build pathways to excellence for their kindergarten through 5th-grade students.

A big congratulations to Bell Graham Elementary School, which is one of D303’s 7 schools that just received the highest “Exemplary” rating on the 2025 Illinois State Report Card. 

This school year, the Voices of D303 Podcast is taking you inside our classrooms, to hear from our educators about their work in advancing the D303 mission of: Together, Building Pathways to Excellence.

In episode 2, we’re talking and thinking in the Think Tank located inside the library at St. Charles North High School. Our guests are two fabulous Department Chairs at North: Stephanie Dodd (Fine Arts) and Jennifer Anderson (Mathematics). They bring such a rich depth of experience to their work with students, educators and North. Our conversation brings to life the power of the D303 focus on “Together” in building pathways to excellence for our students.

This school year, the Voices of D303 Podcast is taking you inside our classrooms, to hear from our educators about their work in advancing the D303 mission of: Together, Building Pathways to Excellence.

In our first episode, we stopped by Classroom B218 at St. Charles East High School to talk with the school’s Department Chairs Cara Drexler (English) and Andy Ehrhardt (Social Studies) about the classroom work they do and how they support other teachers in ensuring East students get a solid foundation in these core subjects to help put them on their pathway.

This is Part 2 of our special Class of 2025 Episode of the Voices of D303 Podcast. To close out the 2024-25 school year, we’ve spotlighted some outstanding members of our Class of ’25. When we recorded Part 1, St. Charles North High School Student Body President Anna Gagne was traveling overseas with her family. So we waited for her to return to St. Charles so she could talk with us about her fabulous summer travel, her time at North, and her college plans and future pathway.

This year-end episode of the Voices of D303 podcast spotlights three outstanding members of our Class of 2025–James Shimon, Ellen Jahoda, and Tanner Karsjen. They talk with Dr. Gordon about finding their pathways and their “people,” as well as the experiences they most treasure and most look forward to as they get ready to head off to college.

This year-end episode of the Voices of D303 podcast spotlights three outstanding members of our Class of 2025–James Shimon, Ellen Jahoda, and Tanner Karsjen. They talk with Dr. Gordon about finding their pathways and their “people,” as well as the experiences they most treasure and most look forward to as they get ready to head off to college.

Effective Collaboration is one of three key priorities in the District 303 Strategic Plan, and Professional Learning Communities, or PLCs, play a vital role in bringing this priority to life. PLCs are thriving in every school across the district, including Corron Elementary, where educators are seeing a significant impact from collaborative teaching. Corron Principal Christine Balaskovits and 5th Grade PLC Leader Erik Robinson recently joined the Voices of District 303 podcast to share their insights on what makes PLCs so effective.

A key theme of their discussion was the importance of vulnerability—teachers openly sharing data and welcoming peer feedback. Even veteran educators are prioritizing transparency and continuously reflecting on their strategies to ensure the best outcomes for students.

“Because it’s all about the students, they’re not afraid to ask for help,” Balaskovits said. “Just because you’re the leader doesn’t mean you’re always going to have the best data, the most growth.”

Many PLCs, including Robinson’s, bring together educators with a range of experience levels. This mix of perspectives allows teams to blend time-tested teaching strategies with innovative, research-based approaches to enhance student learning. Robinson explained how this collaboration leads to dynamic problem-solving. 

“We are bringing not only the old tried and true methods, but we are also bringing the new methods that research is uncovering. We’re able to try a lot of different things to see what works,” he said. “Some classes try one thing, other classes try another thing, we all come together to see what’s working, what we can go forward with, what do we need to adjust, what did you do that I want to try, or what can I give you that you might want to try to help your students achieve more.”