a day ago
Principal Livingston moves up to middle school with his Winnetka D36 students
Luke Livingston, who served as principal for four years at Crow Island School, an elementary in Winnetka School District 36, is moving up along with many of his former students to the district's Washburne Middle School.
As Washburne principal, Livingston said, 'I will know about a third of the kids and families,' he said. 'It will be a nice transition. I know a lot of the staff. And Winnetka has an outstanding history in education and commitment to teaching and learning.'
School starts with a half-day on Sept. 2 this year, according to the District 36 website.
The coming school year will mark Livingston's 17th in education. Before heading Crow Island, he served as a principal of Cherokee School in Lake Forest District 67 for two years, worked in Chicago Public Schools for eight years, and served as an assistant principal at Indian Trail Elementary School in Highland Park for three years.
Livingston said his most important goals at Washburne are building relationships with staff and students and achieving instructional leadership goals, including the implementation of new literacy and math curricula.
'We'll be going through a math pilot curriculum,' he said. 'It will be interesting, exciting work.'
Kate Hughes, spokeswoman for District 36, said the new curricula were approved by the Board of Education in a new strategic plan in June.
'The goals at Washburne will be tied to that plan,' Hughes said.
Livingston said Washburne, which feeds students into New Trier High School, already has a very strong history.
'The eighth-graders are all going to New Trier,' he said. 'They are competitive and ready for high school.'
Nonetheless, Livingston said he will continue to find ways to improve educational outcomes at Washburne, in particular by focusing on District 36's longtime style of progressive education.
'We're always looking for ways to prioritize learning outcomes and make learning more experiential for students, so they're learning by doing,' he said.
Washburne tested CommonLit, the new literacy curriculum, last year and will do the same with Carnegie, a new math curriculum this year, he said.
When District 36 examined literacy several years ago, Livingston addressed the issue at the elementary level, based on the performance of students at the middle school level, he said.
'We looked at science or reading and building in more fundamental reading skills around phonics and writing to make sure we close the gaps at middle school,' Livingston said. 'From the middle school lens, we're focused on making sure we have a robust knowledge-building curriculum that grows from year to year, so students comprehend what they're reading and can synthesize and write about what they're reading.'
Washburne is fully staffed for the coming school year with about 65 employees, Livingston said. He plans to rotate staff and team meetings every Monday, when students get an early release.
Assistant Principal Ben Horowitz, who has worked with Livingston on the district's administrative team, will continue serving at Washburne.
Livingston said the vast majority of his job centers around teaching and learning, making sure instructional leaders are available throughout the building for all students.
'I'm concerned with, 'Do we have a clear scope and sequence in the curriculum? Do we have clear assessments and are kids moving in the right direction?'' he said. 'Outside of that, there is a managerial component, managing communications or logistics in different parts of the building, making sure students are OK socially and emotionally.'
Livingston said the district is examining the many technological tools, including AI, available today, determining where and how to set boundaries around each particular tool.
'AI is useful for research, accessing information, editing or communicating more efficiently,' he said.
Officials are still spending a great deal of time examining how those tools might be used best by students, Livingston said.
Livinston said he originally became a principal 'because of the impact we can have on the school year, both on culture and outcomes for kids.'
