Staff Bulletin
March 2015
Dear District 64 Staff,
Happy Spring Recess!
It has been another busy month since the last bulletin. I am sure this letter will find you more than ready for spring recess.
Our Strategic Planning Steering Committee met for the second time last evening for a jam-packed, high intensity session. We began with a thought-provoking presentation from Dr. Ken Wallace, District 207 superintendent, who focused on the challenges our high school district is facing now and in the future. He noted their enrollment is becoming more diverse and less affluent, and how they are accelerating their efforts -- to not only meet the educational challenges those trends present but to also improve their student performance overall.
The committee reviewed a wrap-up of our current Strategic Plan 2010-15 and the CEC audit findings summary podcast, before turning to a careful review of the data from the recent strategic planning survey. More than 800 responses were received, giving the committee much valuable information to digest! We also reviewed a sample strategic plan (which coordinates with a dashboard) from the Arlington, VA public school system, which our consultant Bob Ewy had helped create. Several committee members shared additional research they had done on educational trends and events. The committee then began identifying the priorities for our strategic plan goals.
To continue providing input to the committee, you are invited to come for a preview of the working draft with our strategic planning consultant Bob Ewy on Wednesday, April 15 at Emerson. Select the session that meets your schedule: 4:30 - 5:30 p.m. or 6:00 - 7:00 p.m.
The committee will meet again the next evening to continue its work on our 2020 Vision!
When we return from Spring Break, architects from FGM will be visiting our schools in April to gather input from students, staff and parents on our Master Facilities Plan. Principals will be working with our Facility Department to develop a schedule of when FGM will be at each school. FGM is working around our school schedules to provide times that will be most convenient for teachers’ schedules. Please take this opportunity to talk with the architects in person and contribute your ideas to the planning process. The plan is a far-reaching and comprehensive view of our facilities that will guide our efforts for many years to come.
I also want to take this opportunity to recognize Julie Chalberg, a first grade teacher at Field School, who has been named one of 30 finalists for the 2015 Golden Apple Awards for Excellence in Teaching. Julie has been with District 64 for seven years, all at Field in first grade. She is the second District 64 teacher to receive the Golden Apple finalist accolade. Debbie Graziano, now a Channels of Challenge teacher at Roosevelt and Washington schools, was named a finalist in 2009 while teaching 2nd grade at Carpenter. The District does not nominate teachers for the Golden Apple. Nominations come from the community, so it is always a nice surprise for us to learn of such an educational accolade. Congratulations Julie!
I would like to thank you for your hard work with the PBA portion of the new PARCC assessment. I know it was a stressful and intense round of assessments so thank you for administering them with such professionalism.
Whether you are traveling or enjoying time at home, please have a safe and restful break. Thanks for another great month in D64. See you in April!
My best,
Laurie
ISBE CHANGING (ELIS) WEB PAGE
The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) had decided to change the appearance of the Educator Licensure Information System (ELIS) web page. One of the biggest changes that an educator will experience is when professional development (PD) is submitted, it will be automatically approved and you will have the opportunity to pay fees at that same time. The Regional Office of Education (ROE) and the ISBE will not be reviewing PD to determine if it is appropriate for staff members. The responsibility for proof that the PD is valid and appropriate will fall squarely onto the educator. As a result, it will be critical for teachers to keep copies and backup copies of all paperwork documenting accrued PD.
Please be aware that the PD may be entered into ELIS any time prior to April 1, 2015, but it will not allow you to hit submit. Only after April 1, 2015, will you be able to both enter and submit your PD.
The ROE has promised to put together copies of screen shots for districts to share with staff regarding the proposed changes to ELIS. When we have that information we will send out an email and post it on the HR portal.
Thank you,
Joel Martin
COMMITTEE CORNER UPDATE: K-5 MATH STEERING COMMITTEE
The K-5 Math Steering Committee met this week. The K-5 Math Steering Committee is focused on several goals including the revision of our K-5 Pacing Guides and the identification of supplemental materials to support differentiation. Thank you to all teams for your participation in our grade-level sharing sessions on Wednesday, March 18. The K-5 Math Steering Committee reviewed this information and will be updating the Math Pacing Guides to reflect your valuable feedback. In addition to updates to the Math Pacing Guides, two important needs emerged from team discussions:
- There is a need for a 60-minute math block in 1st-5th grade. All teams reported that it is challenging to deeply address learning targets within the current 45-minute time frame. Principals will be working with scheduling teams this spring to identify how we might structure building schedules to accommodate this request.
- There is also a need for supplemental materials to support problem-solving/higher-level differentiation in certain units of instruction. The K-5 Math Steering Committee will be recruiting volunteers to help us identify supplemental materials for these units which will be made available to all grade-level teams. If you are interested in participating in this summer curriculum work, please contact Tracie Thomas.
More information about the Math Steering Committee and other District 64 committees can be found on the Staff Portal > Committee Corner.
FIRST PRIORITY BUILDING RESERVATIONS FOR 2015-16: Submit by Thursday, May 14
In addition to our normal school hours, did you know that District 64 buildings are used 7 days a week ‘til well into the night all through the school year (and much of the summer, too)? In addition to hosting our own activities, a wide range of community groups make extensive use of our facilities, too.
To make sure District 64 organizations have “first dibs” in reserving our facilities, we have a priority system to reserve spaces. The reservation process for 2015-16 is now underway, and our own “First Priority” users have until Thursday, May 14 to submit their requests on this form:
Building Rental Application/Contract (PDF)
First Priority users include:
FIRST PRIORITY GROUPS*
District 64 activities and meetings. For example:
· Intramural and interscholastic sports, including tumbling/gymnastics, volleyball gym usage
· Instrumental, vocal music, concerts and related events
· Board of Education meetings
· Wednesday meetings
· Parent/teacher board meetings
· All District 64 events: Open Gym, Power, Screen Free Week, Holiday Sings, Science Olympiads, Conferences, Open Houses, Parent Nights, etc.
· Student organizations/clubs, e.g. Student Council, Lincoln/Emerson Clubs
· Holiday sings (dates and times and the date and time for setting up the gyms)
· Dates that PE equipment will be in the buildings
If you are unsure….Please contact Rene Eggleston at
847-318-4308.
Don’t lose your chance to have “first dibs” in selecting
the dates and times you want for next year –
submit your form by Thursday, May 14.
SPRING FITNESS CHALLENGE!
The District 64 Wellness Council is inviting all staff members to take part in a Spring Fitness Challenge!
The Fitness Challenge (optional) will begin on April 7th and conclude on May 29th, 2015. Buildings will each hold their own Challenge.
Each participant will formulate a personal fitness goal. Goals may include exercise, calorie-counting, weight loss, stress reduction, etc. For example, a goal may be, "Lose 10 pounds by the end of May."
Goals are set for personal gain, but tracked with peers to create more incentive.
The Tracker, a Google Doc, will be shared with interested staff members at each building. To begin, each participant will enter his/her goal. On Friday of each week, progress toward the goal should be provided on the Tracker.
Here is a preview of the Goal Tracker:
District 64 - Fitness Challenge Spring 2015 - Goal Tracker
To calculate a weight loss
https://www.fitwatch.com/calculator/weight-loss-target-date
The Weight Loss Target Date calculator gives you an idea of how long it will take to reach your weight loss goal.
To track progress on a weight loss or fitness plan
MyFitnessPal is a free smartphone app and website that tracks diet and exercise to determine optimal nutrients and caloric intake for the users' goals. In a Consumer Reports diet rating, MyFitnessPal was rated the best free program…in overall satisfaction, "maintenance, calorie awareness, and food variety.”
Working together makes getting fit easier and more fun! Talk to your colleagues and sign up on April 7th.
GROWING TOGETHER BOOK CLUB
Do you have a stack of professional books that you’ve been longing to read? Or a Kindle full of books purchased that you were thinking you’d read but never have the time? Do you often find yourself looking for the motivation to read something new but lack the follow through? Join our book club! We will be having a monthly book club centering around books to not only better our teaching, but better us as human beings. This is not for professional growth credit, but just a way to connect with other educators and grow together.
We will be meeting the third Thursday of every month to discuss a book that can relate to all educators. The first meeting will take place on Thursday, April 23rd from 4:00-5:00pm. The book we have chosen for April is Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck. You can find it on Amazon for $8.99 on Kindle or $9.50 for paperback. We will decide on a location once we know how many people are interesting in coming.
We have some awesome ideas to help our Professional Book Group develop, as well as some titles in mind we’d love to tackle together! We will also utilize twitter to share some of our thoughts and collaborate together. If you’ve never been on twitter before - don’t let this scare you! We’ll show you how awesome it can be! Thanks for considering joining our group!
If you are interested, please fill out this survey so we know how many people to expect. This book club is open to ALL educators in District 64.
Survey Link: http://bit.ly/growingtogetherd64
We look forward to growing together!
Questions about our group? Feel free to contact…
Caroline Schaab cschaab@d64.org
Amanda Pelsor apelsor@d64.org
LINCOLN'S GREEN TEAM
The middle school students at Lincoln have a few ongoing recycling initiatives and they would like to invite everyone to participate!!
** We collect lots of things to distribute to other places in order to keep them out of landfills. Please send the following items to the Lincoln Middle School Green Team if you want to help in minimizing the impact of these items in the waste stream:
Eyeglasses -- Boyce Eye Care in South Park will clean and repair glasses/sunglasses and distribute them to the underprivileged.
Ink Cartridges -- We send out all types/sizes of toners and cartridges to a refilling and recycling company so they are not thrown away.
Books -- Please drop off any books, textbooks, workbooks, CDs or DVDs in any condition to our purple ReuseBooks bin OUTSIDE in the west parking lot. It is similar to the Abitibi paper bins and the slot is wide enough to fit encyclopedias and other large books. The company will resell what they can and recycle what they cannot and our Green Team receives $0.01 per pound of books to add to our fundraising efforts.
Markers -- Our students collect and send out used colored markers to Crayola Colorcycle program where they are melted down and recycled into biofuel.
Thanks for joining us as we continue working towards more sustainability!!
BIKE HELMET SALE
District 64's Traffic Safety Committee will be co-sponsoring -- along with Advocate Lutheran General Hospital Trauma Services -- a drop-in bike helmet sale and fitting on Wednesday, April 22 from 4:00-6:30 p.m. at Carpenter School (south gym). Toddler, youth and adult sizes are $11 per helmet, first come-first served. Trauma Services staff will custom-fit the new helmet to each child or adult. This is an easy way to protect all the riders in your family! The sale is presented as part of Healthy Living Month celebrated in April in Park Ridge. Learn more about other HLM activities planned for 2015.
RECOGNITION DINNER
FOR SALE
1. Cherry Dining Set
Great condition. Includes a table with leaf and 4 chairs, china cabinet with built in lighting, and buffet. $1000 for everything. Contact: Helene Zukas (hzukas@d64.org).
2. Home Gym
Bodycraft Xpress Pro (http://bodycraft.com/xpress-pro-strength-training-system.html). This is a top of the line home gym. Perfect condition. $800.
Pick up in Northbrook. The gym can be delivered and assembled by the company that installed it for a small fee. Pictures available upon request. Contact: Helene Zukas (hzukas@d64.org).
1. Large Oak Entertainment Center
Great condition with lots of storage for stereo components and gaming devices. Cabinets for DVD and CD storage. Lighted top shelves, glass doors and a nice lighted curio. Doors can close to hide the TV. Asking $600 obo. Pictures available. Pick up in Mundelein.
Contact: Kim Proenza (847) 682-0493 or kproenza@d64.org
2. Two Matching Oak End Tables
Good condition. Pictures available. Asking $75 obo for the pair. Pick up in Mundelein
Contact: Kim Proenza (847) 682-0493 or kproenza@d64.org
1. E35 SOLE Elliptical
20" stride length, MP3 capable, power incline and LCD display.
In great condition. Contact: Kelly at kvanhorn@d64.org if interested.
2. Hockey Game Table
Sportcraft ESPN 84-inch One Timer 2.0 Turbo Hockey Game Table.
In great condition. Contact: Kelly at kvanhorn@d64.org if interested.
FOR RENT
Condo For Rent
2 bedrooms, 1 and one-half baths, on the corner of Touhy and Lincoln in Park Ridge.
Available June 15th $1200.
Interested parties please call Candy Hancock at 847-698-2457 or ext 4215.
2014-2015 PAY DATES
Spring Break begins on 3/30/15 to 04/06/15-
Returning Tuesday, 04/07/15
4/09/15 and 4/23/15
5/07/15 and 5/21/15
6/04/15 and 6/18/15
7/02/15, 7/16/15 and 7/30/15