Like all of Illinois, Roycemore shifted to a Remote Learning Platform during March of 2020 in response to the COVID-19 global outbreak and finished the school year under that direction. We are very excited that with a new Health and Safety Plan, we are on track to open campus for the 2020-2021 school year. Being able to start on-campus instruction is a great benefit that we are excited to offer members of our community. However, we realize that other families might prefer to continue off-campus instruction for a variety of reasons. We are in a unique position to be able to accommodate both types of instruction. Thus, our Academic Re-Entry Plan 2020-2021 includes multiple enrollment options for our Roycemore students. In-depth details for each division can be found below.
“We have always made a point to address the individual needs of our students. Now, we are extending that effort to families who have their own needs and concerns.”
Roycemore really astounded us with the quality of their online learning during the sheltering for the pandemic. The creative resources for math, grammar, writing, science, social studies and even social/emotional learning were chosen with much thought and used judiciously. Special projects that integrate the disciplines were also developed. My child was stimulated, busy learning, not overwhelmed, but genuinely engaged. The teacher offered synchronous learning twice a day to the group of students, cutting down my child’s isolation, creating a fun learning environment with math games, and encouraging student responses in real time. She also kept my child accountable to the schedule with charts and emails, as well as having office hours for the children to ask any questions daily. As someone offering online classes at the university, I am keenly aware of the hard work Roycemore engaged in to create a truly excellent online learning experience. Bravo!
– Dr. Regina Schwartz
Lower School Parent & Northwestern University Professor
Roycemore offers a small student to teacher ratio providing an environment where educators have a better chance to identify individual talents and unique needs of each student in their classroom. Teachers in smaller classroom settings have an opportunity to encourage and enlighten their students to understand their unique learning styles. Studies show that when children feel that they are a valuable part of their school community, participation rates rise in the classroom and in extracurricular activities. Engagement also stimulates a sense of personal responsibility that helps students develop important leadership skills, problem-solving techniques, and teamwork ingenuity.
A strong student-teacher relationship gives kids the confidence to have a voice in class and feel comfortable taking risks socially and academically. Roycemore’s faculty values their relationship with students and parents, and strives to help them maintain a strong personal bond even through remote learning. These strong bonds allow teachers and students to navigate failure and cope with feelings of frustration, stress, and anxiety. Students who have a safe and supportive environment when those experiences arise start to see failure in a different light. This is shown to improve their social-emotional development and ultimately increase self-confidence in an authentic way.
“In the Early Childhood and Lower School at Roycemore, we creatively use tools and programs to attend to the students’ needs and social emotional growth. We are a “Leader in Me” school, and practice a proactive approach to developing leadership skills. We incorporate mindfulness into daily lessons with “Calm Classroom” and yoga. Morning meetings are a time to discuss various themes and grow our sense of self. These areas will be addressed in both on-campus and off-campus learning, through synchronous activities that foster student relationships. Social emotional learning is paramount here at Roycemore.”
– Darcy Aksamitowski
Roycemore Lower School Head
“In Roycemore’s Middle School, we understand that before our students can grow as scholars, we need to create a safe and supportive environment where they can develop and flourish socially and emotionally. We do this through a comprehensive, developmentally-appropriate social-emotional program that teaches critical life skills such as recognizing and managing emotions, solving problems, developing positive relationships, and using mindfulness techniques to improve cognitive performance as well as resilience in the face of daily stressors.”
– Adrienne Floro
Roycemore Middle School Head
“In Roycemore’s Upper School, Advisory becomes the students’ safe space. Students choose their own Advisor who is their advocate. Advisory activities are designed to provide both academic and social-emotional support. Additionally, Upper School students and teachers are encouraged to practice mindfulness to support their emotional well-being. Because our Upper School is small, the wonderful relationships our teachers and students develop with one another is an additional, informal, but very powerful way in which students at Roycemore are supported.”
– Stefanie Rivera
Roycemore Upper School Head
Head of School Adrianne Finley Odell explains the multiple enrollment options for students such as taking on-campus or off-campus classes. Below we have provided detailed information about our new health and safety plan.
Please contact:
Amanda Avery – Director of Admissions
aavery@roycemoreschool.org
Beth Shutters – Director of Curriculum & Innovation
eshutters@roycemoreschool.org
Darcy Aksamitowski – Lower School Division Head
daksamitowki@roycemoreschool.org
Adrienne Floro – Middle School Division Head
afloro@roycemoreschool.org
Stefanie Rivera – Upper School Division Head
srivera@roycemoreschool.org
We launched a school-wide Remote Learning platform in March 2020 as a result of local and state health regulations requiring all schools to close their campuses. As part of that initiative, we created a Remote Learning Handbook and a Remote Learning Page to serve as resources for our families. Both of those resources are linked here and if another government-mandated campus closure should occur in the future, these resources will continue to be updated and available to serve our Roycemore families.
