CPS brings museum-level experiences into 'curiosity classrooms'
CPS brings museum-level experiences into 'curiosity classrooms'
Chicago schools are opening new "Curiosity Classrooms," in 25 schools across the district. The dedicated rooms bring museum-quality resources right to the schools, with a focus on inspiring young learners.
CHICAGO - Chicago schools are opening new curiosity classrooms, in 25 schools across the district. The dedicated rooms bring museum-quality resources right to the schools, with a focus on inspiring young learners.
On Wednesday, CPS CEO Pedro Martinez cut the ribbon on the Curiosity Classroom at Burke Elementary School on the South Side. Martinez said the children were immediately engaged.
"You know what I love is there's so many adults in this room, and in my experience, when you're in a preschool room and there's adults, the kids can get distracted. You're not seeing that at all. The children are at their stations. It doesn't matter if there are 100 adults here, they're focused on the projects that are here," Martinez said.
Martinez said these classrooms offer a children museum-quality experience in more accessible local schools.
Burke Elementary is going to be one of 25 schools that will have a curiosity room. CPS initially started with 10.
The Children’s Museum partnered with CPS to provide sensory-rich, museum-quality experiences to children in pre-kindergarten through 2nd grade.
"What I love is that it's not just bringing in, you know, the amazing resource of the museum, but they're also working with our teachers. Our teachers are learning across schools how to best use these tools, how to excite students, and I can see it here in this classroom," Martinez said.
Martinez said the new teacher’s 4-year contract is leading the district in the right direction,
CPS CEO Pedro Martinez on tentative CTU contract: 'We honor our teachers'
Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez talked about the tentative deal struck with the Chicago Teachers Union.
"One of the things we wanted to show in this contract negotiation is that we honor our teachers, that we that we know they deserve to be fairly compensated. We need to make sure they have the right planning time. So we've been able to accomplish that and do it in an environment where the children are actually enjoying learning," Martinez said.
About his future, Martinez said he will retire from CPS at the end of the school year,
"Right now, my focus is finishing the school year strong, making sure that our staff feels supported, because this year is going to continue to be one of the strongest school years," Martinez said. "You can quote me on that."