D15 Family Newsletter

As a reminder, we will have a half day of school on Tuesday, November 7. Students in grades one through eight will attend school in the morning. Students will be transported home following the same schedule we have used in the past on a half day. All Preschool (Early Childhood and ECDEC Classrooms) and Half Day Kindergarten classrooms will not have class on this day. Full-day kindergarten programs (TK, bilingual, and dual language) will follow the schedule below.

Student Half-Day Schedule for Tuesday, November 7, 2023

Tier 1 - 7:35 - 10:35 am

• Carl Sandburg Junior High, Jane Addams, Plum Grove Junior High, Walter R. Sundling Junior High, Winston Campus Elementary, and Winston Campus Junior High

Tier 2 - 8:25 - 11:25 am

• Frank C. Whiteley, Gray M. Sanborn, Hunting Ridge, Kimball Hill, Lincoln, Marion Jordan, Pleasant Hill, Stuart R. Paddock, Thomas Jefferson, and Willow Bend

Tier 3 - 9:15 am - 12:15 pm

• Central Road, Lake Louise, and Virginia Lake

CLA - 9:20 am - 12:20 pm

Our teachers have a full agenda for their half-day together.

Principal Martin DaCosta, members of his Culture and Climate team, and I attended the 50th AMLE Conference where WCJH was recognized as a School Of Distinction. Additionally, the team did a tremendous job presenting their work to conference attendees. To say their work was met with enthusiasm and gratitude would be an understatement. Congratulations to the team and the entire staff and student body at WCJH. Way to go, Warriors.

Our next two Board meetings will be on Wednesday, November 15, and Wednesday, December 13.

#ThankABoardMember - At our upcoming Board meeting on Wednesday, November 15, we will be honoring our wonderful Board of Education as part of the Illinois Association of School Board’s (IASB) Board Member Appreciation Day celebrated annually on November 15.

As you know, these seven individuals volunteer their time to help continuously improve D15 while also listening to stakeholders within the communities we serve. You can email our Board of Education here.

Your partner in education,

Laurie Heinz

Superintendent of Schools

We had bids for Gray M. Sanborn, Kimball Hill, and Willow Bend go out this week. Hunting Ridge will have a pre-bid go out on Monday, November 6. These bids will go to the Board for approval at their meeting on November 15.

In case you missed it, check out our Moving 15 Forward News for October. Next month, we will visit Marion Jordan and re-visit, Thomas Jefferson, Plum Grove, and Walter R. Sundling for an update!

Now is a great time to visit your students' balance in School Café. As a reminder, all students must have a positive balance in their account to purchase any Ala Carte items. Payments can also be sent to your school to avoid a service charge.

No experience necessary - We offer paid training to help you earn your Commercial Driver’s License. Once licensed, the starting rate of pay is $25/hour.

Benefits include:

• Blue Cross Blue Shield HMO and PPO coverage options— no-cost health insurance for employee, District-paid long-term disability insurance, Dental, and vision;

• Flexible spending account;

• $50k life insurance;

• 403b/457 savings accounts;

• IMRF pension;

• 9 paid holidays, 10 sick and 3 personal days.

Schedule: 25 hours/week qualifies employee for full benefits. 25-40 hours/week are available. These are 10 month positions with optional summer hours.

Find additional details and apply today at: www.ccsd15.net/hiring

Please contact Andy Elbert with any questions - elberta@ccsd15.net.

Especially as we get closer to the colder months, please make sure you have all of your contact information updated in Infinite Campus (email address, phone number, and cell phone number) for absence calls, school, District, and Board newsletters, emergency notifications, etc. To check your contact information, you can log in to Infinite Campus to review and update.

Students who read at home are more likely to:

• Build a love of reading

• Improve vocabulary

• Improve learning in every subject

• Develop critical thinking skills

Foster reading through providing your child opportunities to engage with different types of reading materials. Want an easy way to access reading resources at home? Try using the EPIC app for kids to have a wide variety of age-aligned readings. For more information, check here!

It’s that time of year again when our students begin preparing for our annual series of Spelling Bees! Each year District 15 students in grades 4 - 8 at our Elementary & Junior High Schools participate in School Spelling Bees. The winner from each building participates in the District 15 Annual Spelling Bee which includes D15 students from grades 4 - 8. This year’s district bee will be held on Monday, February 5, 2024, at 7:00PM. All School Bees will take place prior to Winter Break and comprehensive study guides will be provided to the District Participants (School Winners), prior to break. Each school will provide details on their School Bee.

Parent Resources can be found here:

• Scripps Spelling Bee website Parent Page
• How to Study for a Spelling Bee, written by Dr. Jacques Bailly, Scripps National Spelling Bee announcer and former National Champion.
• CCSD15 Website > Spelling Bee

Illustrative Mathematics uses centers to help students practice math skills they are currently learning or have previously learned.

Centers offer:

• more time for students to grapple with big mathematical concepts

• meaningful activities to help engage students while they develop their fluency in solving problems

• opportunities for teachers and parents to observe students as they learn and practice math concepts.

Below are a few sample centers and activities from the Illustrative Mathematics curriculum that can be played with your child at home. Necessary materials are linked in as well. Please reach out to your child’s teacher with any questions.

Narrative

• Students are given a collection of up to 20 objects.

• They work with a partner to figure out how many objects are in their collection and then each partner shows how many.

• Students may draw pictures or write numbers to represent their collection.

Required materials

• 10-frames

• 5-frames

• Collections of objects (can be anything!)

Narrative: Players take turns generating numbers and placing counters on a board. The first player to have five counters in a row wins. There are specific directions on the top of each game board.

Required materials

• Dice (virtual dice)

• Counters (pennies, color the box in, etc.)

• Paperclips

Click on the link below to access ‘Open Middle Virtual Activities’. The name “Open Middle” references a very specific type of problem we try to encourage in our classrooms. Most problems on this site have:

• a “closed beginning” meaning that they all start with the same initial problem.

• a “closed end” meaning that they all end with the same answer.

• an “open middle” meaning that there are multiple ways to approach and ultimately solve the problem.

These activities focus on several standards while pushing students to stretch their thinking and productively struggle.

Grade 6

Grade 7

Grade 8

Attorney Robert H. Farley, Jr., will speak on “How To Navigate the Illinois Disability System” and obtain all the benefits which your disabled child is entitled under the law. Learn what you must do to be successful. Topics to be covered include: PUNS (State of Illinois Waiting List); How To Obtain Funding from the State of Illinois if you cannot wait for your child’s name to be pulled from the Waiting List; SSI; Special Needs Trusts; and Guardianship.

Home-Based Services with Megan Turner and Carissa Cornwell on November 15th, 5:30-7:30 (PERC: 520 S. Plum Grove Road, Palatine, IL)

Megan and Carissa will give an overview about the many Medicaid Waiver Programs in Illinois. Our students generally seek funding from DRS Home Services, DDD Home Based Funding and/or CILA and DSCC-Division of Specialized Care for Children. They can be easily confused but are all sources of DHS funding in the State of Illinois. Participants will learn the differences between the programs and when they can be utilized for people with disabilities.

Please RSVP to Molly Dunne (mdunne@nsseo.org). We look forward to seeing you at our events!

Students and families across the district who participate in the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and Vision programs are getting ready for a Pumpkin Night on November 3, 2023 at Gray M. Sanborn Elementary School from 5:00 pm-8:00 pm.

Please see this letter for participation opportunities with Special Olympics. Please direct any questions to Ms. Jamie Levin, Student Services Coordinator at levinj@ccsd15.net

In mid-October the CLA Early Childhood SIP Team hosted a Sensory Night for their students and families. Led by many of the CLA OTs, the Sensory Night provided families with a chance to move through a variety of sensory activities with their child and learn how to support their child's sensory needs at home. The event was a huge success with over 20 families attending! It was a wonderful opportunity for families, teachers, and therapists to connect with each other, learn something new, and have fun together!"

We are excited to share two upcoming parent engagement events for our multilingual families...

Multilingual Parent Advisory Committee (MPAC)

• Date: Wednesday, November 8, 2023 from 6:30-7:30 pm

• Location: Stuart Paddock Elementary School

• Theme: EL Programming & Using Writing Instruction to Develop English Language

• Presentation will be in English with translation provided for any language requested in advance (see flyer for link to request translation)

• Flyers (scroll down for additional languages)

Spanish Bilingual Parent Advisory Committee (BPAC)

• Date: Thursday, November 16, 2023 from 6:30-8:00 pm

• Location: Virginia Lake Elementary School

• Theme: Developing Emotional Intelligence in Our Children

• Presentation is for parents and students age 10 & up

• Presentation will be in Spanish with headphone translation to English

• Family Bingo with prizes will conclude the evening

• Spanish Flyer

• English Flyer

• November 7 - Half Day of School / Half Institute Day
  
• November 8 - MPAC Meeting
  
• November 14 - Middle School Dual Language Program Information for 2024-25
  
• November 15 - Middle School Dual Language Program Information for 2024-25 (Virtual Meeting)
  
• November 15 - Board of Education Meeting
  
• November 16 - BPAC Meeting
  
• November 17 - Progress Reports Issued - Grades 1-6
  
• November 20-24 - No School
  
• November 20-21 - Parent-Teacher Conferences
  
• November 27 - SPARK Meeting
  
• December 13 - Board of Education Meeting