Garden Hills Elementary School is one of 12 elementary schools in the Unit 4 School District in Champaign, Illinois. It has an enrollment of approximately 470 students in kindergarten through fifth grade. Garden Hills also houses a satellite classroom from Champaign Early Childhood Center. We have 20 general education classes, with two or three classes at each grade level. Garden Hills is also home to a diverse ESL (English as a Second Language) population. In the '23-24 school year we will be adding Pre K, sixth, and seventh-grade programming in our building.

Garden Hills recently received grant funding to support implementation of instructional best practices relating to Math and Engineering Leadership. Our objective with this process is to ensure all students meet challenging academic standards and benefit from theme-related learning opportunities. Staff will experience professional development relating to Habits of Mind, cultural competence, cooperative group learning, project-based learning, math and engineering. Our goal is to develop inquiry and project-based thematic units of study.

Garden Hills offers a bilingual education program. Bilingual education involves teaching academic content in two languages, in a native and secondary language with varying amounts of each language used in accordance with the program model. These families have much to add to our understanding of world cultures. Garden Hills supports students also with an ESL (English as a Second Language) program that allows for multi-levels of support.

We believe:

• Our children deserve a high-quality education in a safe and loving environment.

• Our most important task is to support the academic, social, and emotional needs of the student.

• Student development is guided by strong and meaningful relationships.

• Positive behavior is facilitated by consistency, accountability, and restorative practices.

• Academic success is motivated by student engagement through interactive lessons, relevant materials, and accommodating different learning styles.

Garden Hills has a half-time mentor coordinator who organizes the mentoring program. Volunteers in the community take time to meet with assigned students on a regular basis throughout the school year. The mentors and volunteers serve as role models and encourage academic and social skills that can be influential throught the students' lives.