Twelve District 54 schools received an Academic Excellence Award from the Illinois State Board of Education in recognition of their exemplary performance on the Illinois Standards Achievement Test from 2008 to 2010.

Collins, Dirksen, Dooley, Fairview, Fox, Hale, Hoover, Link, Nerge and Stevenson elementary schools, Lincoln Prairie School, and Frost Junior High School were among the 459 schools to receive the Academic Excellence Award for 2010 by sustaining high performance levels on state assessments for at least three years. These schools meet the following criteria:

• All schools must have made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) in 2009 and 2010.
• Preschool through eighth grade schools:  90 percent of students met or exceeded state standards in both reading and mathematics for the three most recent school years.

District 54 is one of only four school districts in Illinois to earn more than 10 Academic Excellence Awards this year. In addition, many of our schools are repeat winners:

• Dirksen, Hoover, Nerge and Stevenson elementary schools are receiving the Academic Excellence Award for the third consecutive year.
• Dooley, Fairview, Hale, Lincoln Prairie and Frost are receiving the Academic Excellence Award for the second consecutive year.

The state assessments are used to measure adequate yearly progress for all public schools. District 54 students in third through eighth grade will take the test from Feb. 28 through March 11 this year.

The Illinois Honor Roll celebrates the accomplishments of Illinois public schools that are providing high quality education for all their students.

School District 54 invited parents to its 12th Open Enrollment Fair on Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2011. The fair provided parents with information on ten schools in our district:  Blackwell, Campanelli, Dirksen, Dooley, Enders-Salk, Hanover Highlands, Hoover, Lincoln Prairie, Link and MacArthur. Each of these schools houses a unique program and we anticipate a few openings at each site next year.

If you missed the fair, or even if you attended, you are still invited to visit the schools and view the programs in action. People interested in visiting a school and picking up an application can call each school for more information:

Blackwell (developmental sign language)
(847) 357-5555
Jan. 31: 1-2 p.m.
Feb. 1: 9:30-10:30 a.m.
Application deadline: March 18

Campanelli (Mandarin Chinese immersion program)
(847) 357-5333
Parent Information Meeting: Feb. 28 (6:30-7:30 p.m.)
School Tours: March 3 & 4 (1-2 p.m.)
Application deadline: March 14

Dirksen (multiage)
(847) 357-5600
Feb. 3:  6 p.m.
Feb. 4:  8 a.m.
Feb. 9:  1 p.m.
Application deadline: Feb. 18

Dooley (English-Japanese dual language and early instrumental music)
(847) 357-6250
Dual Language:  Feb. 15 (1-2:30 p.m.) and Feb. 23 (9:30-11 a.m.)
Early Instrumental Music: Feb. 15 (7 p.m.) and Feb. 24 (7 p.m.)
Parents who wish to enroll their children in the music program must attend one of these meetings.
Application deadline: March 14

Enders-Salk (English-Spanish dual language)
(847) 357-6400
Feb. 1:  9-10 a.m.
Feb. 2:  9-10 a.m.
Application deadline: March 14

Hanover Highlands (English-Spanish dual language)
(630) 736-4230 
Feb. 10:  9:30 a.m.
Feb. 17:  1 p.m.
Application deadline: March 14

Hoover Math & Science Academy
(847) 357-5800 
Feb. 1:  9:30 a.m.
Feb. 9:  12:30 & 6:30 p.m.
Application deadline: March 1

Lincoln Prairie (multiage and multiple intelligences)
(847) 357-5955 
Feb. 9:  11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Feb. 11:  11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Application deadline: March 1

Link (English-Spanish dual language)
(847) 357-5300
Feb. 23:  9:30-11 a.m.
Feb. 24:  9:30-11 a.m.
Application deadline: March 14

MacArthur (English-Spanish dual language)
(847) 357-6650
Feb. 1:  1 p.m.
Feb. 2:  9 a.m. Rescheduled to 9 a.m. Feb. 10
Application deadline: March 14

District 54’s parent conferences will be held on Feb. 3 and 4. This is a great opportunity for your children to share their accomplishments. Your children may also share their personal, academic goals with you.

It is important that the teacher knows how an individual is doing in school, and it is important that parents are aware as well. However, it is most important that the child has a sense of how things are going and is involved in the goal-setting process.

If you have something you would like to discuss with the teacher without your child present, please make an appointment for another time. These conferences are designed to focus on the child and the child’s goals and accomplishments. The children enjoy sharing their world with their parents.

Junior high students will be dismissed at 10:40 a.m.; elementary students at 11:40 a.m. and Lincoln Prairie students at 12:15 p.m. on Thursday for conferences. No early childhood or kindergarten classes meet on Thursday, Feb.3. No District 54 students at any grade level attend school on Friday, Feb. 4.

School District 54 announces that kindergarten registration for the 2011-12 school year will be held on Thursday, Feb. 24, 2011. Registration will take place from 9-11 a.m.,
1-2:30 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. at all elementary schools. Parents should go to their neighborhood school to register their child, even if they are applying to attend a school other than their neighborhood school.

Only those children whose fifth birthday falls on or before Sept. 1, 2011, are eligible to enroll in kindergarten for the fall term, 2011.

Parents should bring the child’s official birth certificate (with the seal); a $50 check or money order to pay the consumable materials fee; and three forms of proof of residency within School District 54 boundaries.

There is a $50 consumable materials fee, which District 54 assesses each student to offset the cost of items supplied by the district during the course of the school year. Payment of this fee in the form of a check or money order will also be collected at registration. 

The registration process takes about 30 minutes. Parents will fill out entrance materials, and will be given physical examination forms and general school information. It would be helpful to bring the name and phone numbers of people to call in an emergency and phone numbers of the parents’ workplaces.

More information and some of the registration forms can be found on our website at http://sd54.org/registration/.

District officials can better plan for kindergarten placements if they get most of the registrations on Feb. 24, so parents are urged to register their children for kindergarten on that date. For transportation/boundary questions: call (847) 357-5104.  For general questions: call (847) 357-5087.

At its Jan. 20 meeting, the School Board appointed two new principals for the 2011-12 school year.

Kara Prusko, the assistant principal at Eisenhower Junior High School, will become the principal at the school when current principal Pam Samson retires from that position in June.

Yvette Davidson, the principal at Sundling Junior High School in Palatine, will become the principal at Frost Junior High School next year.

Frost’s current principal, Paul Goldberg, is moving to Muir next year. Muir Principal Brad Carter is moving to Blackwell. Blackwell Principal Maria Clifford is moving to Stevenson, to replace Leslie Eskildsen who will retire in June 2011.

Prusko has been the assistant principal at Eisenhower since 2008. Prior to coming to Eisenhower, she was a language arts teacher at Addams Junior High School and a special education teacher at Armstrong Elementary School. She first joined District 54 in 1995.

Prusko has a master’s degree from Northern Illinois University, a master’s degree from Concordia University and a bachelor’s degree from Illinois State University. 

Davidson has been the principal at Sundling since 2007. Prior to that, she was the assistant principal at Sundling for one year, a teacher at Barrington Middle School for three years and a teacher at Haines Middle School in St. Charles for five years.

Davidson has a master’s degree from the University of Illinois and a bachelor’s degree from Illinois State University. She received her Type 75 Administrative Certificate from National Louis University.

Accountability for student learning. Continuous improvement. Data-driven decisions. These are several of the phrases that are used to define the type of work that occurs in every District 54 school on a daily basis.

Our teachers and support staff constantly look for ways to improve their teaching and student learning. Their number one goal is to help every student achieve at the highest level possible. Over the past several years, our district has clearly defined its goals and expected outcomes; monitored student progress at both the individual school and district levels; and made adjustments to the instructional program as necessary. 

Winning sports teams, successful businesses and effective school districts are relentless about seeking out and using data to improve their current performance. Following an accountability practice that many businesses utilize, we have incorporated a 90-day review cycle into the school improvement process.

District 54’s school improvement plan calls for an increased emphasis on accountability and building-wide responsibility for student learning. Throughout the year, staff members work together to examine state, district and classroom assessment data. This information helps to determine how their students are progressing and becomes the foundation as they develop their building and individual student learning goals.

The school improvement process also requires school teams to present their plan to the district early in the school year. After approval is received, the plan is again formally reviewed with the same team every 90 days. The emphasis in these meetings is to support schools in refining their instructional practices to improve student learning. In addition, the information that is shared by each school team is the basis to continuously fine-tune the types of district-level supports that are provided.

The concept behind the 90-day review cycle is that it is a long enough period of time to significantly impact student learning, yet short enough to allow for any adjustments that are needed based on student growth data.

The school improvement model that we use includes the following seven components:

• an instructional plan to engage all learners,
• specific support systems to strengthen interventions for struggling learners and enrichment opportunities for advanced learners,
• the monitoring of classroom and district assessments,
• a professional learning plan to continually build the instructional expertise of our staff,
• an emphasis on sustaining a culture that supports collaboration and the professional learning community framework,
• strategies that promote the philosophy of “success for all” and “failure is not an option,” and
• a focus on strengthening parent and community partnerships.

We are in the process of completing this year’s second 90-day review. In preparation, each school has been evaluating its action plan, carefully analyzing student performance data, monitoring individual student growth, and refining its instructional programs to address areas in need of improvement.

District 54 students continue to experience high levels of achievement as evidenced on state, district and local assessments. An independent benchmark study that was recently completed indicated that our students continue to make significant growth in every area. Our educators are passionate about helping their students be successful and committed to doing whatever they can to meet District 54’s mission of Ensuring Student Success.

The School Board appointed Ric King as the new assistant superintendent of business services during a board meeting on Jan. 6, 2011.

King will replace Mohsin Dada, who will retire in June 2011. King has been the controller of District 54 since 1995 and in 2000 also took on the role of director of facilities.

Prior to coming to District 54, King was a manager at McGladrey & Pullen for 10 years, where he gained experience auditing and consulting with local school districts and other government entities.

King has a master’s degree in education administration from Governors State University; a bachelor’s in accounting from Illinois State University and a Chief School Business Official Endorsement from the Illinois State Teacher Certification Board.

To best meet the needs of the children in District 54, a project study team has been examining school boundaries and closely monitoring both current enrollment and projected enrollments. As a result of that project, 10 areas in District 54 will become part of a different elementary school boundary beginning in August 2011 (junior high boundaries are not changing at this time).

Areas Affected by 2011 Boundary Change

New Boundary Map

Parents of District 54 students who will be affected by boundary changes have received letters explaining the changes and inviting them to meetings with the principal of the current and proposed schools.

These changes are being made for two reasons. Some areas are being relocated to a new school because the new school is closer to that area. Other areas are being relocated due to overcrowding at their existing school. Our goal is to balance school building enrollments and class sizes across the district to provide optimal learning environments for all our students. Armstrong, Muir and Lakeview are three schools that are currently overcrowded and will have fewer students due to the boundary change.

Children enrolled during the 2010-11 school year in kindergarten through fifth grade in District 54 who live in an area affected by the boundary change, will have the option of remaining at their current school until they go to junior high school or attending the newly designated school starting in August 2011.

For more information about the boundary changes, visit our Boundary FAQ page.

A goal of our District 54 Board of Education is to provide choice for parents in the selection of their child’s school. In addition to the neighborhood school, we have developed programs at several district schools, which we can now offer as choices.

District 54 invites parents to its annual Open Enrollment Fair from 6-7:30 p.m. Jan. 26, 2011. The fair will provide parents with information on 10 schools in our district: Blackwell, Campanelli, Dirksen, Dooley, Enders-Salk, Hanover Highlands, Hoover, Lincoln Prairie, Link and MacArthur. Each of these schools houses a unique program and we anticipate a few openings at each site next year.

Please know that you do not need to arrive early to get a spot at one of the schools. While applications are available on Jan. 26, names will not be chosen that evening. In addition, people who cannot attend the event can still apply for their children to attend one of our open enrollment schools.

The fair will take place at Addams Junior High School, 700 S. Springinsguth Road in Schaumburg. Overflow parking can be found one block south at St. Marcelline’s Church. A short, formal presentation by Superintendent Ed Rafferty will be followed by opportunities for parents to visit each school’s booth and learn about each program in greater detail.

• Blackwell Elementary School will explain how it offers sign language lessons and a full production lab as a mode to communicate with the school’s hearing-impaired student population.
• Campanelli Elementary School District 54 will highlight its Mandarin Chinese immersion program.
• Dirksen Elementary School will introduce parents to instruction in a multiage setting.
• Dooley Elementary School will showcase its Japanese Dual Language and Early Instrumental Music programs.
• Lincoln Prairie School will highlight its strong parent involvement, its multiage configuration at all grade levels and its multiple intelligences showcase for this school year.
• Enders-Salk, Hanover Highlands, Link and MacArthur elementary schools will highlight their Spanish Dual Language programs.
• Hoover Math and Science Academy will highlight its unique learning environment for students in the areas of mathematics and science.’

People interested in viewing the programs in action, can visit the schools. Dates will be set after the fair, so that groups of interested parents can tour the school together. Call each school to make an appointment. For more information on these schools visit our Open Enrollment website at http://sd54.org/openenrollment.