District Digest

In this issue…

• Calendar Reminders
• Board of Education Meetings
• Registration for 2024-25 Now Open
• Educator of the Year Nominations

• Take the Illinois 5Essentials Survey

• "Social Media" Mental Health Webinar 2/13

• Parent Coaching Available

• Elementary Orchestra Program Awarded Grant
  

• Kindness Month at Abraham Lincoln

• Hadley Robotics Club News

• Glenbard Parent Series

• Friday, February 16 | SIP Day - 11:30 a.m. dismissal for 1st through 8th grade
  

• NOTE: PRE-K, EARLY CHILDHOOD and KINDERGARTEN STUDENTS DO NOT ATTEND SCHOOL ON SIP DAYS.
  

• Monday, February 19 | Presidents Day - No School

• Monday, February 12, 2024 Regular Meeting, 6:30 p.m., Hadley Jr. High School
  
• Monday, March 4, 2024 Committee of the Whole Meeting, Hadley Jr. High School; 6:30 PM
  

For Board Meeting agendas CLICK HERE. For Board Meeting stream archives CLICK HERE

Registration for incoming kindergarteners and current Pre-K to 7th grade students is now open.

Click here for information and registration.

D41 Educator of the Year Nominations

Nominations for the Glen Ellyn Chamber of Commerce Community Awards recognizing the exceptional contributions of the Glen Ellyn community during 2024 are now being accepted. Nominate your choice for the District 41 Educator of the Year! Nominations will be accepted through February 11. You do not need to submit a nomination for every category listed in the form. CLICK HERE to submit your nomination.

All parents are encouraged to participate in a brief survey to help District 41 gather valuable data to inform school improvement. The Illinois 5Essentials Parent Survey is administered annually by the Illinois State Board of Education. The survey is open now through March 29, 2024.

Click here to take the survey and choose “Parent Survey.” The deadline is March 29.

Each school needs at least 20 percent parent participation for a data report to be provided for the school. For more information about the survey, see below. Thank you in advance for your participation. Your feedback is very much appreciated!

For questions regarding the survey, please call Department of Wellness at (217) 782-5270 or email 5Essentials@isbe.net​.​​​​​​​​​

(NOTE: Spanish Webinar is February 7 at 6:30pm)
District 41 is offering twelve one-hour parent coaching webinars (in English and Spanish), referred to as the Mental Health Series. These are designed to support parents on topics such as anxiety, the effects of screen time and your child’s mental health, and suicide prevention. These are extremely valuable resources for families and participation will drive future decisions for the district.

The next webinar event "Social Media: Protecting Your Child" will take place on Tuesday, February 13, 2024 at 6:30pm
(NOTE: Spanish Webinar is February 7 at 6:30pm)

Register for the webinar here:
- IN ENGLISH (click for more details on this webinar)

- EN ESPANOL on Feb. 7 (clic para informacion)

Visit the D41 Mental Health Series website for previous webinar recordings HERE

February is the month focused on love and relationships. Join Parent Coaching to help nurture and strengthen your relationship with your children. Parent Coaching is a free resource that connects you with a parenting coach and content created by therapists.

Click here to register for on-going support from a coach.

The resources our district are offering to parents are through our partnership with ParentGuidance.org.

This school year, the 5th Grade Beginning Orchestra students, taught by D41's Elementary Orchestra teacher Rita Feuerborn, have been awarded an opportunity to participate in technique master classes that coincide with their instruction.

The 2023-24 Young People’s Music Initiative, as part of the DuPage Foundation's JCS Fund, has awarded a grant to provide the D41 Elementary Orchestra Program with a series of technique master classes to be taught by Joanne May throughout this school year.

Joanne May has presented on string pedagogy at conferences in the US, Wales, Spain, England, and online throughout the world. She has distinguished herself as a Rolland Pedagogy expert, having studied with Paul Rolland at the University of Illinois for 3 years and incorporating Rolland pedagogy into all areas of her 43-year teaching career. She taught for 10 years at Elmhurst University as chair of the string department and conductor of the Philharmonic, and prior to that at Glenbard East High School for 22 years. May has held positions as President of Illinois ASTA, National Chair of ASTA Student Committee, President of the Orchestra Div. for ILMEA, and NAfME National Chair of the Orchestra Council. She is author and composer of several books, including Skills, Scales and Tunes, Developing String Technique with Paul Rolland String Pedagogy, and has been awarded Illinois Music Educators Association Educator of the Year, Distinguished Service Award from the Illinois American String Teacher’s Association, and Teacher Recognition Award for the Presidential Scholar Program that was presented to her in Washington, D.C. by the U.S. Department of Education.

Rita Feuerborn expresses her heartfelt thanks to the DuPage Foundation for awarding this grant to the elementary orchestra program. "It's opportunities like these that inspire students to reach for the stars and do their very best. I am very grateful to the DuPage Foundation for awarding a grant that will open doors for my elementary beginning orchestra students not only this year, but also for many years to come," Mrs. Feuerborn said.

Abraham Lincoln School teachers will be sharing videos, books, and lessons about kindness while encouraging students to spread kindness across our school community throughout the month of February. Check out the kindness calendar below for some ideas to try at home.

Congratulations to Hadley Robotics on winning the Core Values Award at the Batavia Sectionals in the The FIRST LEGO League Challenge.

This Core Values Award is given to the team that displays extraordinary enthusiasm and spirit, knows they can accomplish more together than they could as individuals, and shows each other and other teams respect at all times.

Hadley Robotics has moved past two rounds of competition and will move on to the First LEGO League Challenge Illinois State Championship on Saturday, February 17th at Elgin Community College. As part of this competition, Hadley Robotics has launched an innovative platform exclusively accessible to District 41 members, enabling students to upload and share their music creations. This unique initiative provides a space for students to showcase their musical talents and connect with their peers through shared creativity. The students behind this project expressed their motivation, stating, "We wanted to help students in our school share music they record with other students. Our solution is a website that has MP3 files of music made by students for other students to listen to." This student-led endeavor not only fosters a sense of community and collaboration but also promotes artistic expression and appreciation within the school district.

Thank you to Coaches Sharon Ick (Churchill Elementary) and Audrey Sandacz (Hadley).

Stay up to date on the upcoming offerings from the Glenbard Parent Series HERE

Mark Perna
- Parents Don’t Know Everything: What Experts are Saying about the Future of College and Careers

- Tue, Feb 6 at Noon and 7:00pm

Click for more details

Dr. Lourdes Ferrer-Allen
- Un plan para el éxito en la escuela secundaria, la universidad y la carrera/A Blueprint for High School, College and Career Success
Virtual
- Thu, Feb 8 at 7:00pm

Click for more details

Email: webmaster@d41.org Website: www.d41.org
Location: 793 North Main Street, Glen Ellyn, IL, USA
Phone: 630.790.6400
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