School District 54 invited parents to its 13th Open Enrollment Fair on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012. The fair provided parents with information on nine schools in our district:  Blackwell, Campanelli, 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. The application deadline is March 1 for all schools.

Blackwell (developmental sign language):  (847) 357-5555

• 10-11:30 a.m. Jan. 30
• 1-2:30 p.m. Jan. 31

Campanelli (Mandarin Chinese immersion program):  (847) 357-5333

• Parent Information Meeting: 6-7 p.m. Feb. 1
• School Tours: 9-10 a.m. Feb. 6 and 9:30-10:30 a.m. Feb. 7

Dooley (English-Japanese dual language and early instrumental music):  (847) 357-6250

Dual Language:

• 9:30-10:30 a.m. Feb. 10
• 1-2 p.m. Feb. 21

Early Instrumental Music (Parents who wish to enroll theirchildren in the music program must attend one of these meetings):

• 7-8 p.m. Jan. 31
• 7-8 p.m. Feb. 9

Enders-Salk (English-Spanish dual language):  (847) 357-6400

• 9-10:30 a.m. Feb. 9
• 9-10:30 a.m. Feb. 10

Hanover Highlands (English-Spanish dual language):  (630) 736-4230

• 10 a.m. Feb. 3
• 1 p.m. Feb. 7

Hoover Math & Science Academy:  (847) 357-5800

• 9:30 a.m. Feb. 3
• 5:15 p.m. Feb. 8

Lincoln Prairie (multigrade and multiple intelligences):  (847) 357-5955

• 1:15-2:30 p.m. Feb. 3
• 1:15-2:30 p.m. Feb. 17

Link (English-Spanish dual language):  (847) 357-5300

• 9:30-10:30 a.m. Feb. 15
• 9:30-10:30 a.m. Feb. 17

MacArthur (English-Spanish dual language):  (847) 357-6650

• Parent Information Meeting: 6-7 p.m. Feb. 15
• School Tour: 9:30-10:30 a.m. and 1-2:30 p.m. Jan. 31
• School Tour: 9-10:30 a.m. Feb. 17

School District 54 will hold kindergarten registration for the 2012-13 school year on Thursday, Feb. 23, 2012. 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, 2012, are eligible to enroll in kindergarten for the fall term, 2012.

The registration process takes about 30 minutes. Parents will fill out entrance materials, and will be given physical examination forms and general school information. More information and some of the registration forms can be found on our website at http://sd54.org/registration/.

Additionally, the parent or legal guardian must provide the following information to complete the enrollment process:

• Proof of immunizations
• Birth Certificate (original with seal). Official birth certificates are issued by the county clerk in the county in which the child was born. Hospital certificates are not acceptable.
• Proof of residence
• Phone numbers of people to be contacted in emergencies (neighbors, other family members and work numbers)

Any person asserting legal custody over a student, who is not the student’s parent or legal guardian, must complete the Nonparent Custody Form (available at time of registration).

Parents or guardians are required to pay a consumable materials fee by check or money order for each child to cover the cost of workbooks, paper, art supplies, and other items used by students. The cost is $50 for each kindergarten through eighth-grade student. The form is available in the registration packet and online.

District officials can better plan for kindergarten placements if they get most of the registrations on Feb. 23, 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.

School District 54 is pleased to announce that two teachers earned National Board Certification this year through the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.

Sarah Mendoza, an intervention coach at Hoover Math & Science Academy in Schaumburg, and Olivia Jones, a middle level science teacher at Lincoln Prairie School in Hoffman Estates, are part of a group of 6,200 teachers who became board certified in 2011.

“I chose to pursue my National Board for Professional Teaching Standards certification to improve my teaching practice and help my students be successful,” Mendoza said. “The process is very reflective and gives you a chance to analyze what you’re doing in the classroom and why you’re doing it.”

While state licensing systems set the basic requirements to teach in each state, National Board Certification is achieved through an additional performance-based assessment of a teacher’s skills and content knowledge. The certification takes one to three years to complete.

“I pursued National Board Certification as a culminating validation for my 30 plus years in the teaching profession (always as a science teacher in grades 6 to 9),” Jones said. “I have had wonderful career and professional opportunities that helped me fulfill the qualifications needed to achieve this goal and I feel very fortunate to have been able to add to these experiences as a teacher in School District 54.”

The Schaumburg Township Council of PTA’s is helping Heartland sponsor a blood drive on Tuesday, Feb. 14. It will be held from 1:30-7 p.m. in the boardroom at the School District 54 Administration Center, 524 E. Schaumburg Road in Schaumburg.

Anyone between the ages of 17 and 75 who weighs at least 110 pounds can participate.

A minimum of 600 pints of blood is needed every day for patients in area hospitals, according to Heartland. The Council of PTA’s host blood drives each year to help meet these needs.

To make an appointment, you must visit www.heartlandbc.org and click on Schedule an Appointment.

For more information about this blood drive, please contact Heather Collier, Health and Safety Chairperson of the PTA Council, at (708) 951-4118.

Annually,  the District 54 Board of Education approves a variety of projects aligned with our mission of Ensuring Student Success. These projects guide our work and support our staff in meeting the district’s student achievement goals. A complete list of this year’s projects can be found at http://sd54.org/board/mission.

Progress  is monitored on a regular basis at both the individual school and district levels. The midyear status report on several of the key projects is highlighted below.

Early elementary students continue to experience significant gains in reading with the second year of successful implementation of the K-2 Literacy Plan and Assessment Package.

Our English Language Learners have been making substantial progress with the instructional program improvements that were instituted last year. Due to the progress that our students are making, District 54 was selected as one of only 10 districts across the country to participate in a best practice research study conducted by the United States Department of Education. The findings will be made available for other districts to replicate.

A new interactive social studies curriculum is being taught in kindergarten through sixth grade. Students are excited, more engaged with the content, and better able to understand and apply their new learning in real-life situations.

New opportunities for students to participate in art, music and physical education enrichment activities are taking place in all 21 of our elementary schools. Students are being provided with supplemental classes which allow them to explore, learn about and further develop specific areas that may be of interest. Feedback from students, parents and staff has been extremely positive.

To keep pace with the ever-changing world of instructional technology, hardware and software upgrades have been initiated in all 27 schools. The final roll-out will be completed by early spring.

The online communication tool which will enable parents to view their children’s grades will be fully operational in all six of our junior high schools by the end of February. Parents and students will be able to monitor assignments and class grades in real time.

To continue to strengthen the district’s commitment to being transparent, a web-based system for creating, posting and storing Board of Education meeting information and supporting documents is now available on our website.

An additional school boundary change recommendation will be part of the annual staffing plan, which will be presented at the first school board meeting in March. Impacted families have already been notified. The changes to school boundaries that have occurred over the past two years have helped to balance and stabilize student enrollment across the district.

The PTA, YMCA, other local community agencies and District 54 have been working  together to support and promote the Healthier Communities Initiative. Healthier hot lunch alternatives and planning for increasing the number of schools that plant vegetable gardens are only two of the many changes that are beginning to occur.

To augment the internal monitoring process of the district’s progress, we participate in an annual independent benchmarking study. This helps us evaluate our progress in comparison to other school districts across the state. Results from this year’s benchmarking study indicate that District 54 continues to make strong and steady gains in every area. Over the past several years, our district has moved to being in the top 9% when ranked against all other school districts in Illinois.

The results indicate that our students continue to make remarkable progress. The positive outcomes we are seeing each year can be directly attributed to the leadership of our Board of Education; the outstanding teachers, support staff and administrators who work in our district; and the ongoing support that we receive from our parents and community.

The Illinois PBIS Network recognized 15 District 54 schools this year for their success in implementing Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports.

Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports – or PBIS – is a proactive, schoolwide system that teaches appropriate behavior throughout the school – in the classroom, on the bus, in the hallways, in the restrooms and on the playground. The entire staff team focuses not only on individual students with challenging behavior but on providing positive behavior support to all children. Schools that wish to be recognized for their implementation of PBIS must submit an application in June along with supporting documentation. The levels of recognition are Start-Up, Emerging, Implementing, Fully Implementing and Exemplar.

• Frost Junior High School received the highest level – Exemplar. Frost is one of only two schools in the state to reach this milestone.
• Hanover Highlands, Aldrin, Blackwell, Lakeview, MacArthur and Campanelli elementary schools and Keller and Eisenhower junior high schools are recognized as Implementing – “maintaining
  the school-wide PBIS foundation and building the foundation for Tier2/Secondary Level Interventions.”
• Link, Muir, Collins and Armstrong elementary schools and Addams and Mead junior high schools are recognized as Emerging – “building the foundation for school-wide PBIS implementation.”

PBIS has several components:

• Behavioral expectations are defined:  A small number of clearly defined behavioral expectations are stated in positive and simple rules. For example, some of our schools use the Three B’s: Be Respectful, Be Responsible and Be Safe. Most schools kick off the school year with an assembly, whole school meeting or series of stations that introduce students to these concepts and reinforce the ideas for returning students.
• Behavioral expectations are taught:  The behavioral expectations are taught to all students in real context and reinforced throughout the school year. Students often refer to them as “cool tools.” All staff throughout the building uses the same language to speak to students about behavioral expectations.
• Appropriate behaviors are acknowledged: Once appropriate behaviors have been defined and taught, they need to be acknowledged on a regular basis. Staff looks for opportunities throughout the year to recognize students who are meeting their expectations. Many schools will give out tickets and enter students’ names in a drawing to win rewards. Rewards include trinkets, extra gym time and reading to younger children.
• Behavioral errors are corrected proactively: When students violate behavioral expectations, clear procedures are in place to explain to students their inappropriate behavior and to prevent continued disruptions to the instructional environment.
• Program evaluations and adaptations are made by a team: District 54 schools collect data on student behavior and use that information when making decisions about behavior systems. By tracking changes in student behavior, staff can evaluate and adjust its own practices.
• Administrators provide active and ongoing support.

Traditional discipline typically contains reactive procedures that focus on control with punitive consequences. This perspective is incomplete because the process lacks attention to the development and strategic reteaching of positive social behaviors. Research suggests that punishment by itself is ineffective in achieving long-term suppressions of problem behavior.

More information about PBIS and the list of schools recognized in Illinois can be found on the PBIS Illinois website: http://www.pbisillinois.org.

District 54’s parent conferences will be held on Jan. 12 and 13. 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, Jan. 12. No District 54 students at any grade level attend school on Friday, Jan. 13. Schools are also closed on Monday, Jan. 16 in observation of Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday.