Utica Community Schools Serves Students from a Variety of Backgrounds

Dr. Christine Johns serves as superintendent of Utica Community Schools, a 36-school district located in Sterling Heights, Michigan. Dr. Christine Johns’ role as superintendent requires her to preside over a student population that contains individuals from a variety of backgrounds.

Ninety percent of the student population in Utica Community Schools is white, and 4 percent is African-American. Asian students make up 3 percent of the population, Latino students account for 1.8 percent, and non-white minorities make up the remaining 1.2 percent.

Utica Community Schools serves almost 1,000 students who fall into the category of English language learners. Collectively, these students speak 46 different languages. Utica’s English Learner (EL) program emphasizes teaching students who are learning English to improve their skills in the areas of reading, writing, speaking and listening. They are also given guidance on how to strategize academically.

The EL program often serves bilingual students, but many students enrolled in the program actually come into it knowing several languages.

Montessori Education - An Introduction

Dr. Christine Johns, superintendent of the Utica School District in Michigan, has dedicated much of her tenure to increasing opportunities and choices for students. At the elementary level, Superintendent Dr. Christine Johns offers families the option of a Montessori education as an alternative to the traditional classroom.

Montessori stands out as a child-focused pedagogy that capitalizes on a child's natural curiosity and interest in learning. The approach stemmed from the observations of the method's pioneer, Maria Montessori, who discovered that self-directed learning in a carefully designed environment led children to a deeper understanding of subjects and how they relate. From this knowledge, Montessori developed an educational method that allows children to follow their curiosity and engage with materials specifically designed to foster discovery.

Montessori education features multi-age classroom groupings in which children help each other learn. Teachers prepare the environment and guide the children toward lessons that best suit their development at a particular point in time. Children choose from the lessons offered to become fully formed individuals capable of self-direction and an integrated understanding of material across subject areas.