Family Newsletter

October 7, 2022

Dear District 15 Families,

Hello October! As the seasons begin to change, the learning continues here in District 15! Our schools continue to be busy connecting and engaging with our students while we continue to engage the community and share information about our Moving 15 Forward initiative.

• Virtual Meeting: We held a virtual meeting on Wednesday, October 5. If you were unable to join us, you can view the session on our website. - Completed
• Thursday, October 6, 2022, at Thomas Jefferson, 3805 Winston Drive, Hoffman Estates - Completed
• Tuesday, October 11, 2022, at Winston Campus Junior High, 120 N. Babcock Drive, Palatine
• Thursday, October 13, 2022, at Plum Grove Junior High, 2600 Plum Grove Road, Rolling Meadows
• Thursday, October 20, 2022, at Carl Sandburg Junior High, 2600 Martin Lane, Rolling Meadows
• Tuesday, October 25, 2022, at Walter R. Sundling Junior High, 1100 N. Smith Street, Palatine

All meetings will be held from 6:00-7:30 p.m. To learn more about the plan, you can also visit our website here.

As often is the case with social media, unfortunately, it perpetuates misinformation. One such rumor that was brought to my attention was that District 211 was likely going out for referendum in the future. I have talked with Superintendent Small and D211 is not planning to go out to referendum at all. We wanted to ensure that everyone in our community was provided truthful information. If you hear information you are unsure of, you are always welcome to reach out to the District for confirmation.

The POC is a one-stop shop trusted by families to address their many needs. They help to empower underserved people to develop self-sufficiency and become leaders in their communities. We are so appreciative to have them as a partner for our students and families. One of their annual events is the Candy Crawl (formerly Truck of Treat) and the District is looking forward to participating!

Our PTAs are excited to be hosting events again! We are so appreciative to have our PTAs as partners for our schools! Thank you to all of our PTA members for all they do for our students, staff, and schools!

Not yet a member? Please visit your school’s website to find out how you can join the PTA. Your small membership fee helps fund many important extra programs for students and families.

Enjoy the beautiful fall weather.

Your partner in education,

Laurie Heinz, Ed.D.

Superintendent of Schools

The Department of Teaching and Learning hosted its first Parent University on September 29 via Facebook Live! We shared information about Curriculum and Report Card Updates K-8, including:

• Sharing out why shifting instructional approaches is important and needed
• The Portrait of a Graduate of District 15
• Curricular resources adopted for K-8 literacy, K-5 math, and 6-8 science
• District homework guidance
• Grading and report card updates for 2022-23

If you were unable to attend the Live session, you can view the session recording here.

Watch for upcoming Parent University offerings from Teaching and Learning:

• October 19: Understanding and Responding to Your Child’s Report Card
• November 15: A Parent’s Guide to PBIS: Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports
• December TBD: Hour of Code: Celebrating Computer Science

7-8 English Language Arts Report Cards:

In addition to term grades, which are provided at the end of each quarter, at the end of the second and fourth quarters, three standard-based grades will be present. These are to help provide additional information to families about their student’s progress on specific skills. These standards will have no effect on GPAs, Honor Rolls, or High School placement. The standards that will be reported are:

• Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text;
• Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly;
• Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

Please attend our upcoming Parent University on October 19 to learn more about Standards Based Grading and understanding your child’s report card.

If you would like to see what transactions your student has on their breakfast/lunch account, here’s how you can set up an account:

On the Nutrition Services page on the D15 website, click on the green icon for School Café.

This link will take you to the website where you can pay for school meals and monitor student account balances, transactions, and request low balance alerts. There is also a quick guide to help with creating your student’s account. Be sure to type in “Community Consolidated School District #15” for the school district when asked. You need your student's school ID number to create an account.

If you need any assistance with creating an account, please reach out to Nutrition Services at (847)963-3929 or woodst@ccsd15.net.

If you need to add funds to a student's meal account, there are two ways to do this.

1. You can add money to any student's account on School Café. There is a service charge.
   Or

2. Put cash or a check made out to Nutrition Services in an envelope with your child’s name and “student meal account” on the envelope, and drop it off at your child’s school. There is no service fee for this transaction.

For the purpose of safeguarding the health of children, District 15 enforces Illinois student health requirements. These requirements consist of health, dental, and eye exams, and immunizations specific to grade and age. School nurses have been connecting and working with families to meet these requirements.

On Monday, October 17, 2022, students who have not met the immunization and physical examination requirements will be excluded from school. If you are unsure of the status of your child or need assistance, please reach out to your school nurse.

The Mental Health Awareness Program will begin in October and November for grades 6th-8th. Fifth grade will have their classroom presentations in late winter. Our program includes a comprehensive mental health screening process to identify students (grades 5-8) who may benefit from additional support. As part of this process, we are utilizing the Social, Academic, Emotional, Behaviors Risk Screener (mySAEBRS). Another component of the comprehensive mental health screening process is a Mental Health Awareness program through Erika’s Lighthouse. Students will learn about mental health and how to seek help if they are concerned about themselves or a friend.

District 15 is excited to be partnering with local agencies to present information for our parents, guardians, families and community members. Mark your calendars and join us for these free, virtual and in-person workshops!

Parents are invited to an informational session on October 13, 2022. Please see the attached Mental Health Awareness Night flier.

Please note, the location for the 10/13/22 Mental Health Awareness Night location was incorrectly listed at Frank C. Whiteley Elementary School. It should be at Jane Addams Elementary.

District 15 is committed to helping all students be successful learners. As part of that commitment, our district uses a structure known as Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS). This process allows all schools to provide students across the continuum of need with a variety of academic and behavioral supports based upon their specific learning needs. These supports are organized into three levels referred to as “Tiers.” This helps educators to respond appropriately and provide students with the assistance they need to prosper in the classroom.

• Tier 1 is the high quality instruction provided by general education teachers that all students receive as part of their regular school day. We call this core instruction.
• Tier 2 interventions are provided when District-based assessments indicate that a student needs additional academic support. Classroom teachers and/or other school staff work together to provide this support to small groups of students. This support is provided in regular time increments referred to as an intervention cycle and occurs during a designated time within a school day.
• Tier 3 support incorporates problem solving structures and supports to address needs not met in Tier 1 or Tier 2 interventions.

We have several programs we use with our students who qualify for intervention depending on the student’s needs:

Wilson Fundations makes learning to read fun while laying the groundwork for life-long literacy. Students in grades K-2 receive a systematic program in critical foundational skills, emphasizing:

• Phonemic awareness
• Phonics/ word study
• High-frequency word study
• Reading fluency
• Vocabulary
• Comprehension strategies
• Handwriting
• Spelling

Just Words is a multisensory decoding and spelling program for students in grades 4–8. It is designed for students who can benefit from the targeted word study focus.

Fountas & Pinnell Leveled Literacy Intervention System (LLI) is an intensive, small-group, supplementary literacy intervention for students who find reading and writing difficult. The goal of LLI is to lift the literacy achievement of students who are not achieving grade-level expectations in reading.

El camino al éxito (K-1) is a Spanish Phonics Curriculum for Early Reading. The program develops phonological awareness and phonics skills so that students can decode and read syllables and words.

El próximo paso al éxito (1-2) is a is a Spanish Phonics program that develops phonological awareness and phonics skills so that students can decode and read syllables, words, and high-frequency words with automaticity and apply these skills to reading decodable text.

Soluciones (K-2) is a Spanish literacy intervention that accelerates students’ access to complex text using authentic Spanish resources.

Read 180 is an intervention option at WCJH. READ 180 is the leading blended learning intervention program building reading comprehension, academic vocabulary, and writing skills.

Bridges Intervention provides targeted instruction and assessment for essential mathematics skills and concepts. A strengths-based approach builds on each student’s abilities—starting with manipulatives, then moving to two-dimensional representations and mental images.

We are very proud of the variety of academic support that we offer our students.

Language is an integral part of our identities and plays an important role in maintaining communication and relationships with family. Please check out this resource from WIDA (the WIDA consortium is a group of states dedicated to the design and implementation of high standards and equitable educational opportunities for English learners) in English or Spanish for ideas to strengthen your family’s connections through language.

The Multilingual Parent Advisory Committee will host its first virtual meeting of the year on Tuesday, October 18, at 6:30 pm. The theme will be “Understanding the Report Card & How to Participate in a Parent Teacher Conference,” and translation will be available in any language. Please see the MPAC flier with more details and to register in advance.

District 15 will be holding Job Fairs on the following dates: October 18, 2022, October 20, 2022, October 31, 2022, November 7, 2022 and November 14, 2022. Come apply onsite on October 18, 2022! The job fair is held at the Palatine Library (700 N. North Court, Palatine, IL 60067) from 12 pm-3 pm.

Please contact Chanell Lopez at lopezc@ccsd15.net or Lori Thum at thuml@ccsd15.net with any questions.

If you aren’t already following our District social media accounts, click the links below and follow us for District info, photos, and videos!

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• October 10 - No School
  
• October 11 - Student Non-attendance Day
  
• October 11 - Moving 15 Forward at Winston Campus Junior High
  
• October 13 - Moving 15 Forward at Plum Grove Junior High
  
• October 13 - D15 Mental Health Awareness Night
  
• October 15 - School Physical Exams, Eye Exams, and Immunization Forms Due
  
• October 18 - D15 Job Fair
  
• October 18 - MPAC Meeting
  
• October 19 - D15 Parent University
  
• October 19 - Board of Education Meeting
  
• October 20 - Moving 15 Forward Meeting at Carl Sandburg Junior High
  
• October 24 - SPARK Meeting
  
• October 25 - Moving 15 Forward Meeting at Walter R. Sundling Junior High