We all know District 30 is incredibly special. It's a lesson I quickly learned when I arrived this past fall as the district's new superintendent.

During these last nine months I also learned that we are not a district that rests on our laurels. Instead, we seek to continually improve the experiences of our students and the environments in which they learn and grow. This is why a group of more than 60 students, teachers and staff, parents, administrators and community members volunteered to be a part of the Strategic Plan team that would build a roadmap to guide District 30's improvement over the next five years.

After many months of research, collaboration, and thought – and with lots of feedback from our community every step of the way – that plan is now developed with a key focus on caring for the whole child. Please read on to learn more, as presented to the Board of Education during Thursday's meeting. The Board is slated to vote on the plan June 6.

The meeting also included some wonderful celebrations of our students and volunteers, and reports on academic initiatives. Both are just more evidence of why District 30 is so special.

Thank you to all who contributed to the plan in any form. Once adopted in June, I can't wait to roll up my sleeves along with the entire District 30 community and get to work on enhancing the learning and care we provide for our students. Have a wonderful summer!

Sincerely,

Dr. Emily K. Tammaru

Superintendent of Schools

Superintendent Dr. Emily K. Tammaru was joined by fellow members of the District 30 Strategic Plan Team – Maple Student Andrew Novak, Maple Teacher Mrs. Jackie Ruf and Maple parent Shreyas Shah – to present details of the plan. Click below to watch their full presentation.

Dr. Tammaru said Coach Eric DeMattia, who could not attend the meeting, shared in advance that he was extremely proud of our Maple wrestling cohort.

The team placed second at regionals, fourth at sectionals, and 12th overall in the state of Illinois. The cohort also had seven state qualifiers and three placers: Bryce at second, Lucas at fourth, and Roman at sixth.

Dr. Tammaru and Board Member Mrs. Pamela Manicioto recognized the young team's progress in the past two years and congratulated them on their outstanding accomplishments. Cohort members are: Eli Brown, Silas Diazdeleon, Lucas Goldman, Bryce Kopinski, Roman Ocampo, Mateo Odiotti and Michael Uhler.

Dr. Tammaru reported that a record number of students tried out for the teams this past fall and twice-a-week practices for the Science Bowl began shortly after.

In January, the teams competed at the 2024 Argonne National Lab Regional Science Bowl in a virtual day-long event. Each of the two teams battled in eight different rounds. Ultimately, Maple took 4th place (Challenger Team) and 5th place (Competition Team) for our whole Midwest region.

The teams then switched gears to work on the next competition, the 2024 Argonne National Lab Regional Electric Car Competition (ECC). For this, two Maple science teams met twice a week or more to design and built their unique electric cars.

Maple teams won 4th and 5th place regionally in the design competition and 9th and 11th place regionally in the actual race times. Dr. Tammaru and Board Member Mrs. Zivit Blonder recognized all of the competitors and team leader Ms. Robin Dombeck:

Competition Team: Tyler Fang, Sophie Hou, Adeline Tan, Evan Webb and Randy Yang

Challenger Team: Danyal Ali, Henry Gillis, Pavel Matokhin, Michelle Tan and Hansi Zhu

Managers Finn Deloy, Aidan Barry, Grant Lien, Gita Pandya and Jennifer Tan

Dr. Tammaru shared that this year's members of the Maple School Math Competition Team were selected from a pool of over 40 talented students. They were Sophie Hou, Ava Lee, Alvin Fang, and Jennifer Tan.

Their journey culminated in a historic victory at the MathCounts Chapter (Regional) competition, marking the first time in Maple history that the school's team has claimed the coveted first-place trophy at the chapter level. This performance also qualified them to compete at state.

Additionally, the three 8th grade members had the opportunity to compete in the annual Glenbrook Township Junior High Math Competition on April 24 and all three were among the top 10 individuals, with Ava Lee placing 1st overall.

Dr. Tammaru and Board Vice President Mr. Ammar Rizki recognized their extraordinary accomplishments, as well as their faculty leaders, Mrs. Sarah Arends and Ms. Cora Byrne. Congratulations!

Dr. Tammaru and the principal teams from Wescott, Willowbrook and Maple honored the PTO co-presidents from all three schools: Wescott PTO president Lisa Fishbain; Willowbrook PTO co-presidents Rosalyn Mokhtarian and Eva Sandoval; Maple PTO co-presidents Danielle Pollack; and Anna Matuszewska; and KAPPO co-chairs Jaeeun Park and Nari Woo.

Dr. Carlson, Dr. Brown and Dr. Kurtz each shared heartfelt words on how much they value the collaboration and support of these leaders, and how much their work enhances our schools. Thank you!

Dr. Tammaru and Board President Mr. Jeff Zuercher recognized the 62 members of the Strategic Plan Team who collaborated since January to develop this comprehensive plan to guide District 30 through 2029.

The group attended several virtual meetings, several day-long workshops, and reviewed much homework material in order to develop the plan that includes the District 30 Mission, Vision and Values; Portraits of a Student, Adult and School System that detail characteristics each should possess; and Strategic Goals and supporting tactics.

Thank you to this dedicated group of students, teachers, staff, administrators and community members for their incredible work!

Maple Principal Dr. Sam Kurtz and Assistant Principal Ms. Angela Jaeger discussed progress achieved during the 2023-24 academic year. Click below to review the report:

Maple Library Media Specialist Mrs. Jamie Holmer discussed the Maple School Summer Reading Program, this year themed the "Summer Reading Spectacular" and boasting "the greatest books on Earth."

Mrs. Holmer reported the program is open to all Maple students, including incoming 6th-graders who received outreach visits this past week. The program aims to engage students in reading and literacy year-round. It also places an emphasis on helping students self-select their titles, with the library curating a collection 50 books with a variety of genres, text formats to help build community of readers among staff and students, she said.

The program culminates with a fall celebration, which aims to connect students and teachers who participated in the program and allow them to share their feedback on the titles they read and spark interest in new titles from peer to peer.

Mrs. Holmer added that both students and parents will receive electronic communications about the program and how to participate. Details are also available by clicking the button below.

Superintendent Dr. Emily Tammaru shared reports on the following key topics:

Teacher Appreciation Week: Dr. Tammaru recapped the events of Teacher Appreciation Week May 6-12 that honored the hard work and dedication of our educators through lunches, notes of appreciation, snack carts and more. "I know the Board and administration appreciates our staff year-round, not just during this week," Dr. Tammaru said. "We would not be the great district we are without them." She shared additional recognition with the PTOs for the tremendous efforts they put into recognizing our teachers with special experiences and gifts as well.

Lew Blond Run: Dr. Tammaru highlighted the 23rd Annual Lew Blond Memorial Run/Walk happening at 8 .m. Saturday, May 18, at Maple School, honoring the work of the volunteers and participants who support this special event that benefits the Les Turner ALS Foundation in memory of former Maple Applied Arts Teacher Lew Blond; scholarships for District 30 alumni pursuing careers in the applied arts; and special District 30 projects. She thanked the committee that organizes the race, including the Board of Directors: Principal Samuel Kurtz (President); Michelle Rosen (Treasurer); Angela Jaeger (Secretary) and Greg Itahara (Race Director). She added special thank-yous as well to Nancy Lifshitz who helps in the planning; and Beth Mistretta who assists with the communications and publicity.

Enrollment and staffing: District 30 enrollment for 2024-25 has reached nearly 60 percent of students registered, and Dr. Tammaru encouraged families who have not registered to do so as soon as possible, in order to ensure optimal staffing for each school.

Board Members Mrs. Zivit Blonder and Mrs. Pamela Manicioto shared a recap of the Strategic Plan Team's May 7 virtual meeting, where the group completed a final review of the plan language. Mrs. Manicioto noted that only small wording changes were made to best reflect the intent of the plan and all members were in agreement. Mrs. Blonder added that it was heartening throughout the Strategic Plan process to see how many community members were willing to give their time and energy for the sake of our community's future.

Board Vice President Mr. Ammar Rizki reported on last week's TrueNorth board meeting, which included recognitions. Among those recognitions were several local employers who had partnered with TrueNorth to provide vocational training and job opportunities to students.

Board members completed their first read on PRESS (Policy Reference Education Subscription Service) 114 updates and took no action. Many of the changes within the policies were not substantive. Minor changes include updates to the Title IX policy to align with legislative changes. The Board is slated to take final action during the June 6 regular meeting.

The Board of Education consists of seven members elected from the general public to serve the entire Northbrook/Glenview School District 30 Community. The Board provides governance for the district by hiring and evaluating the superintendent and approving a budget, policies, and goals that align with the district's strategic plan. Board members are:

• President -Jeff Zuercher
  
• Vice President - Ammar Rizki
• Zivit Blonder
  
• Keith Karchmar
• Pamela Manicioto
  
• Patrick Wang
• Dr. Stephanie Yohannan

Northbrook/Glenview District 30 exists to create a community that craves learning, fosters resiliency, and cares deeply for every student. District 30 serves more than 1,200 students in pre-K through 8th grade across Willowbrook, Wescott and Maple Schools.

Email: communications@district30.org
Website: district30.org
Location: 2374 Shermer Road, Northbrook, IL, USA
Phone: 847-498-4190