A Message from Dr. Kelley Gallt
April 7, 2023
Dear District 95 Families,
I hope the first week back from Spring Break has gone well and everyone is enjoying these longer days of sunshine!
As we look back to recap March information in this newsletter, it is hard to believe that looking forward there are less than two months left in the school year. How quickly this year has gone! Spring is a busy time of year with so many wonderful events including sports, theatre and concerts, year-end senior graduation activities, and much, much more. We are especially excited about the upcoming production of Frozen, which sold out in record time despite having added an extra show due to anticipated demand! As a matter of fact, at the Village of Lake Zurich Board meeting on April 17th, Mayor Tom Poynton is preparing to designate this as the Year of Frozen!! To learn more about this very special production, please click here to visit our Performing Arts Center website.
Despite being a short month due to spring break, March was also a very busy month. Of particular note was the presentation to the Board of Education and subsequent Board approval of the district's new 5 year strategic plan, Empower95. Please read the article below to learn more about this initiative and the many stakeholders who participated in this process.
I wish you all the best and for those who are celebrating holidays at this time of year, enjoy your celebrations.
Sincerely,
Dr. Kelley Gallt
Superintendent
Safety & Security in District 95
While our learning community took time away with family and friends over Spring Break, many of us have also have grieved from afar with the school community in Nashville after yet another tragic school shooting.
In the wake of such recent acts of school violence at both the K-12 and collegiate levels, it is important to remember that District 95 considers school safety a top priority. Below is a summary of some key safety measures we have in place system-wide:
- Continued reinforcement of Standard Response Protocols (Hold, Secure, Lockdown, Evacuate, Shelter)
- Secure vestibules at all of our school buildings
- Raptor visitor screening system at all of our school buildings
- 3M ballistic film installed at numerous locations in all district buildings
- A district-wide audit of all doors and locks (completed Summer 2022 and monitored throughout the school year)
- Training for all staff in the area of timely reporting of behaviors/incidents of concern
- Training for student services and administrative staff on threat assessment and follow-up
Additionally, please note that school safety is everyone’s responsibility; if you see or hear something of concern, please report it immediately. We appreciate your partnership in this critical area for our school community, and look forward to a safe and healthy spring. Please visit our Safety & Security webpage for more information: https://www.lz95.org/parents/safety-security.
A Day in the Class of....Ms. Kolle, LZHS
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 Dynamic and Responsive Environment, relating to the District 95 Instruction Learning Model.
Wow! Time certainly flies in a Honors Algebra II classroom at Lake Zurich HS! My visit to Ms. Kolle's classroom was amazing. We immediately started the class with a quick review and the need to apply previous learning about graphing functions. We spent a great deal of time on the “Roller Coaster Problem”. This may sound like a simple problem, but it was extremely complicated. We worked in teams to complete the following tasks on large white boards placed throughout the classroom.
- Sketched a graph of each function, including the roots/zeros, end behavior, and y-intercept
- Discussed what happens to the graph of the height after 1 minute 48 seconds, and explained the relevance of this part of the graph. This allowed us to fix our graphs accordingly.
- Labeled any maximus and minimums.
- Discuss and determine the times along the rides when the coasters would be at ground level.
- Determined which coaster traveled higher and by how much, as well as when each coaster reached its highest point.
- Discussed and identified if the coasters could be built so that they nearly collided, and then described what must be true for a near collision to actually occur.
Throughout the lesson, we had opportunities to move around and check in with other groups of students to ensure we were considering everything necessary to complete the tasks. Additionally, Ms. Kolle would stop our teamwork as she visited and listened to different teams to provide additional support the entire group needed based on the information she was collecting in the moment.
Once this activity was completed, we had the chance to discuss maximum volume as a collective class, and then were asked to work in table teams to complete another complex task. We were charged to take on the role of manager of a packaging company responsible for manufacturing identical boxes from rectangular sheets of cardboard, each sheet having the same dimensions. Being fiscally responsible, we were to create boxes that would provide the maximum possible volume. We physically built our box as well. Again, there were multiple questions and challenges we needed to complete in order to best solve this problem.
While I was certainly reacquainted with Algebra II concepts/skills, I was most impressed with the outstanding engagement of all students to persevere through several team challenges. Ms. Kolle was truly a facilitator of student learning; students really owned the cognitive load for the entire class period! I had a great time learning from my team members as well as Ms. Kolle, though I was mentally exhausted by the end of the lesson!
Appreciation Days
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!!
- April 3rd-7th – National Assistant Principal Week
- April 4th - School Librarian Appreciation Day
- April 5th – Paraprofessional Appreciation Day
- April 17-21st - National School Volunteer Week
- April 26th - Administrative Professionals Day
District 95 Job Openings
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