The Annual Illinois School Report Card generated by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) was released to the general public this week. This year, the entire process and the way the data was calculated is different.

The new School Report Card is based on the Every Student Succeeds Act, “ESSA.” They are measuring school quality based on a new set of 10 factors. The main difference is that the new report is much more focused on student growth. Schools are given a designation of exemplary, commendable, underperforming, or lowest-performing.

In this new report card format, District 41 schools are designated in the top two categories of “exemplary” or “commendable.” Congratulations to Abraham Lincoln School for being designated as exemplary and listed in the top 10 percent of the state on the school report card.

Abraham Lincoln = Exemplary

Benjamin Franklin = Commendable

Churchill = Commendable

Forest Glen = Commendable

Hadley Junior High = Commendable

There is much to be celebrated and much to learn from the results. To see the full District 41 State Report Card online, click here.
The Daily Herald article in the paper today included the chart below. District 41 is 3rd in English Language growth in DuPage County.

Members of the community who live in the boundaries of Glen Ellyn School District 41 are invited to express interest in joining the community-based District 41 Finance Advisory Committee.

The purpose of the committee is to advise the administration on financial matters. The committee meets monthly on Friday mornings at 7 a.m. The committee's focus is to examine the long-range financial plans and cost structure and identify ways that the district can improve its financial health and efficiency while maintaining quality educational opportunities for students. The committee will not participate in collective bargaining and is not intended to be political in nature.

The district is seeking two community members living in the District 41 boundaries (serving three-year terms).

Qualifications

• Resident of Glen Ellyn School District 41

• Undergraduate degree in finance and/or management, preferred

• At least five years of experience in financial or operational management

• Willing to commit to a three-year term.

Interested community members should submit a letter of interest and resume to edeporter@d41.org by November 15, 2018. Once selected, the new members will be invited to begin as soon as possible.

Thank you in advance for your interest in this important committee.

Engage Board of Education members in conversation tomorrow, November 1, at Benjamin Franklin School starting at 6:30 p.m. All members of the District 41 community are invited!

In the event of an emergency at any of the District 41 schools, the district communicates to parents in a variety of ways. If you are a parent and would like to receive emergency messages on your cell phone via text (in addition to email and voicemail), please follow the below steps:

1. Log on to Family Access - Click here

2. Click the Skylert button on the left.

3. The Skyward contacts screen will appear for the different types of notifications. Scroll to the bottom of the screen and enter your cell phone number(s) in the “Text Message” section.

4. Click Save.

Text messaging will not be used to communicate news items or event reminders. It is strictly used for emergency communications. Thank you for signing up for these important text notifications.

The Hadley Junior High Wildcat Group, an advisory program led by teachers Mayra Kulik and Katie Reed, brings a small group of students together every week to do fun activities and to build relationships. Last month, Wildcat Group invited Javier Tellez and Jesse Sierra, District 41 Buildings & Grounds employees, to join the program as mentors. Both Jesse and Javier gladly accepted the invitation and have been participating in the Wildcat Group activities every week, including last week's Fall Color Run!

The Hadley 7th grade Girls Volleyball team finished up their 10-2 season, putting them as the #1 seed in the Conference Championship Tournament. The ladies played their best volleyball advancing through a single elimination bracket to the championship. Hadley played Monroe in the final showdown, who fought the whole way to have an opportunity to take on our team in the final match. They gave it their all, but were no match in the end for the Wildcats, who won the championship in 2 sets!

“This team was determined since day one to have fun, be a team as well as friends, and ultimately a family each day on the court and off. They took pride in the work, persevered no matter what the score board said (but I’m pretty sure they loved to get behind on the scoreboard so they can have a big finish - which they always did!), had a lot of fun, and played their hearts out everyday,” said Coach Derek Winkelmann. “I couldn't be any more proud of their achievements, but also how well they have bonded as a team, and supported each other through it all from start to finish.”