Superintendent News

October 31, 2022

Dear District 95 Families,

I could not be more thrilled to have our students and families back in full swing with the many activities that Fall brings. From choral concerts, to football, marching band, cheer, and poms, to PTO trunk or treat parties and much, much more, our students and parents are fully engaged with school activities. More than ever I appreciate this after experiencing the pandemic years when this was not possible.

As you can see from the articles below, there is a great deal of important work taking place across the district. Just this last week the state released report card data; while many districts showed significant losses, District 95 fared well and saw many significant gains even compared to pre-pandemic data in some areas. For more information, see the "Illinois School Report Card" article below.

Also worth mentioning, if you have gently used snow pants or boots that you no longer need, please consider donating them to Joanie's Closet to be shared with an under-resourced family in our district. More information is available in the article below. Financial donations are also welcomed by Joanie's Closet, especially since we are seeing an increase in refugee families who need significant assistance.

Speaking of snow pants and cold weather, don't miss our article on Inclement Weather and the possible options for school closures, delayed start, and the use of emergency days.

Finally, as we enter November and thoughts turn toward holidays and especially Thanksgiving, I am reminded of all that we in District 95 have for which to be thankful. What a wonderful community we have of supportive families. I hope you, too, feel gratitude as I do for our many blessings.

Sincerely,

Dr. Kelley Gallt

The District’s State assessment data was made public on October 27th, 2022. District 95 schools have received the following designations: 5 Exemplary Designations, 3 Commendable Designations.

Despite the pandemic, District 95 students fared well and even saw significant growth in many areas. Overall, the report card results demonstrate that the district is on the right track with our instructional practices and supports for most of our students. Students and parents also deserve credit for their perseverance and adaptability over the past two years. Our success is very much a collaborative effort, and everyone should be proud of these designations and their own role in helping the district achieve these positive ratings.

A comprehensive report and presentation regarding the school report cards will be provided by the Curriculum & Instruction Department to the Board of Education during the two November Board meetings. Additionally, the building leaders will share their school improvement plans identifying goals, strategies, and action plans they are implementing during the 2022-23 school year.

This school year, the Curriculum & Instruction Department has launched a new Learning Model which answers the question “What does instruction look like in District 95?”

The goal of the department, and the purpose of the Learning Model, is to build our collective instructional practices across the district to grow student learning. The desired outcome is to create future-ready learners, empowering every learner to achieve personal excellence.

The Essential Understanding behind this goal is:

• Collective Teacher Efficacy is the collective belief of teachers in their ability to positively affect students.
• Collective Teacher Efficacy is strongly correlated with student achievement

Watch for references to this learning model in future newsletters and other communications, in classrooms, and elsewhere across the district!

Once again this year we are highlighting appreciation days for various staff roles throughout the district. By sharing these dates with you via this newsletter and social media, we hope you will take a moment to share your appreciation with the individuals who serve our district in these roles. A card, email, post, or a simple thank you in person means so much!!

• November 7th-11th – National School Psychology Week
• November 11th - Veteran’s Day
• November 15th – Illinois School Board Members Day
• November 17th – Education Support Professionals Day

As was shared in my last newsletter, the District 95 Educational Foundation recently approved a grant to fund a Family Resource Center (FRC) designed to support families with students with special needs. While planning for this resource, we want feedback from families to guide this work. If you have a student with a Section 504 Plan or an Individualized Education Program (IEP), please take a few moments to complete the input form linked HERE. Thank you in advance for your collaboration and feedback!

School safety and security continues to be a top District priority for all students, staff, family and community members, as has been previously shared. District and building administration feel that, now more than ever in light of continued violent events in school settings, it takes everyone remaining vigilant and responding to potential threats to keep schools safe. One potential threat to schools involves a recent trend termed “swatting.”

“Swatting” involves placing a prank emergency call about a serious crime, such as an active shooter, causing a large-scale emergency police response. Last week, more than a dozen schools in Wisconsin and Connecticut were placed in lockdown due to swatting calls about an active shooter - all of which were confirmed to be unfounded. Additionally, on October 21st, Antioch High School went into lockdown, after receiving a swatting call threatening violence.

School lockdowns are stressful for everyone involved, even when a situation turns out to be a prank. While we have instituted many changes to our emergency response protocols (i.e., adopting the Standard Response Protocol, conducting training for students, staff and first responders, using trauma-informed practices during safety drills and live events), District 95 may not be immune to the swatting trend.

District 95 has worked with first responders to discuss swatting incidents and established response plans for many possible scenarios. If a suspected swatting incident occurs in District 95, the threat and report will be taken seriously, while making every effort to protect the emotional and physical safety of the school community. We will communicate as clearly as possible and provide frequent updates. Once the building is deemed safe, we will work as quickly as possible to release the Standard Response Protocol activated.

Thank you for everything you do every day to promote safety. It takes ALL of us working together to create and maintain a safe learning environment for all.

Inclement Weather/Other Situations

Please note that as we approach the season when inclement weather more frequently occurs, we will follow these guidelines when facing conditions with extreme ice, severe cold, snow, etc:

1. If we believe situations will improve within a short period of time, we will call for a delayed start to the school day. This means the day starts two hours later than normal, but dismissal is at the usual time.
2. In situations where we feel the inclement conditions will persist throughout the day, we will call for a traditional snow day and one of the emergency days will then be used at the end of the school year.

There may be other situations that arise and prevent us from using one or more of our schools (for example, a broken water main). In such situations, we will follow these guidelines:

1. If we believe situations will improve within a short period of time, we will call for a delayed start to the school day;
2. In incidents where we feel the situation will persist throughout the day, but where staff can access a district facility, we will likely call for a synchronous learning day, meaning staff may be teaching remotely either from another district building or home.

Please note that the goal of in-person attendance will always be a priority for any emergency or weather related situations. However, it is very possible that we will need to apply an emergency day (no student/staff attendance) at some point during the school year. When we use emergency days, we are required to make up the days at the conclusion of the school year. Therefore, please remember that the district may need to add up to five emergency days following the last day of school. Staff are expected to be in attendance for any day added to our calendar. Please remember NOT to schedule any vacation or other plans during these days as school may still be in session.

Lastly, as it is impossible to anticipate or predict every emergency situation, the District continues to reserve the right to follow the best judgement of the administration given the situation at hand. Thank you for your understanding in this area.

As mentioned in my previous newsletter, the district is engaged in Strategic Planning - a process that will define the direction of the district for the next 4-5 years.

Recently, our Portrait of a Graduate team completed their meetings and will soon review a final draft of their work defining the characteristics and descriptors of a District 95 Graduate. Thank you to all stakeholders who provided feedback through the Thought Exchange survey or "exchange" which was sent out at the end of September - we received a great deal of feedback which was critically important for the team.

Our Strategic Planning team will meet again in mid-November and we anticipate sharing the Portrait of a Graduate work with them as they continue their efforts toward defining Mission, Vision, Values, Strategies, and Goals to guide the district for the next 4-5 years. Be on the lookout for another Exchange later this fall as stakeholder feedback will also be needed for this team - your input is important!!

In my last newsletter I spoke about the many ways the District 95 Educational Foundation supports the students and families in our school district.

I am happy to share that the Educational Foundation has approved another grant benefiting students across the district. In September, a grant for $20,000 was approved which will be shared across our eight schools and prorated based on student enrollment per building. The spending of this grant will be tied to each school's School Improvement Plan or in alignment with our Instructional Learning Model (for more information, see the article "Instructional Learning Model" in this newsletter).

Thank you again to the District 95 Educational Foundation for their support of our schools!

Congratulations to Emma Morales, Middle School South 7th grader!

Emma Morales is the winner of the Red Ribbon Week Poster Contest; she was surprised at school last week (photo above) with representatives from the Lake Zurich Police Department, the Ela Coalition Against Youth Substance Abuse, Ela Township representatives, and District 95 administrators.

Copies of Emma's poster (shown on the left) will be hung at all District 95 schools. Congratulations to Emma!

JOANIE’S CLOSET - COLLECTING SNOW PANTS AND SNOW BOOTS

• New or gently used, CLEAN boots/snowpants only

• We cannot accept any other items at this time.

COLLECTION DATES – EXTENDED through Friday, November 11th

• DROP OFF LOCATION – District 95 Administration Office, 832 South Rand Road (next to Walmart)

• Donation box will be right inside the building, please do NOT drop off anything outside.

Interested in making a financial donation to Joanie's Closet?

Joanie’s Closet is always in need of financial contributions. Please consider making a personal monetary donation to Joanie’s Closet; your contributions will truly help those here within our own District 95 family.

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Checks can be made payable to: District 95 Educational Foundation-JOANIE'S CLOSET. Donations are tax deductible and also qualify for corporate matching. Contributions can be sent to:

Joanie’s Closet
c/o School District 95 Educational Foundation
832 S. Rand Road
Lake Zurich, IL 60047

Thank you for supporting Joanie’s Closet - providing basic needs to help District 95 students and their families achieve their full potential.

In this feature article, “A Day in the Class of…”, we highlight the Superintendent as a member of a classroom for one full period. A different school and class are highlighted each month, allowing readers a view into the classroom from a new perspective!. This lesson demonstrated Responsive Instruction and Growth Focused Instruction (relating to the District 95 Instruction Learning Model - see article above).

What an outstanding visit to Middle School North’s math classroom taught by Ms. Dickson! Initially, I admit to feeling a bit overwhelmed, as I was not a daily part of the expectations and procedures that were set up; however, after a few minutes of talking with my student partners I felt ready to participate. We each had the opportunity to identify our own individual areas of need related to the math concepts we were expected to master. Upon identification of our math concept/skill needs, we then could reflect on how we wanted to attempt additional learning and practice, which included working independently (we could ask questions of a student peer who provided their name as a possible person to learn from based on specific skill areas), working with others, and/or with a teacher (we had two teachers to pick from for the entire period). I started my math learning for the day working on word problems targeting different skill areas. I chose to work alongside a student for a bit and then when I attempted different problems in another skill area, I chose to work with a small group of students (sometimes with a teacher and other times without). I even had the opportunity to provide support to a team who was struggling at one point.

I am so glad I had the chance to spend time learning with Ms. Dickson and her students! I also continue to be so proud of the incredible amount of time Ms. Dickson and our teachers spend on planning efforts to ensure the success of all learners by providing differentiated learning experiences centered around responsive practices! WOW!

In addition to an ongoing need for bus drivers (see below for more information), District 95 also has many other current employment needs including playground/lunchroom supervisors, classroom aides, and more. For a current list of openings, please visit our online job listings by clicking here.

Bus Drivers

Looking for an opportunity to give back to the community? Retired and looking for a way to stay active and connected? A parent wanting to have the same schedule as your children? Want to bring your preschool aged child to work with you? Join our amazing team of bus drivers. NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY.

Benefits Include: · Paid Behind the Wheel Training · Partial Paid Health Insurance · Retirement Benefits · Sick Leave · Personal Days· Competitive Pay including pay for prior experience

Qualifications: · Good Driving Record · Minimum of 21 years old (Drivers) · Pass required Federal Background check · Pass a pre-employment/ annual physical & drug test · Enjoy working with kids!!

If you have any questions, contact the District 95 Transportation Department at 847-438-2834.

Click here to apply online by visiting our website or go to www.lz95.org/jobs ~ Click on Job Openings ~ Select Transportation ~ Select Apply button