Sept. 13, 2024

Dear District 70 Families,

We are almost one month into our school year, and I am already seeing how our students and staff are growing in their connections to one another and in their commitment to deep and meaningful learning. Learning Together is our vision for growth here at D70, and I am so proud of how I see that coming to life in our classrooms and school buildings.

This fall, we will continue to focus on our district-wide efforts to ensure safety and security in our buildings and at our student events. We will also continue to fine-tune our individualized support for our students and staff to ensure that each classroom is equipped to reach its full learning potential this year.

In this week’s District Newsletter, you will find information and updates on:

• Safety Week next week

• Assessment reports

• Upcoming Families Learning Together zoom events

We look forward to continuing to Learn Together with your student and your family. As always, our staff, principals, and district teams are ready to partner with you. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions or concerns.

Shine Bright,

Rebecca

Rebecca A. Jenkins

Superintendent of Schools

Libertyville School District 70

rjenkins@d70schools.org

Rebecca's Twitter

Rebecca's Instagram

Each night of “Safety Week,” an email will be sent to families with a link to a short video. The video will correlate to the drills that are being completed during the week and offer a safety tip of the day. These videos are being provided to families to engage them in conversations about safety at school and at home.

During Safety Week, which runs from Sept. 16-20, we will conduct a lockdown safety drill with the Libertyville Police Department at every school in District 70.

The lockdown drill is one of the safety drills we practice throughout the year, along with fire drills, a tornado drill, and a bus evacuation drill. While some safety drills are unannounced so we can practice a more realistic situation, students are made aware of this drill prior to the lockdown so they are not unnecessarily alarmed. Because the lockdown drill may be unsettling to some students, especially those in the primary grades, we are sending this letter so you can discuss this with your child, if you feel it is necessary.

When we introduce the lockdown drill to students, we try to keep it simple and matter of fact. We inform students this is another routine safety drill, like our fire and tornado drills, which we practice to protect students and adults in our school.

The Illinois School Code requires the district to notify parents about the lockdown drill and allow parents to opt-out of the lockdown drill. If you choose to opt out please contact your building principal or assistant principal directly.

If you have questions regarding these safety procedures, please do not hesitate to contact your principal, or assistant principal or me at any time. As always, our goal is to prepare and care for your child in every situation while at school.

Lockdown Drill Dates:

• 9/16 - Highland
• 9/17 - Adler
• 9/18 - Butterfield
• 9/19 - Rockland
• 9/20 - Copeland

We are excited to announce that our fall assessment information is available for families to view. Directions on how to access AIMSweb (grades K-1), STAR Reading and Math (grades 2-8) and IAR scores from the spring for current grades 4-8 are all available in the PowerSchool Parent Portal. Please view the directions for each assessment below:

Kindergarten and First Grade Only - AIMSweb Student Information

The kindergarten and first grade assessment data collected in August is available for you to view. Students are screened three times a year: fall, winter and spring.

The data collected this past fall is still available in the PowerSchool Parent Portal. Students will also be screened in January and May. Prior to viewing your child’s scores, we recommend reading an informative letter explaining AIMSwebPlus and how it is used. To view your child’s scores, please log into your PowerSchool Parent Portal. If this is your first time in the Parent Portal, please visit: D70 PowerSchool Parent Portal.

Once you have logged in to the portal, click on the PLS Vault Documents under the Navigation menu. Once on that page, please choose “Assessment” next to the folder drop-down menu to find your child’s AIMSweb reports. There will be a report for Early Literacy and Early Numeracy. Questions can be directed to your child’s classroom teacher, building principal or Dr. Kerri Bongle, assistant superintendent of teaching, learning and assessment.

Grades 2 - 8 Star information available for parents

Teachers assess student understanding, learning, and growth in a variety of informal and formal ways throughout the school year. D70 uses several assessments that are administered to help students, teachers, and parents better understand strengths and areas that can be targeted for improvement. Most recently, students in second through eighth grades took the STAR assessments in reading and math. We hope that these tools will give us more information about all our learners.

Please make sure you are using the correct PowerSchool link: https://d70schools.powerschool.com/public/home.html

Accessing STAR assessment scores:

1. Please log into your PowerSchool account and select your child.
2. Scroll to the bottom of this page and click on the link that says “View Star Test Results”.

Grades 4 - 8 Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) Student Information

If your child is currently in grades 4-8, their spring IAR data is also available in the PowerSchool Parent Portal. If this is your first time in the Parent Portal, please visit: D70 PowerSchool Parent Portal. Once you have logged in to the Portal, click on the PLS Vault Documents under the Navigation menu. Once on that page, please choose “Assessment” next to the folder drop-down menu to find your child’s IAR reports for ELA and Math.

The D70 Foundation for Excellence is thrilled to be starting its second year!

The Foundation is proud to serve as a partner in education to Adler Park, Butterfield, Copeland Manor, and Rockland elementary schools, as well as to Highland Middle School. The Foundation's mission is to raise funds and develop resources to support innovation and educational excellence in our schools by providing enriching, educational and cultural experiences that might not otherwise be available.

As a parent-run, non-profit organization, the Foundation relies on donations from families and community members. Please join the Foundation today by making a tax-deductible donation. Your contribution will directly fund programs like Foundation Teacher/Staff Grants which are awarded throughout the district's 5 campuses. This year's grant process will begin in October.

Every donation, no matter the size, helps us move closer to our goal of educational excellence!

Join us in making a difference—together, we can build a brighter future for all D70 students. To donate, click HERE.

Families Learning Together is a District 70 initiative to provide learning opportunities for our parents, staff, caregivers and community.

This year District 70 has partnered with FAN. FAN is an organization that curates a high-quality speaker series for local school districts and other government groups. These events are free for our families and staff to attend.

FAN Topic: Math Mind: The Simple Path to Loving Math

Presenters: Shalinee Sharma

Interviewer: Angela Duckworth, Ph.D.

Date: September 16th, 2024 at 7:00 pm

Location: Zoom Link: www.bit.ly/SharmaFANSponsor

Program Information:

Sharma is CEO and cofounder of Zearn, a nonprofit educational organization behind the top-rated math-learning platform used by one in four elementary school students and by one million middle-school students nationwide. Shalinee Sharma is driven by the belief that "every kid is a math kid." Sharma is a dynamo, and together with Angela, this will be a Big Night!!

FAN Topic: Above the Noise: My Story of Chasing Calm

Presenters: DeMar DeRozan

Interviewer: Hanif Abdurraqib

Date: September 17th, 2024 at 7:00 pm

Location: Zoom Link: www.bit.ly/DeRozanFANSponsor

Program Information:

DeRozan is a six-time NBA All-Star and two-time gold medalist for the United States Men’s Basketball Team. Recently traded to the Sacramento Kings after playing for the Chicago Bulls from 2021-2024. DeRozan's new memoir is a moving account of his life growing up in Compton, CA, and progressing through high school, college, and the NBA. In 2018, he went public about his struggle with depression and is an advocate for those who suffer from mental illness. As a result of his advocacy, the NBA created a new rule that each team must have a mental health professional on staff. We are beyond thrilled that Hanif Abdurraqib (FAN '21, '24) will join DeRozan for this event -- Hanif is a brilliant writer and a MacArthur grant recipient.

FAN Topic: Hope for Cynics: The Surprising Science of Human Goodness

Presenters: Jamil Zaki, Ph.D.

Interviewer: Robert Sapolsky, Ph.D.

Date: September 26th, 2024 at 7:00 pm

Location: Zoom Link: www.bit.ly/ZakiFANSponsor

Program Information:

Zaki (FAN '19) is a professor of psychology at Stanford University and director of the Stanford Social Neuroscience Laboratory. Zaki is dynamic, engaging, kind, funny, and knows his research. He will talk about his new book, Hope for Cynics: The Surprising Science of Human Goodness.

Lake County Treasurer Holly Kim invites you to participate in the Annual 6th-8th Grade Art Contest to showcase your talent and enter for a chance to win a prize!

We enjoyed the summer watching the world compete, inspire, and set new records. This year's theme is “Go, USA”! Children are encouraged to interpret the theme however they see fit and submit a drawing that reflects their own interpretation.

Rules:

• Student artists must live in Lake County, IL
• Artwork must be no larger than 11 inches high and 8.5 inches wide
• Each entry must be an original piece and may not violate U.S. copyright laws

Please have the student write their name, the school they attend, and contact information on the back (parent phone number or email address) and drop off all submissions at the Lake County Treasurer’s Office located at 18 N. County St., Room 102, Waukegan, IL, 60085.

The deadline is Nov. 22. If you have any questions, please email treasurer@LakeCountyIL.gov or

call at (847) 377-2323.

We are pleased to share information regarding the Illinois Flag Commission announcement for the design of a possible new state flag. The contest is open to all Illinois residents of all ages and backgrounds, from youngsters to senior citizens. Submissions are being accepted up to Oct. 18.

The commission will select 10 designs based on how they reflect the identity of Illinois and will host an online public survey for residents to vote on their favorites or to keep the current flag. Voting will begin Jan. 1 and last six weeks.

Some general guidance for submissions includes:

• Design elements can include natural features of the state, history and culture of the state.
• No limit on flag shape or ratio but designs may be edited by the commission.
• No limit on colors but recommended less than three colors for clarity of design.
• Participants can visit www.ilsos.gov and upload online or submit their design via mail addressed to Illinois Flag Commission, Howlett Building, Room 476, 501 S. Second St., Springfield, IL 62756.
• Participants are required to provide their first and last name, address, email address and phone number.
• Explain your relationship to Illinois and provide a description of their flag entry (each category limited to 500 characters).
• Images will need to be 5 MB or less and in PNG, GIF, or JPG format.
• There should be no watermarks or frames around the image.
• By submitting a design to the Commission, the designer is authorizing the Commission and the State of Illinois to take ownership of the design.
• Persons under 18 may submit designs if submitted in coordination with a parent/guardian, teacher or adult mentor.
• Designs cannot be copied from other designs or use existing logos or copyrighted materials; however, the design can include elements or reproductions of the State Seal or any prior Illinois State flag.
• Designs cannot be AI generated.
• Submissions are limited to three per person.
• Submissions from outside the United States, i.e. military bases, need to be made mail.

After public feedback, the commission will report its findings to the Illinois General Assembly, whose members will vote on whether to adopt a new flag or retain the current flag design. More information about the Flag Commission can be found online.

The Illinois Department of Transportation is resurfacing Park Avenue (Illinois Route 176), from Garfield Avenue/Brainerd Avenue east to Park Place, in Libertyville, and will require daytime and occasional overnight lane closures from about Sept. 9 through November.

The public can expect delays and should allow extra time for trips through this area. Drivers are urged to pay close attention to flaggers and signs in the work zones, obey the posted speed limits and be on the alert for workers and equipment.

Access to residences and businesses within the work zone will be maintained throughout construction.