On behalf of everyone in D41, we hope that you know how much we miss having the students in our schools. We absolutely look forward to the day that we are able to welcome our students back. Our e-learning platform will continue to grow and change as this closure continues as will some of the new technology tools that we are using to stay engaged. Our teams are doing amazing things while they are working remotely. Our principals are finding opportunities, big and small, to stay connected with families. The personal interaction and connectedness will be crucial to all of us as we navigate our way through this crisis. Internally, we are keeping all staff connected and engaged in numerous ways. I would like to think that a situation like this either brings out the best or the worst in all of us. By working together and supporting each other, I have no doubt that we will continue to bring out our very best on behalf of your children. I would like to share one of my Twitter gratitude tweets with you from 3/19/20.

What I Love About D41. I may be working alone in a room but never really alone. There are so many staff members working differently to keep D41 rockin!

We will be rolling out new information often so please stay engaged and in touch. Very soon, we will be sharing some exciting information to help us all learn how to understand and manage the emotional stress that accompanies a crisis.

Together, we are D41Strong!

On March 16, 2020, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker issued an executive order suspending the provisions of the Illinois Open Meetings Act (OMA) requiring or relating to in-person attendance by members of the public body and allowing remote (audio or video) meetings to be streamed to the public. In response to this order and in the best interest of our school community, we will be adjusting our Board of Education meeting format. Our next regularly scheduled meeting this coming Monday, March 23 will be mainly conducted remotely. As always, the meeting will be live streamed and available from our website, click here. Superintendent Kaczkowski along with two Board members will be present and the other Board members and district staff will be connected by phone.

Public comments (3 minutes or less) will be collected by email at D41PublicComments@d41.org and will be read at the meeting. Please submit your comments before Monday, March 23 at 6 p.m. Comments received after 6 p.m. will not be read during the meeting but will be forwarded to the Board and attached to the approved minutes.

D41 Kids Foundation was launched in 2019 as a way for the community to support our public schools and enrich the learning experience for our students. As we enter an uncertain time due to the COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing, and at-home learning, D41 Kids is partnering with the District's Community Outreach program to support our students most at-risk. From now through the end of the school year, D41 Kids and Community Outreach will be raising funds to provide grocery gift cards and needed supplies to students most in need.

Prior to the school closing, the Strategic Planning Committee completed the Data Retreat portion of the strategic planning process. The team went through a number of activities including a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis and the results have been posted. Click here for the Data Retreat results. The next step is to collect feedback from the entire staff and the community. Unfortunately, we had to cancel our in person focus group, but please see below links to surveys to help us gather your feedback about the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of District 41 as identified by the Strategic Plan Committee.

Community Survey

Staff Survey

Thank you for your understanding as we adjust the process to accommodate the closure of our school district buildings. We hope you will continue to engage with us online!

Flipgrid provides activities for kids/families with a focus on science and STEM concepts. Hadley teacher Kelly Johnson set it up for her 6th grade students as an optional activity while learning at home. She also set up a Flipgrid for the entire district to use. Thank you, Ms. Johnson!

Here is the flipgrid site: https://flipgrid.com/rubefamilychallenge

Password: District4every1

Anyone can submit their entry if they have the link and the password above. Everyone with the link will be able to see the videos families make and make their own.

Here is a link to a great example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMboI4cOAuQ

Have fun creating!

Board of Education Vice President Jason Loebach donated socks for all staff in District 41. Staff members have been rocking their socks in honor of World Down Syndrome Day and sending photos in to share with the community. Thank you, Mr. Loebach. We hope everyone will rock their socks tomorrow, March 21 for World Down Syndrome Day.