National Blue Ribbon Schools Program

Prairie Elementary School, located in Buffalo Grove, IL, is a positive learning environment where rigorous curriculum and best practice come together making student learning the priority. Our outstanding faculty collaborates to challenge students to higher levels of achievement. Collaboration between parents, school, and administration makes Prairie a world-class school, visited by educators from districts near and far. Our mission is to ensure that every child achieves his or her maximum potential supported by our values: model for others what we expect from others; every child, every school, every day; best practice, not first practice; learning has no boundaries; and celebrate success.

Our students achieve mastery and beyond on learning targets due to our focus on embedded professional development, which occurs at the team, school, and District levels. We conduct, at a minimum, two weekly school-based team meetings, and a weekly hour-long faculty meeting, where we review student achievement data on local and state assessments. These discussions foster conversations around best practices, designing differentiated learning experiences, and goal setting for teaching teams and students. Teachers and instructional coaches model best practices prior to student instruction. Every students' learning is enhanced by 1:1 iPad use following the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) and Common Core State Standards in the core and specials classrooms. We are dedicated to high levels of student participation and utilize engagement structures in all classrooms consistently. Prairie has been at the forefront of numerous awards at the District and state levels resulting in a proud school community.