May 13, 2025 Update
Good afternoon,
Our Rockford Public Schools’ Board of Education met on Monday, May 12. Key agenda items included the following:
- Approved an 11th grade English curriculum
- Approved updated polices
- Highlighted our DK-5th grade STEAM program
You can access the board meeting agenda on our district website or through this link: Board of Education - Our District - Rockford Public Schools
I also wanted to alert parents, especially of secondary students, about a TikTok challenge that seems to be making the rounds. Students across multiple school districts, including in Kent County, are deliberately causing electrical short circuits in Chromebook devices by inserting metal objects (paper clips, pushpins, pencil lead) into USB ports. The trend is called the #chromebookchallenge. This dangerous trend:
- Causes fires, smoke, and potential battery explosions
- Has led to school evacuations in multiple districts
- Creates serious safety hazards, including toxic fumes
- Results in costly device damage (which families may be responsible for)
- Can lead to suspension, expulsion, and criminal charges, including vandalism or arson
- Diverts unnecessary first responder resources to the school
If you could talk with your students and make them aware that this is not acceptable behavior, we would appreciate it. It could, obviously lead to dangerous situations but also result in discipline. It would also lead to your family being responsible for replacing a Chromebook.
We have several graduation events coming in the next few weeks:
- Rockford High School – May 19
- River Valley Academy – May 29
- Rockford Adult Education – June 4
We congratulate the graduates and celebrate with them this good news.
Steve
Dr. Steve Matthews
Superintendent
Rockford Public Schools
Parkside Discussion:
Questions about Teacher Collaboration
This document is intended to answer questions that have arisen as we have begun a conversation about repurposing Parkside Elementary to an Early Childhood Center.
The importance of teacher collaboration:
When schools have only one teacher per grade level, students miss out on the advantages of a collaborative teaching team working together daily. This includes teamwork, shared expertise, and differentiated instruction. Having at least two grade level sections in each building where teachers are collaborating together ensures that every child receives a high-quality, well-rounded environment that supports their learning.
1. Stronger Teaching Through Collaboration and Consistency in Learning
- When teachers work together in a building, they easily share ideas, lesson plans, and strategies that help improve instruction for all students.
- Research shows that when teachers collaborate, student achievement improves significantly (Visible Learning, Hattie, 2009).
- With multiple teachers at the same grade level, all students at a grade level in the building receive a similar, high-quality education.
- Schools that follow the Professional Learning Community (PLC) model (DuFour, 2004) see higher student success rates because teachers meet regularly to discuss student progress and adjust instruction based on data.
- Research (Ingersoll & Strong, 2011) shows that when teachers work in teams, they are less stressed, more motivated, and stay in the profession longer.
2. Better Support for Different Learning Needs
- Every child learns differently, and when multiple teachers work together, they can group students flexibly to give them more personalized instruction.
- Struggling students get extra help, and advanced learners receive challenges that keep them engaged.
- Studies on differentiated instruction (Tomlinson, 2001) show that when teaching is tailored to a student’s level, learning improves dramatically.
- When teachers work as a grade level team, they can identify areas where students are struggling and quickly provide support to keep them on track.
- Common assessments across classrooms help ensure that every child is making progress and getting the support they need.
- In multi-section grades, students may have opportunities to interact with different teachers, which helps them adapt to different teaching styles and personalities.
- Flexible grouping across classrooms allows students to work with peers at similar academic levels, keeping them challenged and engaged.
