La Grange School District 102
August 2019
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Table of Contents:
Parent Partners:
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Tenacious Intentional Focus. Reflect on those words for a moment. Tenacious, or unrelenting; intentional, purposeful or purpose-driven; focus, a central point of attention. Tenacious Intentional Focus on Empowering children by setting high and appropriate Expectations for ALL kids in an authentic and rigorous Engaging environment through a lens of Equity and Empathy. In Jim Collins book,
Good to Great in the Social Sector
, a monograph addendum to his
Good to Great
book, Mr. Collins lays out the work that is required for social sector organizations, such as ours, to move from Good to Great. Similar to the work that is required in the business world, we need to define what Great is without having the typical metrics that businesses routinely use. Let’s rest on that for a moment.
What defines District 102 on its journey towards Greatness? While I wholeheartedly believe we are a good school district by many standards, the question becomes, what would make us truly distinctive, exemplary, uniquely stand out and truly a
Great
district? Is it exceptional test scores on state tests, is it all families and students feeling welcomed and valued, is it every child able to read at grade level or above by the end of third grade, is it meeting students where they are and providing what they need to meet their dreams and potential?
As you begin this new school year and accompany your child and our District on this ongoing journey to greatness, how will you help your child experience an empowered and engaged life with high expectations through a lens of empathy? We are re-committing ourselves to a tenacious intentional focus on growth for all children. We are committed to more clearly defining what “GREAT” is for District 102. With amazing students, teachers, parents, and staff, our focus will better help us meet people where they are to ensure our students achieve their dreams and potential.
I believe ALL children can learn. I believe ALL children should have choices once they leave high school to pursue the next chapter of their lives. I believe ALL of us play a role in making that happen for our kids. Thank you for joining us on our journey to Greatness. At the end of the day, our Greatness will only be determined by how well we prepared our kids for today AND tomorrow. Welcome to the journey!
Kyle
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Welcome to the twenty-one new District 102 teachers: Michael Condon (Resource - Park), Candace Daly (Grade 5 - Cossitt), Jon Daly (Resource - Cossitt), James Dean (World Languages - Spanish - not pictured), Rebekah Dembowski (Dual Language Kindergarten - Congress Park - not pictured), Lauren Duffy (Grade 5 - Forest Road), Sara Esposito (Resource - Barnsdale and Forest Road), Tyler Finley (Math - Park), Andrea Guelfi (Grade 2 - Ogden), Julia Hernandez (Dual Language Grade 2 - Congress Park), Sarah Kalis (Resource - Ogden), Maheen Nageeb (English Language Arts - Park), Nana Oware-Asamoah (School Psychologist - Ogden), Katie Ozanich (Cross-Cat - Cossitt), Deena Savas (Resource - Cossitt), Danielle Spanski (Early Childhood - Barnsdale), Joy Walke (Resource - Ogden), Caleb Wenstrom (Resource - Forest Road), Ross Wintersteen (Resource - Ogden), Anaese Vega (Reading Interventionist - Congress Park), and Juan Villa (Spanish - Park)
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The special education team has already begun to plan for a successful and positive school year for all of the students in our community. Much of the summer was spent communicating about the needs of our learners and ensuring that instructional materials and methods would be in place right at the start of the school year.
Part of our educational planning included the writing of an academic intervention manual, compiled by a small group of special education staff, under the coordination of Ella Farmer, a former psychologist for Ogden and Cossitt, who will now assume the role of psychologist and Lead Special Educator at Congress Park this school year. The intent of the intervention manual is to provide guidance to staff about best practices and research for reading, math, and writing interventions which will greatly enhance the individual education planning process. The creation of the intervention manual was one of two final special education department goals for the 2018-2019 school year. The second final special education department goal for last school year was the creation of an online parent handbook with a projected publishing date of August. Although the handbook is ready to go live, the district is in the midst of finalizing a total revamp of its website at this time. The special education parent handbook will debut in September as part of the new website conversion. In advance of that time, certain components of the handbook, such as a contact list for each school as well as new resources available through the state, will be posted on the current website prior to the start of the school year.
We are also pleased to announce the debut of volunteer Special Education Parent Ambassadors. This is a new and exciting development in our district that is intended to provide interested families with parent-to-parent camaraderie and support. If you are a parent of a student with special needs, please consider applying for this role.
https://forms.gle/khLgJwGpbSwzYymC7
Finally, we would like to welcome our new assistant director of special education, Traci Milledge, to the team, along with several new special education teachers and specialists. Look for an upcoming profile of Traci in the next community newsletter.
On behalf of the special education department, I wish you a pleasant start to the school year, full of wonder, joy, and discovery.
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Human Resources and Public Relations
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Today our new and improved #D102 website launched. With a fresh look and feel and intuitive design, our new website is designed with our parents, students and staff in mind. Our new website provides a clear message about our schools and our communities. The website also boasts a clean design and intuitive and consistent site-wide navigation system with improved menu functionality that directs you to the information most relevant to you. It is also fully responsive with mobile devices, making it easy to navigate on a wide range of web browsers and portable devices.
We invite you to visit us at www.sd102.net.
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Welcome Center Coming Soon
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The objective of the D102 Welcome Center is to ensure a welcoming and inclusive environment for all students, specifically students from diverse backgrounds, to be able to thrive personally, socially, and academically within the district and our communities. Our Welcome Center will host classes, workshops, and conferences with families to help our students achieve academic success. The Welcome Centers foundation focuses on education, conversation, and celebrations that embrace culture and identity in oneself and others.
The Center provides additional resources such as individual cultural support, a diverse library (books, magazines, pamphlets), connections to the surrounding diverse communities, and diverse programming including workshops, forums, discussions, and cultural conversations. Please stop by for a visit and get connected. We look forward to seeing you soon!
"Building bridges to connect our families, schools, and community to enrich our student's lives."
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Thirty students from Congress Park dual language classrooms participated in the dual language summer extension. This program provides an opportunity for students to use their Spanish skills in an academic environment during the summer months. This year students participated in activities with a camp theme, including investigating the night sky, learning about animals and insects, reading in a tent in the classroom, and sitting around a “campfire” to reflect on their learning. Campers practiced listening, speaking, reading and writing through hands on a collaborative activities.
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Instructional Technology Coach
Physical Education Teacher ( Long-Term Sub)
Paraprofessional
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August 21: First Day of School (Half Day)
August 22: First Full day of school
August 22: First Board of Education Meeting, Park Jr. High LRC, 7pm
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