Shirland School is a special place filled with well mannered students eager to learn, and highly qualified, skilled educators passionate about teaching. Shirland students are supported at home by parents who care about their children's education and about their school. Because of its small size, Shirland School is really the heart of our little community.
Students who attend Shirland School are blessed with excellent student teacher ratios, teachers who care, a challenging curriculum, access to state of art technology, and a positive, disciplined school climate. Shirland is a welcoming place, where everyone knows every student's name. Students here feel supportive, and a sense of belonging. Because we are a K-8 building, our students grow up here. Brothers and sisters watch each other grow and nurture each other. Our Junior High students assume a maturity and responsibility beyond their years supporting the development of their elementary peers.
Shirland offers many unique opportunities for students. Our 8th grade students culminate their Shirland experience with a two night field trip to Springfield, our state's capitol and visit the historic President Lincoln sites. Past field trips have also included an overnight at Atwood Outdoor Environmental Center in New Milford, Illinois where students learn about the environment at the former site of Camp Grant, one of the largest military training bases in World Wars One and Two. Extra-curricular opportunities include Volleyball, Basketball, Student Council, Cheerleading, Pep Club, Young Rembrandt's, and the Discovery Language Spanish program.
This is a challenging time for America's schools with rising No Child Left Behind Adequate Yearly Progress targets and funding crises. However, Shirland continues to meet the challenges. During the 2010-11 school year, Shirland achieved its highest Reading and Math scores ever on the Illinois Standards Achievement Test with 89% proficient in Reading and 96% proficient in Math. In addition, the school district received Financial Recognition for its 2010 Financial Profile, the highest category obtainable for district finances.
Shirland is a jewel waiting to be discovered by you.
Shirland also provides assistance and support for homeless families. When a child loses permanent housing and becomes a homeless person as defined by law, or when a homeless child changes his or her temporary living arrangements, the parent or guardian of the homeless child has the option of either continuing the child's education in the school of origin for as long as the child remains homeless or until the end of the academic year if the child becomes permanently housed or enrolling the child in any school that non-homeless students who live in the attendance area in which the child or youth is actually living are eligible to attend. For further information please contact the homeless liaison for Shirland, Catherine Sweeney.
