Voices of District 303

Supporting Student Attendance: “Guiding Students from Avoidance to Achievement” Parent-Empowerment Series with Dr. Megan Schmitz

As part of D303’s Student Attendance Campaign this year, the district hosted a parent-education and empowerment series with contextual-behavioral psychologist Dr. Megan Schmitz of Vital Living Wellness Solutions. In this special episode of the Voices of D303 Podcast, we talk with Dr. Schmitz about the topics covered in her three-part series and how her expertise can help remove barriers that may be in the way of strong and regular student attendance.Families interested in accessing the video recordings of the parent-education and empowerment series can contact Dr. Schmitz at megan@vitallivingws.com.

Inside the Classroom: How Community Creates Excellence at Bell Graham

In this episode, we visit the classroom of Bell Graham 4th grade lead teacher Ruth Vostal to talk with her and Principal Amy Kleuppel about how educators come together in Professional Learning Communities to build a culture around the D303 core values of Achievement, Belonging, and Perseverance. We also discuss how the entire Bell-Graham community works together to build pathways to excellence for their kindergarten through 5th-grade students.A big congratulations to Bell Graham Elementary School, which is one of D303’s 7 schools that just received the highest “Exemplary” rating on the 2025 Illinois State Report Card. 

Inside the Classroom: Talking with North High School Department Chairs Jennifer Anderson and Stephanie Dodd

This school year, the Voices of D303 Podcast is taking you inside our classrooms, to hear from our educators about their work in advancing the D303 mission of: Together, Building Pathways to Excellence.In episode 2, we’re talking and thinking in the Think Tank located inside the library at St. Charles North High School. Our guests are two fabulous Department Chairs at North: Stephanie Dodd (Fine Arts) and Jennifer Anderson (Mathematics). They bring such a rich depth of experience to their work with students, educators and North. Our conversation brings to life the power of the D303 focus on “Together” in building pathways to excellence for our students.

Inside the Classroom: Talking English & Social Studies, with East HS Department Chairs Cara Drexler and Andy Ehrhardt

This school year, the Voices of D303 Podcast is taking you inside our classrooms, to hear from our educators about their work in advancing the D303 mission of: Together, Building Pathways to Excellence.In our first episode, we stopped by Classroom B218 at St. Charles East High School to talk with the school’s Department Chairs Cara Drexler (English) and Andy Ehrhardt (Social Studies) about the classroom work they do and how they support other teachers in ensuring East students get a solid foundation in these core subjects to help put them on their pathway.

Finding Your Pathway: A Conversation with Members of the Class of 2025 Pt.2

This is Part 2 of our special Class of 2025 Episode of the Voices of D303 Podcast. To close out the 2024-25 school year, we’ve spotlighted some outstanding members of our Class of ’25. When we recorded Part 1, St. Charles North High School Student Body President Anna Gagne was traveling overseas with her family. So we waited for her to return to St. Charles so she could talk with us about her fabulous summer travel, her time at North, and her college plans and future pathway.