Dear D70 Families and Community:

Please join me in congratulating our vocal, band, and orchestra teachers on being named one of the best music education communities in the country with the honor of our first NAMM Foundation award!

D70 was one of 830 districts nationwide to be named in the Best Communities for Music Education designation for our outstanding commitment to music instruction. In the state, 67 districts were honored.

This designation is awarded to districts that demonstrate outstanding achievement in efforts to provide music access and education to all students. To qualify for the Best Communities designation, D70 completed a detailed application about funding, music class participation, instruction time, facilities, support for the music program, and community music-making programs. Responses were verified by school officials and reviewed by The Music Research Institute at the University of Kansas.

CONGRATULATIONS to our talented staff and for your commitment to the musical arts!

I am so excited to share our “Learning Together: D70 Strategic Plan” that will lead and guide us for the next five years! First, I want to thank all the community members, parents, and staff that weighed in on this process over the last year. The work that has gone into creating this plan, its goals, and objectives, has been the embodiment of our new vision statement and resulted in the title of this plan, “Learning Together.”

At its core, it is more than just a strategic plan, it is our vision for the future. It is also an action plan of how we will achieve our mission to, “Empower student growth and achievement through equitable, challenging opportunities that promote excellence, innovation, critical thinking, and respect.” Our values of engagement, excellence, innovation, safety, equity, and collaboration are woven throughout.

As you will see, we have identified six key areas of focus with two goals in each.

• Learning and Innovation

• Student Wellness

• Human Resources

• Communication/Public Relations

• Infrastructure

• Finance

It will take persistence and intentionality to accomplish these ambitious goals in five years. That is why we are also grateful for the continued service and leadership of our Board of Education, our staff for their seemingly endless energy for our students, our families for their partnership, and our community for their trust and belief in our schools.

Over the coming weeks and as we prepare for the upcoming school year, we will be sharing more information about how we are making progress in each of these key areas of focus. A webpage will also be coming soon to share our efforts and work on the strategic plan. For now, the full strategic plan is available on our website.

Thank you for your continued partnership on our journey forward! District 70 continues to be a wonderful place to learn and grow and our students remain our biggest focus as we pursue continued excellence.

Shine Bright,

Rebecca

Rebecca A. Jenkins

Superintendent of Schools

Libertyville School District 70

rjenkins@d70schools.org

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Teachers assess student understanding, learning, and growth in a variety of informal and formal ways throughout the school year. D70 uses several assessments that are administered throughout the school year to help students, teachers, and parents better understand strengths and areas that can be targeted for improvement. Most recently first- through eighth-graders took the STAR assessments in reading and math.

To view assessment results for your child, please log into the PowerSchool Parent Portal and click on the small box with an arrow in the right-hand corner of the screen. Click on P4R Login to access your child’s assessment data. (See image below.)

Welcome to May, also known as Mental Health Awareness Month. Student and staff wellness continue to be priorities and are part of our newly-adopted strategic plan.

We strive to promote emotional well-being and healthy connections among students and adults in their lives. Research shows that students who report having better mental health experience increased academic, social, and emotional success. Within our schools, we support this in part through Social Emotional Learning (SEL) and Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS).

The need for mental health support in both our immediate community and across the country is significant, and no one person or organization can address it alone. We continue to strengthen and expand our partnerships within the community toward the goals of increasing access to mental health services, creating spaces of belonging, and equipping students and families with resources to support their mental health.

If you need to talk to someone, you may consider:

• D70 Social Workers and Psychologists

• School social workers and school psychologists are the connectors within their schools, providing direct support and referring students and parents/guardians to other resources, within and outside of school.

• Call your school’s front office to be connected.

• 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline

• 24/7, free and confidential support for people in distress and crisis resources for your loved ones.

• Text or call 988 to talk with a trained counselor.

• 988 Website

• Help in Spanish

• Info for people who are deaf and hard of hearing

• 211 Lake County - for community resources & assistance with mental health, food, housing, rent, utilities, healthcare, childcare, immigration status, transportation, etc.:

• Call: 211

• Text: your Zip Code to 898211

• Find info on the Website: 211 Lake County | Multiple language options are available on the phone line, text line & website

District 70 students will be using new language arts resources as they learn next school year.

Teachers are participating in professional development in May and in August/September, as well as spending time in curriculum work this summer.

The Science of Reading guided selection of language arts resources.

Learn more by listening to podcasts by Amplify.

• Science of Reading: The Podcast delivers the latest insights from researchers and practitioners in early reading. Each episode takes a conversational approach and explores a timely topic related to the Science of Reading.

Noted below is a general overview as well as pertinent links. Additional information will be shared at the beginning and throughout the school year.

Amplify CKLA: K-5 students

Overview: of Amplify CKLA for parents: Welcome, Amplify CKLA® families! - Caregiver hub

Parent Testimonial: CKLA Testimonial: From a Parent Perspective (35 minutes)

McGraw-Hill StudySync: Highland 6th (grade level and accelerated) and 7th (grade level):

StudySync is a complete ELA curriculum designed to meet the rigorous academic needs of today’s classroom. StudySync is a living curriculum, with rich multimedia and captivating resources added every day. Read more about StudySync resources from the website.

Springboard by College Board: Highland 8th grade: (6th grade Gifted, 7th Grade Accelerated and Gifted, and 8th grade level, Accelerated, and Gifted)

SpringBoard ELA offers a full curriculum for students in grades 6–12. Throughout the program, they read and analyze a wide range of texts in genres including poetry, novels, plays, biographies, nonfiction narratives, speeches, and films. They also learn to write in forms including essays, personal narratives, argumentative texts such as editorials, and research papers. Each grade level uses complex, grade-appropriate texts that allow students to examine an idea from multiple points of view while working with a variety of genres. Students progress from guided reading through collaborative projects to confident, independent work. Learn more about SpringBoard ELA via their website.

The public is welcome to attend.

The meeting also will be live-streamed and recorded.

Just a reminder that registration is now open for current students to re-enroll, as well as new students and incoming kindergartners to enroll.

• For returning students (students now enrolled in D70), log onto PowerSchool here. Click on "School Forms" and proceed to complete Student Registration. Directions also can be found on the D70 website under Department, Student Registration, to Re-Enrollment for Current Students.
  

• Once you've clicked on School Forms, proceed to update and complete all requested information for your student.

  • If you have more than one child, select a child’s name from the bar just below the PowerSchool logo, then click the SchoolForms icon.

  • Verify that all pre-populated information is correct and enter any remaining information necessary to complete your student's registration.

  • Registration for each child in the family must be completed separately through the PowerSchool parent portal.

• For new kindergarten or new student enrollment, go to the D70 website (d70schools.org), click on Department, then Student Registration, to New Kindergarten, New Student Registration to Pre-Registration Form. Follow the procedure.
• To register for D70's Little Learners Preschool, contact the registrar at registrar@d70schools.org.

Any questions, contact the D70 registrar by calling 847-362-9695 or emailing registrar@d70schools.org.