In her 30 year career, Superintendent of Decatur Public Schools (DPS), Rochelle Clark, Ed.D, has held almost every conceivable role in education. Originally from East St. Louis, IL, Dr. Clark started as a special education teacher’s aide and worked her way up into leadership roles, serving as Assistant Principal at two DPS schools, Director of Student Services and Assistant Superintendent of Student Services before taking on the Superintendent role in February of 2022.  

Dr. Clark intends to retire after the 2025-2026 school year, however she still has big plans for the district. “I want to finish what I started,” she shared in a recent interview about DPS’s new strategic plan, community engagement, and partnering with Cartwheel. "If I do nothing else, I just want people to understand that it's okay to say, ‘I need some help.’ Then I think I would have done something long lasting.” We can’t do this alone, none of us. We need each other to help our kids reach their full potential. I also want to see Roadmap 2030 through to completion. I think those involved in the process are doing a great job in looking at all things DPS and will develop an amazing Plan.

A Community Focused Roadmap to 2030

Decatur Public Schools’ 2018-2025 Strategic Plan took a student-first approach, prioritizing physical and mental health alongside academic achievement. The district’s 2025-30 Strategic Plan, currently in consultation stage, is evolving toward a more community minded framework. 

“We're really breaking down what we currently have to see what's working for us and what we need to improve on,” Dr. Clark shared. “At the center of some of these discussions is school mental health, and what can we do to assist the whole family, not just the child.”

The district’s approach to providing multi-tiered systems of supports (MTSS) underpins this philosophy, with each school driving its own development at the Tier 1 level. “Every building must develop a school improvement plan, and part of that is strengthening climate and culture,” Dr. Clark shared. 

“When all is said and done, [school] is about academic achievement. But you can't raise scores when you have so many other underlying things that interfere. I give [schools] autonomy to work with the staff and student population that they have because you just can't have a cookie cutter formula. Our kids are not all the same.” 

‍Making Sure Everyone Has Someone to Talk To

When DPS began its partnership with Cartwheel in the Fall 2024, the first students to receive support weren’t even on campus. “We started with our students that were expelled from school,” Dr. Clark shared, particularly those who had shown aggressive behaviors. 

“We talk about the social, emotional aspects of education. But we've come to realize that the behaviors that we are seeing have to stem from something. It's not just in our schools, it's in our community.” Dr. Clark shared. “We had to dig a lot deeper to try to find a cause and we knew we needed help.” 

Working with Cartwheel, DPS aims to prevent disruptive behavior by strengthening connections between parents and children. “Yes, we see aggression in our schools, and we see it in the community. But they're not fighting because they didn't like the lunch they had today, or because they received a bad grade. The behaviors are extreme.” 

Dr. Clark knows that a lot of families won’t walk into a brick and mortar location and say, “Hey, I need help.” But they will go online. The partnership with Cartwheel gives parents “a place to be heard” as well as supporting students with individualized care. In addition, educators and staff across the district have access to Cartwheel’s new staff teletherapy services. “Self care is not just for the students,” Dr. Clark shared. "I am thankful to Eldon Conn, Director of Support Services, and my administrative team for really digging deep and finding the best for DPS; Cartwheel. It is one of the best investments the district has made."

‍Making Chronic Absenteeism a Shared Responsibility 

At DPS, attendance is incentivized. If a school hits its monthly attendance target, it will host a fun event, like a sock hop. “Our kids want to meet with success. And so it's really students pushing to say, ‘Mom, dad, don't forget.” That helps,“ Dr. Clark shared. With rates of chronic absenteeism down from 50.59% to 42.79%, according to the district’s 2024 Report Card, the reward-based approach is working. 

“The other part is that we are calling every single day. So if your child misses one hour of school you're gonna hear from us, because it's important. Because sometimes you don’t always know, especially at the high school level. You can drop a kid off at the front door and they'll walk out the back door,” Dr. Clark shared. 

Across the district, attendance secretaries ensure no absence goes unnoticed. They make personal phone calls, Dr. Clarke says, and they get to know the families. Some staff drop off homework to kids who are out sick, making sure they don’t fall too far behind. It’s important to ensure that parents are also made aware of what the legal consequences of chronic absenteeism are. “Everybody has to play their part, and we just have to be consistent,” Dr. Clark says. Accountability is key.

‍Supporting Parent Engagement Through Positivity

Each year, DPS surveys parents across the district to find out what it could do better, and how they’d like to be involved in their kids’ education. “It's just not, ‘Hey, this is what is happening, go do something about it.’ It's more like, this is what we can do together,” Dr. Clark says.

This engagement is built around what parents can give based on their circumstances. The district’s Adopt a School program encourages community groups and local businesses to step in when parents cannot, whether that’s taking part in open day activities or reading programs. There’s also a free Extended Day program for pre-K to 8th grade, which gives working parents more flexibility to pick up and drop off their kids. 

DPS also replaced its traditional summer school offering with a voucher-based system for internships and enrichment programs. To take part, students attend a Summer Sign Up event, ideally with a parent or guardian in tow. “My last count was 500+ students receiving vouchers to attend something over the summer that would give them an experience they would not have if it was not for that, and reading and math was included across the board.

“The more our kids can see adults engaged in their well-being and education, the more centered they'll become and the more likely it is that they will do the same thing as an adult,” Dr. Clark shared. “The whole idea is for [kids] to see themselves in a different light.” Decatur has many opportunities for our kids to excel and grow to be productive citizens. From our staff to our community partners, our students are surrounded with people who care about their achievement.