The 2024-2025 school year at Ronald D. O’Neal Elementary in Elgin started Tuesday with fresh-faced students, new building features and the opportunity of a lifetime for two dual-language kindergarten teachers.
The day was the first time that Zahidee Marcano taught at the same school as daughter, Zahidelys Urbano — in adjacent classrooms connected by a small passageway.
“I always knew I wanted to teach next to her,” Urbano said.
Urbano attended School District U-46 schools and has been working for U-46 for seven years, most recently at Lowrie Elementary in Elgin. When an opening came up at O’Neal for this school year, she applied, hit it off immediately with principal Deanna Micaletti and was hired.
“This is an opportunity for me to see my daughter grow as a teacher and to partner with her as a friend and an educator,” Marcano said.
Marcano has been teaching with U-4 for 26 years. This is her ninth year at O’Neal. Both teachers are natives of Puerto Rico. They came to Elgin when Marcano’s mother, Carmen Diaz, was hired to teach in U-46, where she spent most of her career at Huff Elementary.
Micaletti said U-46 recruits teachers internationally and that O’Neal’s staff also includes educators who hail from Spain, Mexico and Honduras. The O’Neal school body last year was 86% Hispanic, according to the Illinois State Board of Education website.
Micaletti paid compliment to Marcano’s talents as a kindergarten teacher, noting that Marcano consistently scores high on the ISBE assessment for play-based kindergarten and has given presentations for educators elsewhere on her methods.
Showing how play-based education works — and a bit of what she may have picked up from her mom — Urbano greeted her students outdoors, leading them through some lively stretches before heading indoors to show them their cubbyholes, then into their classroom.
The students next sat on the floor for their first lesson. Urbano held them in rapt attention as she provided an animated reading of “Froggy a va Esquela,” a story about a frog’s first day at school.
As for new things at O’Neal, Micaletti said the 52-year old school is now adorned with new lighting and ceilings on both floors and new PA and fire alarm systems. The building also has a new mural greeting students as they enter and another new mural adorning the school’s library.
Across U-46 elementary schools, schedules this year have been designed to provide teachers with four more hours a week for planning. Marcano and Urbano said they will be using a good deal of that time to collaborate on efforts.
U-46 has updated its grading and assessment system, too. Reported grades will be a combination of a student’s demonstration of mastery through summative, formative and intentional practice work. (To learn more, go to www.u-46.org/Page/16207.)
And for the new school year U-46 launched “Every Minute Matters,” a campaign that emphasizes the importance of consistent, timely attendance for students and the role it plays in education.
“Daily participation is crucial for academic growth, success and achievement. Being in the classroom provides students with the opportunity for learning and collaboration. Consistent timely attendance is a valuable lifelong skill.” U-46 Superintendent Suzanne Johnson said in a welcome message on the district’s YouTube page.
For more information on the program, go to u-46.org/attendance.
