State Superintendent praises Carl Sandburg’s “great environment” after visit

The top educator in the state paid a visit to Carl Sandburg Middle School on Friday and he came away impressed by the students and the positive energy in the building.

Dr. Tony Sanders, the Illinois State Superintendent of Schools, joined Illinois State Senator Adriane Johnson on a visit to a few suburban schools on Friday, saving Carl Sandburg for Friday afternoon. 

“What a great environment,” Sanders said afterward. “It’s really cool to see the energy of the new principal and what he’s bringing to the school.

“I really love the idea of The Tiger Code,” he added. “Just the notion of the Code makes it feel more like there’s more camaraderie among the students and the staff than what you typically see at schools.”

Interim Principal Dan Bryant led a contingency from District 75 that included Dr. Corey Tafoya, Superintendent of Districts 75 and 120, Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Schools Art Vallicelli, Director of Teaching and Learning PreK-8 Jill Unger; and Director of Multilingual Teaching and Learning Gabrielle Devlin.

The visit began with a rousing performance by the CSMS Band in the school’s new auditorium. Afterward, Band Director Moulee Gupta showed Sanders the control room inside the new auditorium. They also visited several classrooms where Sanders interacted with the students.

He also posed for a picture with the 7th Grade Soccer Team, fresh off their conference championship win earlier in the week.

They are just amazing students,” he said. “The students here were all so polite, all so caring. They clearly care about their academics.” 

Sanders talked to staff about support for funding education in Illinois and about more down-to-earth guidance for artificial intelligence in education. Sanders said the state is working on coming up with role-specific guidance in AI for teachers, principals, and superintendents.