It's March, Greyhounds!!
March 2024
Message from the Superintendent
It is the time of year when springtime is in the air, and we patiently wait for it to find it's way here! Although spring fever brings warmer weather and beautiful flowers, it is also an extremely important time for a school district. Spring is the time when teachers prepare to see the progress gained for all of their students. The district gives their final benchmark test, and students prepare and take state tests.
We know that our students will show great strides with their testing this spring because our educators are truly the best! If you are able, we ask that you keep your calendars marked for the upcoming testing for our students, so they can be here on the days they will be testing. Additionally, we kindly remind you that good sleep and a filling breakfast is a great way to start every day!
Education is not all about test scores, and we know that, but it is important to see that our students are making progress. Accountability will follow our students through life, it may not be a paper/pencil test, but we need to start helping our children understand now that the job we do should be the absolute best that we can do! I always told my students that testing was their time to shine and show everyone what they CAN do! I want our students to see testing as not "a have to", but "a get to" opportunity!
Wishing you all the best for a beautiful, warm spring!
Respectfully,
Dr. Ganey
📆 Upcoming Testing Information
🍎🍎LCUSD 9 Summer School🍎🍎
As a targeted Title 1 school, our K-4 grade levels will have the opportunity to attend our summer school program this year. This opportunity will be for all students currently being offered title services for either math or reading. This is a federally funded program for students participating.
Summer school dates will be June 3rd-June 27th with June 19th being a holiday.
Transportation will be provided if needed.
Information will be sent home in April, so please be looking and sign-up as soon as you can!
☔Preparing for Spring Weather☔
📚Family Reading Night📚
Lebanon Elementary School is excited to have our Family Reading Night on the calendar for Thursday, March 14th from 6:00pm-7:30pm. Our staff has been working diligently on creating an evening filled with engaging literacy activities for all to enjoy! We hope to see you there!
🎶🎼K-2 Upcoming Music Concert🎼🎶
Our LES K-2nd Music Concert is scheduled for March 20th at 6:30 in the LHS Gym. We are so very proud of our music program and all of the hard work that Ms. Lynn gives to our program. We hope to see you there!
🙌 PLC-Wednesday Dismissals🙌
We continue to move through the year with our focused PLC meetings on Wednesday afternoons. As we continue to move forward, the safety PLC has given their top priorities for the safety committee for each of the buildings in district, and the math PLC continues to work on their standards and classroom practices. Moving forward, we have created a guiding coalition for building leaders at each building to attend a PLC training workshop being held at Mascoutah High School June 18th-20th. This training is from Solution Tree, and I will be meeting with a Solution Tree representative on Wednesday, March 6th to discuss the summer workshop specifics. I am beyond excited to have this team together! Our goal is to have small focused PLC groups centered on student academic achievement, and the guiding coalition is imperative to this goal being achieved. Currently, our guiding coalition includes Ms. Arbeiter, Ms. Bass, Mrs. Burress, Mrs. Noud, Mrs. Seely, Mrs. Bobbe Venhaus, Mr. Saettele, Mr. Nelson, Mr. Crawford, and Dr. Ganey!
I have heard that the keynote speakers facilitating this workshop are truly phenomenal and will inspire our guiding coalition to get ready for year 3 for our PLCs!
Information from the Workshop Website:
Provided by Solution Tree: The Professional Learning Communities at Work® process is increasingly recognized as the most powerful strategy for sustained, substantive school improvement. This institute gives you and your team the knowledge and tools to implement this powerful process in your school or district.
For three days, you will have the opportunity to network with some of the most insightful minds in education. The presenters, all educators who have successfully led schools through the PLC process, are accessible to you throughout the event.
Register here: Build School Culture Where Learning Thrives: June 18-20, 2024, at Mascoutah High School, 1313 West Main Street, Mascoutah, IL 62258
(Open to all educators, so please share with other districts, as well.)
The program includes time for questions during the breakout sessions, a panel of experts to address questions from the audience, and time for teams to reflect and seek the advice of the presenters. At the end of team time, you will focus on next action steps, with presenters on hand to guide you.
For those just beginning to explore PLCs, this is an excellent way to build your knowledge base. For those who are already involved in deep implementation, this institute is the perfect opportunity to revisit your mission, introduce new team members to the process, and get answers to new questions.
As you delve deep into the three big ideas of a PLC—a focus on learning, building a collaborative culture, and results orientation—you will gain specific, practical, and inspiring strategies for transforming your school or district into a place where all students learn at high levels.
💡LCUSD 9 Committee Updates💡
Finance Committee- We will continue to work on present and future financial planning for the district. Our next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 26th at 4:30pm in the LHS Library.
Building and Grounds Committee-Our next meeting is schedule for Wednesday, March 13th at 4pm in the LHS Library. We will meet and discuss where we are at regarding the Greenhouse and HVAC update.
LES Handbook Meeting- Our meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, April 10th at 4pm in the LES Library.
LJSHS Handbook Meeting-Our meeting is scheduled for Monday, April 22nd at 4pm in the LHS Library.
Behavior Interventions Committee Meeting-Our meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, May 14th at 4pm in the LHS Library.
🐰🐣Spring Break🐰🐣
Please remember that spring break is in March this year and will be Wednesday, March 27th through April 2nd.