Family Newsletter

August 24, 2022

Dear D15 Families,

Welcome to the start of the 2022-23 school year! I sure hope the first few days of school are off to a great start for your child(ren). As I visited schools during opening days, I saw so much joy and excitement on the faces of our students and staff and was touched to see everyone back in school. After the last few years, it felt wonderful to really feel like school is truly getting back to normal.

Please enjoy the slideshow of pictures that capture the magic of the first week of school. The photos reflect what makes a new school year so special and that everyone is ready for 2022-23 and all of its possibilities. As we enter the second week of school, please take a few moments to review a few updates and reminders that will help keep everything moving along.

All four of our exchange teachers have officially arrived! We are so excited to welcome Frolian Bustos Mantilla and his wife from Colombia, Daniela Vasconcellos (pictured below at Virginia Lake) from Argentina, and Margarita Sanchez Diaz, Jose Prades (pictured below at Winston Campus), and their loved ones from Spain!

The Parent/Student Handbook is a tool that has been developed to serve as a quick and easy reference for a variety of information about our school district. The handbook is updated annually and can be found on our website.

Additionally, the handbook contains a summary of Board of Education policies governing District 15. The complete School District 15 Board of Education Policy Manual is available for public review at the District office and on the District 15 BoardDocs website.

Some of our schools are already making a splash with fun PTA events! I cannot thank our PTA volunteers enough for all they do for our schools. If you’re interested in joining your school’s PTA, please visit your school website.

With school now in session, it means our roads are busier than usual with school buses, bicycles, children walking, and parents bringing their children to school. The Village of Palatine shared the graphic below encouraging our community to never pass a bus, to leave space between your vehicle and a school bus, and be alert for children. Please remember that schools are CELL PHONE-FREE ZONES. We need everyone focused on the parking lot/road while children are entering and exiting vehicles. We appreciate your support and everyone doing their part to keep staff and students safe.

Per our Parent/Student Handbook (Chapter 3/page 18), no animals are allowed on school grounds during times when children are present unless pre-authorized by the principal. Please know such exemptions are made for trained service animals in use by a person with a disability. Should you need such an exemption, please communicate with your child’s principal. If you are walking your children to school with an animal, please ensure you are staying clear of the main entrances and of students arriving to/departing school.

School safety remains a top priority in District 15. To ensure our schools are as safe as they can be, a few additional safety protocols have been put in place this year. Signs will be added to our playgrounds notifying the community that they will be closed to the public during school hours. This will allow classrooms to go outside for PE or to learn outdoors without concern for who else is on school grounds. Additionally, classroom doors will be closed and locked during the day.

I hope you plan to attend your school's highly informative Parent Orientation this year. They provide parents/guardians with insight into what the day in the life of a student looks like and allows time for parents/guardians to ask general questions about classroom routines. Please remember that they are not meant to serve as individual conferences. Please watch for dates for this event from your child’s school.

Hopefully, you heard that the Board of Education unanimously approved a referendum question to be added to the November 8 general election. To find out more about the plan, please visit www.ccsd15.net/Moving15Forward.

In the event you are not already a registered voter in Illinois, registering to vote is simple. You can register online, in person, or you can download registration forms to register through the mail. You can view additional voting information on the Cook County Clerk’s Office website.

To register to vote, you must be: a U.S. citizen, at least 18 years old by the general election (November 8, 2022), and a resident of your precinct at least 30 days prior to Election Day.

That’s all for now – week 2 is off to a great start. We look forward to the year ahead.

Your partner in education,

Laurie Heinz