May 2011 LEADER.indd

Vol. 6, Issue 9 | May 2011
Students star in new Jill Jayne video
Bully prevention update
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Tutoring program earns national honors
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Master the art of excellence: June 6
back page
This month’s showcased schools
Eastview Elementary | Neubert Elementary
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Our goals: serve students, cut spending, save jobs
Superintendent Elect
Mr. Michael Bregy
During the March 22-23 Board meetings, I observed
some misinformation among well intended staff and
community members about the school district’s current
situation. To help put the situation into context and
clarify the facts, I recorded a message, which I hope
provides some encouragement to all those concerned.
Below you will find the text to this April 7, 2011,
message. It includes comments from several School
Board members. You can also listen to it on the D300
website at www.d300.org/audio/25050. Thank you.
“
CUSD300
is on
Twitter & Facebook
As we all know, right now our district is going
through a challenging time, both emotionally and
financially. It is especially emotional if you are one of
the teachers who was recently notified that your job
status is not guaranteed for this fall, or you are one of
the students, colleagues, or supporters. I certainly count
myself among those supporters. So I wanted to say a
few words of encouragement and reassurance, and also
to clarify a couple of factual issues.
First and foremost, please resist the tendency
to frame our current challenges as “us” vs. “them.”
This is both destructive and misleading. I can assure you
that none of us wants to lay-off teachers. Whether you
are a District 300 student, parent, teacher, administrator,
For more information about
D300 or this newsletter,
or Board member, we all care very deeply about our
call (847) 551-8344
students. The entire District 300 community is in
or write to:
this situation together. We must not let the nation’s
School District 300
economic recession and the political challenges in
Communication Services
Illinois make us turn on each other here in our own back
300 Cleveland Avenue
yards. Almost every day, there are headlines across our
Carpentersville IL 60110.
area and throughout the United States about public
sector organizations being forced to lay-off staff when
the state fails to pay and the organizations can’t find alternative ways to balance their local
budgets. Whether you live in Illinois or Texas or anywhere in between, funding is short,
and taxpayers are looking to us to be responsible and creative. So let’s not lose sight that
our challenges are part of a national trend. Those who spend their energy pointing fingers
at the teachers unions or school boards or administration are missing the opportunity to
become part of the solution.
Let’s talk about that solution. During the recent Board meetings, I was very
impressed by the large turn-out. I was especially impressed by the students who were
standing up for the importance of education. At the same time, I found myself thinking
that if everyone in the room would lobby the state for education funding reform, maybe
we could finally create the momentum
needed for real change in this state. If we
each turn our focus to the real decisionmakers here, meaning our elected state
leaders, maybe then we could finally get
their attention. There is power in numbers.
We must pull together to find creative
solutions with our state leaders. School
Board Member Anne Miller is the chair of
the Board’s Policy & Legislation Committee,
and on March 23rd she spoke about the
issue. So let’s take another listen to Mrs.
Miller’s comments:
“In (the Board) Policy and Legislation
Committee, we’re starting to develop this
more in the legislation part. We sit here
and we cry poor to the state. We listen to Dr.
Crates and her money, and her presentation.
I don’t know where the money is going to
come from for us to keep saying, “State, give
us money, give us money.” But there may
be ways that we can work with our state
legislators. Instead of saying, “give us money,
give us money,” that we can work on maybe
waivers, changes in state statutes, other
modifications, ways that we can make and
adapt to help our programto do what we
need it to do within the financial constraints
that we have.”
I’m asking that everyone listening
please invest 10 minutes to educate
yourself on the facts. It’s very important
to understand the financial constraints
that Mrs. Miller mentioned. A recording
of the March 23rd Board meeting is on
the Board of Education webpage at d300.
org. Starting just after the 3 minute mark
through the 14 minute mark, our Chief
Financial Officer, Dr. Crates, does a great
job of summarizing the facts. Please listen
for yourself. The first four minutes of
her comments talk about the state-level
situation, including a brief explanation of
the impact of the state income tax increase
on District 300. The next 7 minutes
summarize our district-level situation.
Later at this meeting, Board Member
Dave Alessio added his thoughts:
“I am glad to see that people are taking
an interest in starting to learn what’s going
on. You may have seen the headlines in the
newspaper. This situation is much more
complicated, much more precarious than
you may have imagined. Dr. Crates gave a
very abbreviated presentation tonight. If
you want, she can spend hours explaining
every detail, I know. She will provide all the
information you could ask for on the extent
of this situation, and how we got here,
and possible ways to survive this situation.
As Mrs. Kopacz said, this situation won’t
disappear. We will continue to deal with
budget problems for the foreseeable future.
And as one of the students mentioned, it
does definitely feel like a sinking ship. But we
all are in it together. So I need to emphasize
that we have to work together. And I know
there are many people with good intentions
who realize we must find some cost savings,
we must find it now, and we need to start
working together. I also believe that there
will be major changes in the district moving
forward. There will be restructuring of some
of the programs, as we evaluate pretty much
every program within the district.”
Mr. Alessio mentioned restructuring
of programs. When the Board directed
Administration to develop a plan for saving
another $5 million from the budget for
next school year, on top of the numerous
cuts we’ve already made, the idea was
to provide some flexibility as we move
forward.
I want to reiterate that if we are
successful in collaborating to find
cost savings in other areas, we will
not reorganize our programs this
fall. In the meantime, we will research
and present a variety of options to the
Board over the next couple of months to
potentially reorganize our middle schools
and high schools. These presentations
will be open to the public. The dates and
times will be posted to our Public Meetings
Leadership Message (continued next page)
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Calendar webpage when they are set, and
you are welcome to attend. I understand
that many of you want to know how the
reorganization will look. Please understand
Sub-Head
thatTeaser
no decisions
have been made. It is
impossible to say how many teachers will be
called back and in what subject areas.
At the middle school level, reorganization
options do not necessarily mean elimination
of exploratory programs, year-round
Spanish, or the AVID program. At the high
school level, reorganization options do not
necessarily mean elimination of elective
programs or the AP program. I have always
been proud of our district’s exceptionally
robust and comprehensive programming,
which far exceeds most districts in the region.
Headline
However, you may not be aware
that it’s been many years since we
conducted a study of our secondary
structure. So the decision to examine
secondary programming was not only driven
by the budget. It was also driven by the
need to determine whether our secondary
structure is the best fit for our students in
preparing them for the current expectations
of universities and employers. Within our
limited financial means, we are committed
to keeping our students competitive and
properly preparing them for life after high
school.
Another part of our commitment
to students was to ensure that our
administrative and support-staff resources
were strategically focused to support our
core mission of teaching and learning.
This school year, secretaries,
custodians, and administrators took
a wage cut of 4 to 4.5%. To clarify,
most administrators work 12 months a
year, including winter, spring and summer
breaks. This school year, the fact is there
are fewer administrators than there were
last year. I recently decided to eliminate
more administrator positions in 2011-2012,
including some deans, assistant principals,
Leadership
Message (continued)
Section Title
and Central Office jobs. Like our teachers
and other staff members, their contributions
are important to our schools. The work of
administrators and support staff is relatively
thankless and often goes unnoticed until
there is no one there to do the job. But in
the era of lay-offs, I knew it was important to
take a hard look at all jobs. By cutting some
administrator positions, that would allow
me to shift resources from the discipline
aspect of our administration into teaching
and learning. I’ve spent over 200 hours in all
of our schools this year. To spend so much
time in classrooms at all grade levels, and
to actually see so little direct support of
curriculum and instruction from the Central
Office, showed me that we needed to
reprioritize our administrative staffing – and
we have.
As we continue considering all
areas of staffing and programs, I want
to ask everyone to keep in mind the
expectations of our community. At
the beginning of this school year, Dr. Arndt
and I put out a video that encouraged
staff members to remember our many
friends and neighbors who are out of
work. We asked everyone to stay sensitive
to the current economic reality in our
community, our state and our nation. At
one of the recent Board meetings, Board
Vice President Karen Roeckner talked
about that reality with students and other
members of the audience:
“When you look at today’s time, I think you
need to look: how many of your parents have
lost their job? How many of your parents
maybe took a cut? How many of your parents
said, “Well, I have to take mandatory days off
without pay”? How many of your parents have
come to you and said, “Well, you know, I have
more projects to do because they let go of a
thousand people in my job, and I now have to
do more work with less pay, with days off, and
it now costs more for insurance”? And I think
you have to be realistic as to what the board
is asking. … We do have to come together
and work as a team to make this work. We
are asking the union for concessions. And in
my job, I wasn’t asked for concessions. I was
just told I would take my 10 days off without
Teaser
Sub-Head
pay,
and I would
pay more for insurance, and
I would do more work with less staff. That’s
just the way it was. So did I like that? No, I
didn’t like it, but that’s the way it was. So I think
everybody does have to realize in this economy,
would we want to go taxpayers and ask them
to pass a referendum? We would be laughed
out of our communities to ask them to help
and assist and pay for anything at this point
that we really can’t afford. So when you look
at your own budget, and students when you
look at your own budget, and you go shopping
and you have $50 in your wallet and you can
only spend $50, that’s what we have. And so
this Board, who’s been looking at this budget
for over the past year, we know we have this
deficit. … Do I want to cut staff? Absolutely not.
… So we want everybody to come together. We
want everybody to think about what we need
to make this work. We do need concessions
from our union. We do need to work together.
And I don’t think the Board has ever, ever said
that we are not willing to work with our unions.
… And please do get out there and contact our
legislators. Register to vote, those of you who
are 18 and older. And help us get to our state to
get the money they owe us. Thank you.“
In closing, please be assured that the
School Board and Administration will
continue to dialogue with union leadership.
Headline
We are trusting that together we will
develop an agreement in the near future
that serves students, cuts spending, and
saves jobs. Even in a “worst case scenario,”
we anticipate being able to call back at least
50-60% of the teachers who have been
released, and possibly many more if we
achieve our budgetary goals in other areas.
In the meantime, please follow up with
state leaders as often as possible. Their
contact information is on the district website.
Specifically, encourage our Governor and
state legislators to find a way to pay District
300 what we are owed in a timely manner.
Also, advocate that they consider the
issue of unfunded mandates—which
are services that the state requires
school districts to provide but which
the state does not pay for. Just like many
other districts in the state, we in District
300 are facing the short-term issue of our
budget for 2011-2012 while also facing the
long-term issue of equitable and reliable
state funding for education. The bigger
picture must be addressed. Our long-term
issues are not going away anytime soon.
I want to thank each of you for your
support, your patience, and your willingness
to work together. I will leave you with a few
final comments from Board President Joe
Stevens at our most recent board meeting:
“It’s been said before, and I’d like to say it
again: This crisis is not of this district’s doing.
The tax referendum that was passed in 2006
by a very generous community bore great
fruit. I believe we honored all the promises
of that, to the best of our ability. The cash
ran out, and that was predicted to have
happened in 2011, as I remember. So we were
accurate not only in what we did, but also in
our predictions. Regardless of how the tone
or the temperament felt here tonight, I will tell
you that I thought last night Mrs. Miller was
particularly eloquent, although she always is
eloquent. I felt the tone and temperament in
the room visibly change. I had many teachers,
many of which are on their bargaining unit,
come up to me and say, “We’re ready to talk.”
And I want to say that we are also ready to
talk. I agree with Mrs. Miller, set aside all of the
things that have been said. I know that we
are hopeful that in the very, very near future
we will be able to have a conversation. And I
am actually very optimistic that we will have a
fruitful conversation and it won’t take all that
long.
However, we are bound by state law which
constrains us. We have no choice but to make
decisions now, based upon state law, that we
hopefully will reverse in a matter of week or
two. If we don’t do that, we have no options.”
Section Title
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Bullying
Prevention Update:
Headline
Teaser Sub-Head
Break
the Silence!
District 300
leaders believe that
the mission of our
schools is to help
students reach their
full potential as selfdirected learners and
responsible citizens.
A safe and orderly
school environment is
crucial to this process.
Bullying disrupts
this ideal school environment. Bullying creates a climate of fear and hostility, disrupts the
educational setting, inhibits the ability to learn, adversely affects student participation
in educational programs and activities, creates a negative effect on the school’s social
experience, and leads to anti-social behavior.
With that in mind, D300 has taken a strong stance against bullying in our schools. Any
and all forms of bullying by students are prohibited. There is no tolerance for retaliation
against those who stand up against bullying or make a report about it. D300 leaders have
directed and trained school staff to investigate, identify and stop bullying behavior with
appropriate discipline and interventions.
D300 Safety Director Gary Chester is asking parents to work closely with the district in
taking a community stand against all forms of bullying—at home, school and throughout
our students’ lives. Everyone must work together to break the silence.
“Parents can appreciate that the district takes this behavior seriously and that, as a
school district, we are proactive in working to prevent bullying as much as reasonably
possible,” Chester said.
Bully Prevention Committee
Almost a year ago, at the direction of Superintendent Ken Arndt and the School Board
Discipline Committee, the district embarked on an initiative to study our response to
bully behavior that occurs in our schools. A Bully Prevention Committee was established
to review how we as a district respond to this problem, and whether our response
needed changes or improvements to ensure a response that was both consistent and
comprehensive.
The D300 Bully Prevention Committee represents a broad spectrum of people and
expertise. Under Mr. Chester’s direction as a former police and fire chief, D300 parents
and administrators from all grade levels joined with our special education personnel,
curriculum experts, psychologists, social workers, counselors, technicians, and safety and
transportation officials. Their mix of passion, perspective and experience brought a true
sense of value and legitimacy to this important discussion.
Feature
Section article:
Title Bully Prevention Update
The committee determined that the district
must establish a consistent response to bully
behavior, and that the response must be
uniformly followed in all D300 schools. The
process was designed not simply to “punish”
bully behavior, but more importantly to
highlight and promote positive behavior
in order to change the foundation of the
school’s social climate.
Dual Approach:
Prevention & Intervention
The committee also decided that the
district should take a “dual approach” to the
issue, which would involve all of our schools
in both the prevention of bullying and how
to address it when/if it occurs. This dual
combination of prevention and intervention
is the basis for a district-wide campaign to
raise everyone’s awareness of the issue. The
campaign is especially focused on educating
staff and students to get in front of the issue
before it becomes a major problem.
The campaign encourages all students,
staff members, and parents to pledge
their personal support of bully prevention
efforts in D300 schools. They are also
asked to pledge that they will report and
intervene against bully behavior wherever
and whenever it is occurring – not only at
school! Each school will also continue to rely
on its current character-building programs,
especially the D300 Positive Behavior
Interventions & Supports (PBIS) approach
to fostering a positive school climate that is
based on mutual respect.
To assist school administrators with this
goal, a “Bully Prevention Response: Flow
Chart” was developed. This provides our
school leaders with a road map to guide
them in a consistent response to bullying
and bully prevention. The intervention phase
focuses on what to do when staff members
become aware of bullying behavior,
including how they should address both the
aggressor (bully) and the target (victim). The
district has developed a “Bully Prevention
Template” for elementary, middle and high
school interventions. This template acts as an
age-appropriate guide, and it establishes a
“contract” between the bully and the school
administrators to set clear boundaries for
future behavior.
Each step in the template contains
age-appropriate specific interventions
that become more intense if the behavior
continues. It is expected that most bully
behavior will stop after the first step.
Additional steps are invoked with increased
seriousness. The interventions reflect
punishment for the behavior, as well as
efforts to modify the aggressor’s behavior.
Interventions in the step process range
from a written disciplinary record, parent
involvement, suspension (both in-school
and out-of-school), mediation, police
involvement, referral to the D300 Peer Jury,
and mandated sessions with emotional
professionals of the school system. If
needed, the bully’s case would eventually
be brought to the district’s long-standing
“Discipline Review Committee” (DRC), and
the committee would consider whether to
recommend that the bully be expelled.
Report & Research Bullying @ d300.org
The district has established a bully
prevention webpage which contains
resources for students, parents and staff
to explore: www.d300.org/Parents/
Bullying%20Prevention. It also includes
the related documents used by the district,
including the “bullying contract” and
defined consequences and steps.
It is still the best practice to report
bullying directly and immediately to a
school staff member. But to help break
down the reluctance of victims and
witnesses to report bullying behavior, the
D300 website now allows for reporting
anytime by any student, parent, or witness.
To access our online “bully report” form,
please visit www.d300.org/form/20756. This
form can be submitted anonymously online,
or the person filing the report can identify
him/herself. When the form is submitted, it
goes directly to Mr. Chester, who will discuss
the report with the related personnel.
Feature article: Bully Prevention Update
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Briefs & Bits
D300 health quest continues
STUDENTS STAR IN NEW VIDEO, MORE SCHOOLS JOIN CHALLENGE
SPECIAL EDUCATION
TRACK & FIELD MEET (K-8)
D300 elementary and middle school
students who have an Individualized
Education Plan (IEP) and their families are
invited to participate in the 1st Annual D300
Special Education Track & Field Meet. It will be
held on Saturday, May 21, from 1 to 4 p.m. at
Jacobs High School in Algonquin. The event
will be held on the outdoor track or, in case of
bad weather, the school field house.
Track and field events will include: 50 yard
dash, 100m dash, 400m dash, 400m relay,
standing long jump, softball throw, and high
jump. Participants will be grouped by age/
ability. The grade-level activities will be:
• Grades K-2: 1 p.m.
• Grades 3-5: 2 p.m.
• Grades 6-8: 3 p.m.
For further information please contact Julie.
[email protected] or [email protected].
CAMBRIDGE LAKES CAMP
The Cambridge Lakes Learning Center
will host School’s Out© Summer Fun this
summer for all students entering grades
1-9. This program provides a fun and active
way to experience art, science, language
arts, social studies, fitness and technology.
The theme of this year’s camp is “It’s a Wide,
Wide World” to emphasize exploration of
various cultures, nations, and regions.
All Summer Fun classes are taught by
certified Cambridge Lakes teachers. The
camp runs 5 days a week from 8 a.m. to 5
p.m. and is scheduled in 2-week sessions,
with a base price of $295 per session. The
first session begins Monday, June 20, 2011.
Discounts are available for early registration.
Contact: [email protected], or phone 847.464.4500.
Briefs & Bits
SUMMER SERVICE
High school students and 2011
graduates: Looking for adventure
this summer? How about mixing
travel with community service
and leadership? At a recent D300
Board meeting, Jacobs High School
graduate Caitlin Plaza joined with
Jeremy Zaucha (pictured) to spread
the word about a program called
“Students Today, Leaders Forever”
(STLF). Their presentation is online at
www.d300.org/document/25144.
The STLF mission is to reveal
leadership through service,
relationships, and action. So far,
more than 11,400 young adults have
participated in 290 STLF service trips
and performed over 147,000 hours
of community service. Here are some
upcoming opportunities:
• Community service road trip
through 5 Midwestern cities,
including two college visits, June 2226, 2011. Cost: $275.
• High School Leadership Camp at
Univ. of Wisconsin-Parkside (Kenosha,
Wis.) from June 26 to July 1, 2011.
Cost: $350.
• “Gap Camp” for 2011 graduates at
UW-Parkside from June 26 to July 1,
2011. Cost: $150.
For more information, visit www.
stlf.net or email Caitlin Plaza at
[email protected].
This month, the Illinois State Board of Education will present
D300 with the 2011 Robin A. Orr Community Partnership Award
on behalf of the Interagency Nutrition Council (INC). The INC is
made up of state agencies and community organizations who
work collaboratively to promote wellness. D300 epitomizes this
mission through its ongoing commitment to increase nutrition
education, structured exercise, and nutritional lunch menus. The
district also wants to raise awareness among parents about their
crucial role in fostering life-long healthy habits in their kids.
In related good news, the rest of D300’s elementary schools
have now joined Golfview Elementary in the Healthier US
School Challenge (“the Challenge”)! This is an initiative of the
U.S. Department of Agriculture endorsed by First Lady Obama’s
LET’S MOVE! campaign to fight childhood obesity. Staff and
students were motivated by this winter’s popular YouTube music
video “Going Gold” from rockstar nutritionist Jill Jayne about
Golfview’s national Gold with Distinction award in the Challenge,
along with Jill’s February 2011 concert tour of all D300
elementary schools. The D300 community looks forward to
learning the results of all of our schools’ Challenge applications.
D300 students will remember registered dietitian Jill Jayne
from her exciting concert performances of “Beat of the Body”
and “The Bone Rap,” along with her “Going Gold” music video’s
catchy lyric “Have you heard the news?” sang into a fruity phone.
To celebrate and assist D300 elementary schools in their
wellness efforts, the district has again partnered with Jill
on a new YouTube video, called, “The Jill Jayne Chronicles:
Uncovering the Case of the Healthier US School Challenge.”
It can be found on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=hvqnYhR9-iI. This fun-filled video tells the story of our
schools’ pursuit of success in the Challenge. It stars many D300
students, faculty, and ARAMARK staff. “Uncovering the Case” is
the second in a series of three videos from Jill created exclusively
for D300 to highlight our schools’ commitment to improving the
wellness of students. The videos will feature students and staff
from Gary D. Wright, Gilberts, Parkview, and Liberty elementary
schools, among others.
“I went undercover as an investigative dietitian,” she said
about her latest video for D300. Far more than humorous
entertainment, “Uncovering the Case” is also a teaching tool. All
D300 elementary educators are encouraged to show this new
video to their students. TEACHERS & PARENTS: Watch the new
video and get a discussion going with your students TODAY
about the connection between health and learning!
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Student Spotlight: Maksym Levchenko
BY DUNDEE-CROWN ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL BRIAN CONANT
There are very few students who care as much about learning as
Dundee-Crown High School senior Maksym Levchenko, and now he
has a national award to prove it.
Levchenko was recently recognized by the National Tutoring
Association (NTA) as the 2011 Blair Richard High School Tutor of the
Year. The District 300 School Board honored him at a recent Board
meeting.
Levchenko said that the NTA award, which included
a $1,000 college scholarship, is recognition of
something he loves to do. “Tutoring is a part of my
life. I know it may sound weird, but I don’t do it for the
credit. I come in for fun. It feels good.”
He joined the tutoring program during his junior
year because he wanted to “give back,” and he was
eager to work with students he might not otherwise
meet.
In addition to honoring Levchenko, the NTA also
named Dundee-Crown the national High School
Program of the Year and gave the President’s Award to
District 300 as a whole. The DCHS tutoring program
director, Stephanie Reed, said the award recognizes the
hard work of all tutors in her program, but she acknowledges that
Levchenko’s impact on the program has been profound. She said
that he is a great tutor because he meets student where they are.
“He is never condescending, and he is able to explain things in
many ways,” Reed said. “He is also a great mentor for new students.”
Levchenko said that his first priority as a tutor is not the content,
but developing relationships.
“The first thing I do is spend some time trying to get to know
the person,” he said. “I really value the personal connections I make
with other students. It’s very rewarding to see somebody you have
worked with improve their grades. I feel a part of their success. I
want them to succeed. I have a high standard for them, and they
live up to that standard. “
When he is not tutoring at DCHS, Levchenko also tutors at the
Kumon Learning Center in West Dundee. Additionally, he is a proud
and active member of the successful DCHS debate team.
He plans to attend the University of Illinois (Champaign-Urbana)
in the fall where he intends to study three majors: computer science
(a family tradition), economics (because he was deeply inspired by
his economics teacher Ronald O’Connor), and pre-med (because he
feels “medicine will offer him the greatest opportunity to solve the
world’s biggest problems”).
And, of course, he also plans to tutor in college.
“The National Tutoring Association has a similar award for college
tutoring,” he said, “and I’ll be going for that one too.”
Leading the Way
Each month, the D300 School Board honors students, staff and community members at
Board meetings for major achievements or contributions. Let’s all congratulate them!
DUNDEE-CROWN HIGH SCHOOL:
2011 NATIONAL TUTORING ASSOCIATION PROGRAM OF THE YEAR
The following DCHS students accepted the Board recognition on behalf of the program:
Kayla Keehn, Brittany Schultz, Shelby Spjuth, Genesis Garcia, Jeremy Christian, Miriam
Fierro, Darlene Lopez, Shelby Oppegaard, and Kirstin Kaufhold
Other program members are:
McCullagh, Christopher
Michalski, Sarah Miles,
Yuridia Abarca, Awani Acharya, Andrea Moreyra, Nikolai
Morse, Lauren Mosher,
Brittany Acquaviva, Mary Ahern,
Taylor Munso, Leslie
Claudia Alvarez Bautista, Ariel
Murga, Kevin Murphy,
Annis, Adrian Ayala, Britney
Baker, Carolina Bieri, Allison Bijan, David Nellessen, Kevin
Nellessen, Andrew Nemec,
Janice Faith Binghay, Janine
Hallie Nerge, Alexander
Faye Binghay, Andrew Blonski,
Noreen, Megan Norvalls,
Hannah Bollman, Kayla Bradley,
Rhiannon Owano, Chester
Daniel Brodersen, Savannah
Cezar Pajarillo, Susana
Bukowski, Praksha Butala, Andy
Parra, Greta Pichardo,
Calkiewicz, Cristian Candia,
Bailey Rakow, Shane
Melissa Capule, Michael Carrete,
Rakow, Crystal Ramirez,
Lauren Clark, Leticia Cortes,
Abigail Coughlan, Jenna Cristino, Jonathan Ramirez, Maria
Ramirez, Evelyn Rivera,
Nicholas Demetriou, Preen
Taylor Rodriguez, Hannah
Dhillon, Clayton Eberly, Stephen
Romano, Hilda Romero,
Eyster, Lisa Fasone, Brittney
Jacob Schuldt, Makiah
Gantz, Emma Gentile, Christina
Scott, Angela Settipani,
Gilligan, Stephanie GomezAlexa Shemanske, Amber
Casas, Alejandro Gonzalez,
Simpson, Natalie Smith,
Alex Gonzalez, Katherine Gross,
Corey Stallings, Timothy
Madeline Heinrich, Nicole
Stan, Cody Stevens,
Heredia, Natalie Himmel, Molly
Christian Stilwell, Miguel
Hirsch, Jacquelyn Hoday, Caitlin
Holmes, Kaitlyn Jeronimus, Magali Tinajero, Maria Toledo, Kelly
Tracey, Dustin Trenkler,
Jimenez, Jonathan Keable, Alina
William Ugalde, Valery
Khan, Kelsey Knight, Andriana
Vallecillo-Lagos, Isabel
Koltko, Desi Kraus, James
Vargas, Rachael Vetter, Kelly
Kuczynski, Paola Lares, Maksym
Levchenko, Nicholas Lodi, Karina Wang, Jamal Washington,
Jillian Wiechmann, Rebecca
Lopez, Amanda Maki, Anthony
Wika, Emily Wirkus, Mallory
Malatia, Scott Mallers, Nicolina
Mandile-Egan, Marissa Marcheski, Wollenberg, Kathryn
Wrightsman, and Jeffrey
Marija Maretic, Jeffrey Marschke,
Zumbek
Claudia Martinez, Dillon
In March, Dundee-Crown
presented on “Tutoring ESL
and ELL Students” at a regional
tutoring conference. Pictured:
Superintendent Elect Michael
Bregy with students Miriam
Fierro, Hilda Romero, Georgia
Martinez, and Claudia Alvarez,
plus DCHS staff Stephanie Reed
and Evonne Drakousis
DCHS MOURNS
JR. CLASS PRESIDENT
Dundee-Crown
tutor, theater
and music
student, and
junior class
president
Christian Stilwell
suddenly passed
on April 15, 2011. His mother
works for D300 and his
brother is a student at AMS.
He will be missed by many.
Leading the Way (continued next page)
12
13
Leading the Way
Two staff members nominated for regional award
(continued)
D300 SPECIAL OLYMPICS BASKETBALL TEAM:
STATE QUALIFIERS
Alex Bohman, Anthoney Bohman, Spencer Deacon, David Gould, Scott Kelley, Melissa
Kunschke, Eric Lane, Kaylyn Leopold, Nathan Lewandowski, Daniel Marquis, Favian
Romerio, Jessica Serio, Andreas Yanez, and Angela Zoellner
IHSA STATE QUALIFIERS FOR WINTER SPORTS
Dundee-Crown Varsity Dance Team
Brittany Acquaviva, Michelle Banach, Sarah Bowen, Aubrey Cornwell, Lacey Daebel,
Christie Drotos, Catie Holmes, Hannah Johnson, Kristine Mack, Samantha Manfrin,
Taylor Munson, Marissa Nemec, Natalie Novak, Olivia Ortiz, Lauren O’Neill, Stephanie
Podbregar, Bailey Rakow, Desiree Sulzmann, and Gab Winkle
Girls Basketball 3-Point
Shootout (Hampshire HIgh)
Boys Wrestling (Jacobs High)
Austin Ryan
Jessie Van Dorin
Girls Bowling (Jacobs High)
Boys Swimming
Rebecca Payne and Gianna Scarpelli
John Jost (Dundee-Crown High);
Josh DeDina (Hampshire High);
Alex Elston, Ryne Quinlan,
and Alex Reinbrecht (Jacobs High)
Jacobs Varsity Dance Team
Taylor Bruno, Mackenzie Butler,
Kelly Dever, Carley Dubinski,
Brianna Fireng, Olivia Flowers,
Nancy Hyman, Chrissy Jordanov, Alyssa Martorano, Tailor McAvoy, Alyssa
Menolascino, Brooke Mertins, Michelle Mikos, Mackenzie Moy, Ashley Mueller,
Alison Novak, Arly Panvino, Lauren Rebodos, Jaimie Rohde, Julie Rohde,
Kelsey Schneider, Meghan Slawek, Anna Vierneisel, and Katie Wroten
Perry Elementary School students
led the Pledge of Allegiance at a
recent D300 School Board meeting.
They are part of the Dundee
Township Boys & Girls Club program
at Perry. They were chosen to
lead the Pledge for successfully
demonstrating the leadership
qualities that staff from Perry and
the Boys & Girls Club have strived to
foster in all students.
Leading the Way (continued)
At the Kane County Educator of the Year
awards banquet on May 6, 2011, an unsung
hero from one of the newest schools in
D300 will join the district’s long-running
leader, together sharing the spotlight
among the region’s “best of the best.”
Two D300 staff members have been
nominated for the high honor: Ms. Mary
Dudek, the principal’s secretary at Gilberts
Elementary School, and Dr. Kenneth
Arndt, D300 superintendent. Just being
nominated is itself a major
accomplishment, as it
requires a time-intensive
effort by many supporters.
Each May, the Kane
County Regional Office of
Education (ROE) hosts the
county’s Educator of the Year
awards. D300 has a long and
proud history associated
with this exciting event. It
annually honors the “best
of the best” in six categories: Elementary
teacher, middle school teacher, high school
teacher, administrator, special educator
(such as nurses and social workers), and
support staff (such as paraprofessionals,
secretaries and custodians). There is also a
Regional Superintendent’s Award, and an
“Educator of the Year” top overall winner.
A recording of a radio interview with
Ms. Dudek and Dr. Arndt, reflecting on
their years in education, will be posted this
month to the D300 Radio Shows webpage:
www.d300.org/about-us/media-gallery/
radio-shows.
MARY DUDEK (nee
Donahue) was born
in Arlington Heights,
Illinois, to parents Jerry
and Debbie Donahue.
She attended school
in the Barrington area
and graduated high
school in 1992. She joined D300 in 2004
as a paraprofessional at Sleepy Hollow
Elementary School. Since the opening of
Gilberts Elementary School in 2007, she has
been the principal’s secretary to Principal Jeff
King at Gilberts Elementary. Mary has played
an integral role in the development of the
learning environment at GES and has actively
supported many community events.
DR. KENNETH M. ARNDT grew up on
dairy farm near Toledo, Ohio. He
began his career in education in
1976 as a 7th grade social studies
teacher. He and his wife, Nancy,
are the proud parents of three
boys who have all graduated
from D300 schools. Since
joining the D300 community as
superintendent in April 2001, he
has been actively involved in the
Dundee Township Rotary Club,
the Large Unit District Association
(LUDA) Executive Board – including serving
as president from 2002-2006, and the Argosy
and Judson University Presidents Advisory
Board. His D300 career highlights include:
• Founded the District 300 Foundation for
Educational Excellence
• Realigned kindergarten to 12th grade
curriculum, and increased standards
• Established an annual comprehensive
review of the effectiveness and cost for all district
programs and operations, known as EPRT
• Increased public access and transparency
through initiatives such as the Online Freedom
of Information Act Program, Strategic Plan
Performance Dashboard, and Infinite Campus
Parent Portal
• Hired the district’s first Safety Director, and led
the charge to bring together the numerous police
and fire agencies of D300
• Coordinated efforts to achieve a 5-level
improvement to the district’s credit rating
• Collaborated with the community to build
8 new schools plus extensive additions and
improvements to all facilities; purchase tens of
thousands of new textbooks; and significantly
increase D300’s technological resources
2011 Kane County Educator of the Year Nominees
14
15
Neubert Elementary
Headline
BY
PRINCIPAL DARLENE WARNER
Teaser Sub-Head
Bridging budget gaps with
creative learning opportunities
The economic situation in Illinois is forcing
layoffs, program cuts, and more. Despite
these challenges, parents and community
members are providing rich and rewarding
experiences in significant ways for Neubert
Elementary School students.
The Diggin’ Daisies is a gardening club for
Neubert students, facilitated by Jane Bishoff
from the Algonquin Garden Club and Missy
Norwood, a Neubert parent. Students
stay after school to meet and learn about
gardening, work to beautify the school
grounds, and more.
The 3rd graders have a book club,
facilitated by our media teacher, Gayle
Allmandinger, her assistant, and five parents.
They meet with students in small groups
once a week during lunch to discuss a book
they are all reading. It is a great way to be
involved in their children’s education while
giving a helping hand to teachers.
“It’s very rewarding to see children get
so excited about reading and sharing their
thoughts about a book we all read,” said
parent Amy Schmidt. “A book club provides
common ground for discussion between
parents and children. It was a meaningful
experience for myself, and I hope for the
children as well.”
Neubert parent Jessica Clute works with
students once per month after school with
a recycling club. The original focus was on
ways to improve recycling at the school. In
an effort to reduce waste, Neubert no longer
puts an average of 150 Styrofoam lunch
trays into a land fill each day as we used to.
(That’s over 26,000 per school year for just
Showcase
School: Neubert
Section Title
one school!). Now we use washable,
reusable baskets. Additionally, this
year the students are recycling items
to complete a monthly project.
Finally, Neubert parents, Mr. & Mrs.
Matthias, donated a substantial sum
of money for our students with autism
so that we could purchase iPads, and
they also donated five iPads. We at
Neubert are deeply appreciative of
the Matthias family’s generosity!
With the help and support of
countless Neubert parents and
community members, we have
and will continue to enhance and
extend learning opportunities for our
students. Every minute counts, and
we are so grateful to be able to count
on our community to assist us with
learning experiences for our students.
Eastview Elementary
Headline
BY
PRINCIPALJIM ZURSIN
Teaser Sub-Head
Eastview Elementary students clapped
and cheered as members of the AlgonquinLake in the Hills Fire Protection District
surprised them at an all-school assembly
April 5 to officially kick-off registration for
the first-ever Kids Run for the BEAR. As the
dance music faded, Eastview Principal Jim
Zursin rallied his students to support the
event. “This is about kids running for kids!”
Kids Run for the BEAR was a timed,
1-mile race, which took place on April
30 in the Eastview area of Algonquin for
all children ages 5-12. The results of this
timed run were not available when this
newsletter went to print.
The run was sponsored by the Bear
Necessities Pediatric Cancer Foundation
in honor of Bear Krupa, a former Eastview
student who was just 8 years old when
he died Jan. 9, 1993, after a courageous 5
½-year battle with Wilms Tumor, a pediatric
cancer. While Bear spent a lot of time in
the hospital fighting cancer, his mom saw
he was more concerned with the other
kids and families around him than he was
about himself. Together they committed
to create Bear Necessities Pediatric Cancer
Foundation.
Both the Kids Run last month and the
traditional all-ages Run for the Bear coming
up on Sunday, October 2, 2011 (a 5K run/
walk and 10K run, also based at Eastview)
To register for the all-ages 5k/10k
run/walk RUN FOR THE BEAR on
Oct. 2 , 2011, visit: www.active.
com/donate/runforthebear2011.
To inquire or make a contribution,
please email Principal Jim Zursin
at [email protected] or call
847.532.7402.
are intended to help ensure that someday no
other child has to endure what Bear and his
family experienced.
Throughout the month of April, Eastview
students pledged their support to Bear
Necessities. In return for a $1 donation, each
student decorated a link that joined others
to create the Eastview Chain of Champions.
During the kick-off rally on April 5, Eastview
student Grace Hastings (pictured) helped Mr.
Zursin show her peers how the paper chains
would look, noting that the chains would be
displayed around the school to celebrate the
students’ support of this worthwhile cause.
The pair also announced that four of the
donors would be randomly chosen to get a
ride home from school on a firetruck - inciting
gasps, smiles and applause from the children!
Also, the Eastview Parent-Teacher
Organization (PTO) offered a training camp
to help kids get ready for the spring run, and
local firefighters (pictured) ran alongside
students at the event.
Section
Title
Showcase School:
Eastview
SCHOOL BOARD MEETINGS
Please visit the D300 Public Meetings Calendar for information about
upcoming meetings. Board meetings are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. May
9 and May 23. Agendas are posted at least 48 hours in advance of each
meeting. Visit www.d300.org and click on “District Calendars.”
U.S. Postage
PAID
Permit 300
Dundee IL 60118
Calendar
Graduation 2011: Saturday, May 21, at the Sears Centre Arena
Jacobs High School: 10:30 a.m.
Dundee-Crown High School: 2:30 p.m.
Hampshire High School: 6:30 p.m.
Last day of school
POSTAL PATRON
If no additional emergency days are used this school year, the last day
of class will be Friday, May 27, 2011. The first day of class for the 20112012 school year is Monday, August 15.
• Registration for Golf Outing: 10 a.m., followed by lunch
• Shotgun start for Golf Outing: 12 noon
• Gala Reception (silent auction, student entertainment): 5 p.m.
• Dinner (presentation of grants and distinguished educator): 6 p.m.
Register yourself or your foursome for the Golf & Gala,
or purchase tickets for only the Gala reception/dinner, at
http://d300foundation.org/id127.html.
During the dinner portion, the D300 Foundation will award 16
“innovation grants” to D300 teachers for individual classroom
projects for next school year (2011-2012). A video presentation will
showcase innovation grants making a difference for students this
school year (2010-2011). The Foundation’s Distinguished Educator
of the Year will also be announced, and D300 Superintendent Dr.
Ken Arndt, founding member of the Foundation, will be honored for
his many years of service on the Foundation Board of Trustees. The
Foundation is funded through private, charitable donations.
COMMUNITY UNIT SCHOOL DISTRICT 300
300 CLEVELAND AVENUE
CARPENTERSVILLE IL 60110
Please join the District 300
Foundation for Educational
Excellence as we celebrate
excellence in education at this
year’s annual Golf & Gala event,
“Master the Art of Excellence.”
This all-day celebration is on
Monday, June 6, at the Boulder
Ridge Country Club in Lake in
the Hills. Here is the schedule: