Mrs. Mullen’s class at Coal City focuses on early literacy and classroom routines

Mrs. Mullen’s class at Coal City Community Unit School District 1 has been focusing on learning readiness. With guidance from their teacher, students are engaging in activities that help them learn letters, numbers, and counting. The class recently discussed the letter E, using fine motor skills to pinch stickers and form the letter, as well as identifying objects that begin with E. Additionally, students have been exploring the alphabet by searching for items hidden in acorns. The group continues to practice following school routines and acquiring new knowledge.

Coal City Community Unit School District 1 serves Grundy and Will counties and includes several schools: Coal City Early Childhood Center, Coal City Elementary School, Coal City High School, Coal City Intermediate School, and Coal City Middle School (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/). According to the Illinois State Board of Education, the district employs 153 teachers who earn an average salary of $69,297 before pension contributions; about 77.9 percent of these teachers are women and 22.1 percent are men. No teacher in the district has more than ten absences in a school year (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/).

The student population is composed of approximately 86.9 percent White students, 0.6 percent Black students, 9.6 percent Hispanic students, and 0.6 percent Asian students (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/). In terms of spending, the district allocated $21,619 per student in 2020 for a total expenditure of $47 million (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/).

"Mrs. Mullen’s friends have also been talking about the letters of the alphabet by finding items hidden in acorns."

"The students are working hard on following the school routine and learning new things."