Dear District 15 Parent/Guardians:

As we enter the home stretch of what I know has been our hardest school year ever, I remain extremely proud of how District 15 has led the way in safely educating students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Our staff has truly worked so hard to balance the increased demands the pandemic has placed on them while also keeping our students at the forefront of their daily work.

They have had quite a year. Let’s make sure our staff knows just how much we appreciate them. Here’s how you can help do so…

Every year, teachers across the country are celebrated during the first week of May for the wonderfully important work they do educating children. We believe the teachers and everyone that works within District 15 are some of the best around and would like to encourage you to send a special thank you for the above and beyond effort they put forth this year (and always)!

Please share a photo or words of appreciation for our talented and dedicated staff on social media and we will share your sentiments on our D15 social media sites.

• Share your own photo: To make others able to see and enjoy your posts, please include the hashtags #ProudToBeD15 and #ThankATeacher!

• Share a story: Fill out this form to share a thank you or a story of how a teacher has helped you/your student this year! We will share as many submissions as we can on our D15 social media accounts.

Thank you to those of you that have already completed the 2021-22 Return to Learn survey. To date, we have had roughly 3,500 families make their learning selection for next Fall. It is vital that you complete this survey by Monday, May 3 so principals can place students into classrooms for next year and so that we can complete staffing assignments.

Please take a few moments to let us know your selection. You will need to complete the survey in your Parent Portal within Infinite Campus.

At the April 21, 2021 Committee of the Whole meeting, Dr. Heinz, members of her leadership team, and District partners from STR Architects, RSP & Associates, and Cor Strategies shared what we believe to be a bold and comprehensive Beyond Just Boundaries proposal.

On Wednesday, May 5, 2021, Partners for Our Communities, also known as the POC, will host their 20th annual Cinco de Mayo fundraising event.

The POC is a wonderful community partner that truly helps so many of our families in a wide variety of ways. Your support of this event will help the POC continue to bring much needed programming and support to members of our community.

Tickets to the event have sold out, but you can still purchase raffle tickets on the POC website.

Beginning last year, the Board formed an Equity Committee to begin learning about equity and what a system that uses an equity lens looks like at the school and District level. Members of the District leadership team along with Board members Sam Ader and Zubair Khan will report out initial areas of strength that exist within the District and where we have opportunities to learn more deeply. Sub-groups will report out at the upcoming May 14 Board meeting.

From Our Board Equity Committee

This year has been challenging for all of us due to the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic. We have continued to see communities of color be disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 in terms of infection, mortality rates, and economically.

Over the last month, we have been reminded again of another pandemic impacting our communities of color—racism, inequity, and injustice.

In District 15, we remain persistent in our journey to become a more inclusive and equitable learning community at all levels of our district—from our classrooms to our boardroom.

We believe that our diversity has always been one of our greatest assets. You have our commitment that our schools will continue to be places of belonging, tolerance, and understanding.

As we close out this school year, I thank you for your partnership as it has made all the difference in what we have been able to accomplish. Let’s hope next year is much closer to a typical school year.

We have so many exciting initiatives on the horizon -- I can hardly wait to dive into a new school year.

Your Partner in Education,

Laurie Heinz

Online registration has been open for all students for February 15. To date, we have 3,450 students registered with an additional 510 in process for the upcoming school year. That represents only 32% of our student body. We need your help! If you have not already done so, you should register your student here. Doing so will allow principals to finalize class lists and ensure our buildings are appropriately staffed.

Registration will continue until Thursday, June 17. Please know that families not registered by then will not receive teacher assignment, class schedule, or school open house information until registration is completed.

Families of new students, and incoming fourth and seventh-grade students are required to reverify their residency within District 15 boundaries. This is an expansion of our residency verification process and helps to ensure we are educating only students that live within our boundaries.

CCSD15 coaches from across our 4 junior high schools, worked to develop and execute an afterschool Sports Training opportunity for our 8th grade students. The plans enabled the students to engage in activities which included a variety of stations to increase endurance, athletic form, skills, flexibility, agility, speed, etc. as they relate to a variety of sports. Students are enjoying spending time with their friends/classmates, getting outside in the beautiful spring weather, and savoring their last days at their Junior High Schools. The combined efforts of our coaches, JH principals, nurses, transportation and food service departments made this bonus activity a reality for our students and families.

The season started the week of April 12th and concludes on May 20th - a fun 6 weeks to close out the end of the 2020-21 school year and their time at CCSD15!

Our March Parent University session focused on parenting during the pandemic. This session taught parents strategies for helping their child develop resilience and awareness to deal with their powerful feelings in a positive way. The recording is available on our website.

Our April Parent University resource is in the form of a newsletter where we highlight community partners, programs, and services available for students and families.

We hope you take a few minutes to review our Parent U offerings.

Our District is partnering with BrightBytes, a data analytics organization built specifically for K-8 school districts, to provide insights into our new and changing learning environments with the goal of ensuring equitable learning support for all students.

Last year, your participation helped us form a more complete picture of how learning is taking place and has allowed us to create targeted initiatives to support our teachers and students in their technology usage and proficiency.

This year’s survey is designed to capture your perspective around your child’s classroom support and resources such as access to technology, instructional support, and student social-emotional competencies.

It doesn’t matter whether your student is learning—in-person or virtually—the survey is designed for any learning environment.

We are requesting that you take part in this important school survey, which will remain anonymous and be open until May 7, 2021.

Acceptance letters were sent out to all families who applied for the dual language program, and we are excited to welcome a new class of kindergarten students in the 21-22 school year!

We continue to administer the ISBE required ACCESS English language proficiency assessment to all of our English learners in grades K-8. We are grateful for all the hard work our teachers and administrators have done to organize positive testing experiences for all of our virtual and in-person students, and we hope to complete all assessments by May 18.

This will take place on Saturday, May 15, from 10:00-1:00 pm. Please see this flyer for more details.

We are looking to increase our substitute teaching pool. Anyone with a 4-year college degree is eligible to qualify for a substitute teaching license through the state of Illinois.

We are always looking to add substitute nurses to our substitute pool as well! Illinois Licensure and CPR Certification are required. If you're interested, please apply online.

We are looking for help over the summer. To view our open positions, please check out our website. Opportunities are available for college and high school students.

• May 6 & 7 - No School (Teacher Institute Day)
  

• May 12 - Board of Education Meeting
  
• May 14 - Virtual Open House for Elementary Schools
  
• May 15 - Dental Exams Due for kindergarten, second grade, and sixth grade
  
• May 24 - WRS 8th Grade Graduation
  
• May 24 - WCJH 8th Grade Graduation
  
• May 25 - PGJH 8th Grade Graduation
  
• May 25 - CSJH 8th Grade Graduation
  
• May 25 - CLA 8th Grade Graduation
  
• May 27 - Last Day of School