Shedd Partnership Interest Form

Shedd School Partnership Interest Form

Shedd Aquarium is committed to seeing a future where aquatic life thrives and is sustained by each one of us. In order to inspire the next generation of Chicago’s leaders to protect our blue planet, we have developed a bold plan to invest in partnerships with local schools, establishing an innovative pathway to advance aquatic science education. Please submit your information below if you are interested in becoming a future partner school.
Name

First NameLast Name
Your Role or Title
(e.g. Principal, Assistant Principal, Coordinator, Teacher etc.)
Your Email
example@example.com
School Contact Phone Number
Please enter a valid phone number.Format: (000) 000-0000.
School Name
What best describes your school?
School Address

Street Address

Street Address Line 2

CityState / Province

Postal / Zip Code

Shedd Academy

High School Partnership Opportunities
Shedd provides a variety of engagement level types. Below are some brief descriptions of what each Level includes

Shedd Partnership Levels

Level 1 - Lightest Touch
- Support 1 field trip to Shedd for up to 110 students
- Includes support for up to 3 buses
- Provide a classroom Career connection to either explore a variety of career opportunities at Shedd OR spotlight a single career
- 1:1 Planning support with our Specialists (approx 3-30minute sessions)
Level 2 - Snapshot Support
- Support an already established course with a single unit (approximately 10-12, 50 minute class periods)
- Can support a course with up to 2 sections
- Includes full lesson plan library with lessons to be led by the classroom teacher
  Shedd facilitation support for the following:
  - 1 lab/classroom day
  - 1 virtual connection
  - 1 Field trip to Shedd
- Current curriculum: Coastal Communities - explores impacts of climate change and ways for communities to address the issues brought about by climate change
- Future unit option will focus on Freshwater and aligned to Healthy Watersheds (goal launch for 26-27 SY)
Level 3 - Full Engagement
- Engagement with the school across multiple touchpoints each year
  Ideal school population size ~1000 students or 250 students per grade
- Engagements
  - All-Class Field Trip (typically 9th grade)
    
    Welcome all students to Shedd for a visit in the fall semester
    
    Includes all buses ordered and funded
    
    Support from dedicated Shedd Specialist to plan the day
    
    Includes guided tour of aquarium and unique Deep Dive experiences on the floor or in our classrooms
  - Career Exploration (typically 10th grade, but flexible)
    
    Shedd can support either an already establish Career focused event OR can support a more targeted Career Chat with a smaller cohort of learners interested in a specific career
    
    Shedd travels to your school for this connection
  - Aquatic Science Course
    
    Shedd Specialist and Identified Classroom Teacher collaborate throughout the year to support the course
    
    Shedd can support up to 2 sections for this program
    
    Full suite of various lessons provided for a full year curriculum
    
    Shedd provides the following connections
    
    Up to 5 classroom connections (in-person or virtual) each semester
    
    A connection with a Conservation researcher
    
    3 Field trips throughout the year
    
    Includes summer PD for classroom teacher to prepare for the year and connect with other educators and Shedd experts
  - Internship
    
    Shedd can support between 3-5 students from the school for an internship experience
    
    Current model welcomes those students every Friday from 9am - 2pm for full day programming
    
    We are open to exploring other formats if this does not work for your school
    
    Students are provided with Ventra passes and Shedd volunteer status as part of the program
    
    Program currently supports learners exploring various careers within the aquarium as parts of their regular meetings, but their primary focus is to complete a Community Assets Survey and identify a conservation aligned project to take on for their school.
Which level of partnership would your school be interested in? (You may select more than one option)
Do you already have an internship model at your school?
Please share what that model looks like

K8 Partnerships
Shedd provides a few opportunities to engage K-8 schools. This full partnership model is still in development but the following NGSS aligned units have been created.

This model sees us connect with your K-5 students with an ideal model of one time 1st semester and one time 2nd semester. Schools join us for 1 field trip during the year in conjunction with one of the units. Currently there are units created for 2nd, 3rd and 4th grade.
- 2nd Grade Units
  - Ecosystem Engineers - impact of beavers on ecosystems
  - Floating Wetlands Design Challenge - Chicago River Restoration
- 3rd Grade Units
  - Jelly Life Cycle - explore the unique life cycle of Sea Jellies
  - Animal Superpowers - what adaptations help aquatic species survive
- 4th Grade Units
  - Soundwaves - explore how Belugas you echolocation to navigate their world
  - Animal Adaptations - what adaptations do snakes and electric eels have that allow them to survive
We will be eventually adding K, 1st and 5th grade units, and often look for school partners to assist in that development.

For 6-8th grade students we currently provide 1 connection type
- Environmental Stewardship
  - This 4-5 lesson connection introduces learners to beach ecosystems and the impacts of humans on those ecosystems. They then join Shedd for a stewardship day at 63rd Street beach followed by lessons supporting their analysis of the litter they collected and creating a plan to inspire others to protect these spaces.
We are hoping to launch a STEAM challenge for schools in the 26-27 SY. This program is in development and we would love to connect with schools that may be interested in supporting that development as well.
Please share what grade(s) you may be interested in partnering with Shedd on
Would you be interested in working with Shedd to develop connections for any of the following grades

About Your School
How many total students are currently enrolled at your school?
Please share some information on the demographics of your student body
Population breakdown, bilingual, any other information that will help us understand your school
Are you a Title I School?
Please describe your current Science cadence at your school
i.e. Biology 9th grade, Chemistry 10th grade, etc (Please include science aligned electives as well)
What most interests you and/or your administration team about becoming a Shedd partner school?
Provide context on how this partnership will help advance goals for your school or classroom
Who at {schoolName} makes final partnership decisions?
What is their role?
(Principal, Assistant Principal, Dean etc)
What is the email to contact this individual?
If you partner with any other organizations in the city, please share them here
Is there anything else you'd like to add to your inquiry?
Should be Empty:

Shedd School Partnership Interest Form

Shedd Academy

K8 Partnerships

About Your School