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Edwardsville - Glen Carbon, IL
Education For the new resident, Edwardsville and Glen Carbon present a full spectrum of educational options for you and your children. If you have young children already in or preparing to enter their K–12 years, then you will find 17 different schools in Edwardsville and Glen Carbon, including 12 public, four parochial and one private school. If you or your children are ready for the adventures of higher education, then you will find 20-plus institutions in the greater St. Louis metropolitan area, including Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and the Edwardsville branch of Lewis and Clark Community College. The amazing reality of education in the area is defined not just by the quantity of opportunities, but also by the spirit of cooperation these schools exhibit in making sure their missions are comprehensive and their instruction meets the highest standards.
District 7
The 12 public schools in the Edwardsville-Glen Carbon area belong to Edwardsville Community Unit School District 7, which covers 178 square miles and also serves the communities of Dorsey, Hamel, Midway, Moro, Prairietown and Worden. For over 125 years, District 7 has been maintaining and setting the highest standards for public education. Currently, the district works its mission through 7,100 students attending the following: Edwardsville High School and an Alternative High School, Lincoln and Liberty Middle Schools, and eight elementary schools, including Columbus, Glen Carbon, Hamel, Leclaire, Midway, N.O. Nelson, Worden and Woodland.
The hard work of students, teachers, administrators and staff within District 7 has been recognized by Money magazine, which ranked the district among the top 100 across the country. District 7 schools focus their efforts in three areas of excellence: academics, arts and athletics.
Academic excellence is revealed through consistently above-average standardized test scores. In addition, District 7 annually graduates five to seven National Merit Scholars, the highest average among Metro East schools. Academic achievement is also reflected in the high quality of instruction available at District 7 schools. Local teachers have been awarded a variety of distinctions in recent years, including the SIUE Excellence in Teaching Award, the Illinois Teacher of the Year Award, the National Hero in Education Award and the National Baseball Coach of the Year Award.
Excellence in fine arts is also a high-priority objective in District 7. A continuum of fine arts instruction begins in the elementary schools with chorus, band, orchestra and art classes. It is maintained through the middle schools and culminates in the last four years of public schooling, where students can participate in marching bands, orchestras and performance groups that garner regional and state awards on a regular basis.
Similarly, excellence in athletics is considered an integral element in fully exposing students to all the dynamics of an education, while also fostering a climate of community spirit. In recent years, this commitment to excellence has produced a litany of successes.
Reviewing the athletic achievements from 1998 to present, Edwardsville High School has won state championships in Boy’s Baseball (1998); Boy’s Soccer (2000); Cross Country (2002) and the 1600 and 3200 Meter Runs (2003), all individual wins by Stephen Pifer; Boy’s Bowling,
both a team win and an individual win by Zach Hahs (2004); and, most recently, Girl’s Golf (2004). A complete record of state finishes listed by sport and in chronological order follows:
• Baseball: State Champion, 1998; State Runner-Up, 2002; Quarter-Finals, 2004
• Boys Soccer: State Champion, 2000; State Runner-Up, 2001; Quarter Finals, 2004
• Football: State Runner-Up, 2001
and 2002
• Boys Track: Fourth Place, 2002; Third Place, 2003
• Cross Country: Individual State Champion (Stephen Pifer), 2002
• 1600 and 3200 Meter Run: Individual State Champion (Stephen Pifer), 2003
• Girls Golf: Third Place, 2003; State Champion, 2004
• Boys Bowling: State Champion and Individual State Champion (Zach Hahs), 2004; State Runner-
Up, 2005
• Girls Basketball: Quarter Finals, 2004 and 2005
• Girls Soccer: Quarter Finals, 2004
A commitment to excellence by the school’s administrators, coaches and players manifests in on-field successes as measured by winning seasons, Southwest Conference championships, and Illinois State finalist and quarter-final appearances. The community spirit and dedication is reflected in the first-class sports facilities and equipment made available to athletes through volunteer and community financial support. Edwardsville’s sports programs are recognized as the “class” of the St. Louis Metropolitan area. A recent article published by the
St. Louis Post-Dispatch recognized the quality of the sports programs beginning at the middle school level. The programs are comprehensive (all major sports are played), teamwork is emphasized and, as the article explained, the commitment to quality begins early and culminates with the student athlete becoming a productive member of the community.
Lewis and Clark Community College
Founded in 1969 in nearby Godfrey, Lewis and Clark Community College (LCCC) has quickly grown to accommodate over 10,000 students. This two-year institution confers associate’s degrees and offers students a broad curriculum that includes both transfer and occupational programs. Transfer curricula pertain to those classes and courses of study designed to meet basic college academic requirements and transfer seamlessly to four-year universities. Occupational curricula at Lewis and Clark include degree and certificate programs in the following fields: agriculture, automotive, criminal justice, data processing, dental assisting, marketing, drafting, nursing, real estate and secretarial skills.
Lewis and Clark Community College’s involvement with local educational partnerships is most easily recognized through its commitment to community education, which it carries out at four remote Community Education Centers and in all public high schools in the seven-county district. Most impressive is LCCC’s renovation of the historic N. O. Nelson Complex into a high-tech career education center. Through a partnership with District 7, LCCC will be able to provide career education to local residents and high school students in a state-of-the-art educational climate.
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
Founded in 1957, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville is a sprawling campus of approximately 2,660 acres. Amidst the pastoral beauty of the campus’ natural surroundings are the various buildings of a fully modern four-year
university. With nearly 13,500 students (over 3,000 of whom reside on campus), SIUE offers 43 undergraduate and 63 graduate and professional programs.
Enjoying a faculty-to-student ratio of 1-to-18, SIUE is able to attract students from across the country and around the world. Other amenities include 140 student organizations, campus television and radio stations, a campus newspaper (The Alestle), 17 varsity sports, and a religious center.
SIUE is committed to developing the finest in educational programming and facilities. Currently, the university is in the process of constructing a new $3.26 million School of Pharmacy facility slated to begin classes in August 2005. The facility will represent the only downstate Illinois school of pharmacy, a field that is expected to grow by 30 percent over the next eight years.
Educational partnerships are also a high priority for the university, and it exercises its capacity to facilitate outreach programs through a myriad of projects and initiatives. For instance, the School of Education operates an Office of Educational Partnerships that administrates a multi-faceted cooperative extension exchange with Metro East schools. Those schools are provided with on-site workshops, assistance in the classroom, and assistance with curriculum development and data collection, among other things. Other partnership programs include “A Book in Every Home,” which helps place books in the hands of young, underprivileged students, and EDUCARD, which allows area residents the opportunity to take college courses at a massive discount for personal enrichment rather than credit.
