D34 What's News?
May 3, 2019
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New Mission. New Logo. New (FREE) Swag.
Want a Free T-Shirt?
We want to get things started by focusing on the first word: Aspire. Please share your aspirations for the coming year by clicking the button below, and receive a free t-shirt with the new logo, which will be revealed at the celebration.
End of Year Schedule
The last day for certified and support staff is Tuesday, June 11. The end-of-year staff schedule will include:
- Thursday, June 6: Last day of student attendance (full day)
- Friday, June 7: Building-based time (including: morning meetings of crisis teams for an overview of all-staff active shooter training; SIP plan completion; work on K-5 Literacy Units of Study; job-alike curriculum planning meetings; and trauma-informed training for support staff)
- Monday, June 10: All-staff crisis response/"options-based" training
- Tuesday, June 11:
- Morning: All-staff celebration (get your free t-shirt)
- Afternoon: Close down the year, pack up classroom
Summer Building Access
This summer the District will be undergoing some major equipment replacement at all schools except Hoffman. As you know the last day for staff will be June11th at 3pm. Construction will begin the very next day on the 12th. These extensive projects are scheduled for completion in August. Keeping in mind that there will be items left on the punch list, getting rooms back into ready condition and allowing for unforeseen conditions that might arise, the District is recommending the first day staff is allowed back into the buildings be August 9th. If this date changes, we will contact staff accordingly. Meantime, get your free t-shirt.
Retirement & Recognition Party
Introducing...our list of honorees for the D34 Recognition Celebration 2019 on May 30th at 4pm. Our honorees include our colleagues who are retiring at the end of this school/work year and those who are completing a “milestone” year this spring.
Join us as well celebrate our honorees at Maggiano’s Restaurant in Old Orchard from 4pm to 7pm (remarks at 5pm). In addition to appetizers and sweets, the GEA is sponsoring a champagne toast for all, and the GPA will cap off the evening with dessert! Let’s all join in this special event as our banquet room will hold hundreds for the occasion!
Please accept this invitation on behalf of the Board of Education, the GEA, and the GPA to come together as the D34 family to celebrate one another.
More About the Recognition
Recently, the Personnel Committee reviewed the District’s staff recognition program with an eye to update it, make it more inclusive and create opportunities to share and celebrate at the building and District levels. This includes our District-wide Recognition Reception on May 30th (which is not the event where you will get your free t-shirt) - and the recognition itself. Here are some details about this new celebration:
A milestone year begins at five years of service and continues every five years after that. Per the Personnel Committee’s direction, each person celebrating a milestone year receives a personalized pin (for your lanyard) to show your D34 pride and so others can recognize your years of service. Our retirees will also receive a special gift. The pins and the retiree gift replace the glass/crystal gifts that have been given in past years (picture frame, bowl, etc.).
For the purpose of recognition, years of service are counted differently than they are for the staff seniority lists as the seniority lists must follow established guidelines. For recognition, a year of service is equivalent to a school year (with the staff member starting no later than November 30 of that year). FMLA leaves do not impact a year of service unless the leave was an entire school year in length. This means that a year’s leave of absence is not counted as a year of service. Your FTE status (full time or part time) does not impact your year of service so whether you are a 0.5FTE or a 1.0FTE, your year of service is counted. For those who came through the DePaul Clinical Model Program, your years with DePaul do not factor into recognition. If you started with D34, resigned, and then returned to D34, only your most recent years of service are counted for recognition.
Snow Day Notification
With a new notification system getting ready to launch, we want to ask all staff to review and update your preferred contact information in PowerSchool. Because, honestly, we're expecting another snow day in May and want to make sure you get the news.
In case you are wondering, you are one of the all staff that we're talking to. The person reading these words right now. So, you have some quick work to do:
- Log into PowerSchool
- Click on "My Info" in the top right corner, right next to "Welcome, You" (in the example below, you get to be Nick Peronti, which is awesome because everybody wants to be like Nick!)
- Review all fields and add or update any information that is missing or incorrect
- Click Submit (even if you don't change any information)
- Get your free t-shirt
This information will update your information for the notification system, and with HR.
Mandated Training: Now's the Time!
Your old user accounts have been deleted so that means, your first time log in will be slightly different. Please follow the directions below when logging in the first time you wish to complete trainings that will go towards the 2018-19 school year.
Job Postings
Visit Frontline to learn more or apply for any of the positions listed:
2019 Summer School
- Special Education Teacher
- School Nurse (RN)
- Associates
2019-20 School Year Positions
Certified Staff
- Early Childhood Classroom Teacher
- 1st Grade Classroom Teacher
- 2nd Grade Classroom Teacher
- Intermediate Classroom Teacher
- Intermediate Interventionist (Reading Specialist)
- PE Teacher
- Special Education Resource Teacher
- Special Education Classroom Teacher
- ELL Teacher
- Primary Bilingual Spanish Teacher
- Middle School Bilingual Spanish Teacher
- Middle School RLA Teacher
- Middle School Instructional Innovation Specialist
- Part-Time Drama Teacher
- Part-Time Speech Language Pathologist
- School Psychologist
- Occupational Therapist
- Student Services Instructional Coach
- Primary Music/Drama Teacher
Support Staff
- Associate
- Cook
- T-Shirt Orderer (No pay, but the great benefit of a free t-shirt)
Mental Health Awareness Month: #BeWell34
District 34 offers a free resource to help you manage the stress of your job and any other stressors that you are facing in your life. Our Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is available at no cost to all employees. You can call 24/7 to talk to someone for immediate support and referrals to help you or a family member with:
- Anxiety, depression, stress
- Grief or loss
- Relationship issues
- Work-life balance
- Legal guidance
- Financial issues
Call 800-272-7255 or visit guidanceresources.com (Web ID: COM589).
Take care of yourself so you can take care of others. And know this: others care about you.
Continuing some innovative ideas by Dr. Paula Kluth, consultant, author and advocate of inclusive education. Kluth, Paula “Don’t We Already do Inclusion?”. Cambridge Book Review Press, 2013
BEWARE OF THE CHAIR
It usually isn’t hard to pick out the student with a disability in an inclusive classroom. Oftentimes, she is the one sitting next to the paraprofessional.
Let me begin by sharing that there is absolutely nothing wrong with providing a student with direct and proximal support when he of she needs it. The problem is, however, that educators do not often enough engage in thorough assessments of when a student needs direct support and when she does not.
My mentor, Lou Brown, always said, “you disable somebody when you do something for him that he can do for himself”. This is true more often than not for students with disabilities, so it is critical that we start to have conversations about where and when students need help and what that help should look like.
Again, I want to emphasize that if any adult needs to provide direct support, they should do so, bit it is critical that every effort be made to fade that support when it is appropriate. If an adult sidles up to a student who needs help understanding his or her math review sheet, than it is important that he or she move away (chair and all) when either the student no longer needs that much support or when the class shifts to another activity. I’ve been in too many classrooms where an adult moves in to help with math problems and is still sitting there as the teacher puts on a movie clip, starts to tell a story, or otherwise engages in instruction that often does not require 1:1 adult support for the learner with a disability.
This recommendation sounds severe to some, but it is necessary and it has a sliver lining. In the moments when paraprofessionals, teachers, or therapists do not provide direct support, they can support learners in other important ways. Moving away from direct cues allows adults to offer indirect support, which can be even more powerful for the learner. Some of these supports may not only result in encouraging the learner to be more independent, but they may actually provide the student with a higher-quality learning experience.
Do students in your inclusive classrooms receive too much direct support? How can you shift from direct to indirect support for learners who need help, but also need opportunities to be more independent?
#MADpd - Weekend Learning On The Couch
On Sunday May 5, 2019 educators from around the globe will come together, virtually, to share ideas that make a difference in their classrooms! There is no cost and anyone can attend from anywhere in the world!
The sessions are short and sweet. 15 minute presentations and 15 minute Q and As! Sessions run from 8am to 8pm (EST) with our kickoff scheduled for 7:30 am and a final meet up a 9pm!
Our own Carly Spina will present at 8am local time. Check out more information. The master schedule includes presenters' Twitter handles - you're sure to find some interesting people to follow. You can lurk and learn from them, and they may end up becoming your new Twitter friends!
Carly will be the only #MADpd presenter to get a free t-shirt. Join her!
This section is where we highlight all of the wonderful things going on in the district, schools, and classrooms. If you have items to share or would like an event covered, please fill out the Staff Shares Request Form.
Don't want to write something up, but you want to share? Fill out that form! Or, even easier, email Cathy Kedjidjian and she'll be excited to come to your classroom and share your story!
Early Childhood April Community Helper Visit- The Fire Department
For April’s community helper we had Lt. Dan come in and teach all of our students about his job. Our students were able to practice stop, drop, cover, and roll. We also got to see Lt. Dan with his uniform on and hear that when he’s in his uniform he sounds like Darth Vader. We were able to see even though he has his uniform on, he is still Lt. Dan and we don’t need to be afraid of him! The students really loved learning about being a fire fighter and said they were Lt. Dan’s number one fans!
submitted by Jobeth Wilson (WB) who will get a free t-shirt.
Take Me Out To the Ball Game!
Pleasant Ridge Chorus will be performing the National Anthem at the Chicago Dogs baseball game on Sunday, May 19. You are welcome to join them - buy tickets here!
submitted by Amina DiMarco (PR) who will get a free t-shirt.
GEF Impact
If you have been awarded a grant and want to share your story, please contact Cathy! If you want a free t-shirt, click here.
Welcome!
- Lauren Halperin (HE) and her husband Rich welcomed son, Ari Nathan on April 21st! He weighs 6 lbs. and is 18.5" long. Big sister, Maya, says that they are already best friends!
D34 Yelp!
Springman's Harmony Leiran is the raffle winner for this issue. Check out her review of Pequod's - and the many other reviews submitted on our own D34 Yelp! (Note that some of the photos weren't submitted, but came from the actual Yelp reviews). You're going to want to have OpenTable handy to make a reservation for dinner tonight!
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Glenview School District 34
Email: news@glenview34.org
Website: http://www.glenview34.org/
Location: 1401 Greenwood Rd, Glenview, IL, USA
Phone: (847) 998-5000
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/glenview34/
Twitter: @glenview34