School District 57

Dear District 57 Families,

With just a few weeks left of summer break, District 57 staff have begun gearing up for the start of the new 2023-2024 school year! Our incredible custodial and administrative staff have been hard at work readying each facility for the return of our amazing students and staff. 98.5% of our licensed staff have been hired for the new school year. The all-exciting Orchestra and Band camps are right around the corner. Calendars are filling up with New Family Night events, Staff Institute Day, Lincoln’s Walk the Schedule events, and more. I hope these next few weeks bring you the much-needed bonding and rest time you and your family need and deserve.

Last night’s Board Meeting was packed with important information about the direction and accomplishments of our District. You can view the meeting in its entirety here. Please find below a few highlights from the meeting:

New Strategic Plan Approved

The Board formally approved the new 2023-2028 Strategic Plan. This plan was developed with years of input and research, countless hours, and a wide variety of wisdom - it outlines an overarching vision for the district, “Inspiring every student, every day to reach their full potential,” as well as the following goals:

• Outstanding Student Experiences

• Staff Growth and Support

• Family and Community Partnerships

• Fiscal Stewardship and Facility Planning

Dr. Kristin Vonder Haar, Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning, and Mark Fijor, Director of Technology, detailed the progress of our District’s Portrait of a Graduate project, a 2-year process aimed at identifying the key skills and behaviors District Stakeholders have agreed to be essential for every single District 57 learner. In collaboration with students, teachers, parents/guardians, and community members, and informed by current pedagogy and research, the District 57 Portrait of a Graduate's target skills are Adaptable, Collaborative, Critical Thinker, Empathetic, and Resilient. Developing these skills within our students will be embedded within the goals and actions defined in our new 2023-2028 Strategic Plan. This fall, families will have opportunities to learn more about the Strategic Plan and Portrait of a Graduate and how we can partner together to ensure these visions for our future will become a reality over the next five years.

Tentative Budget Presented to the Board

Jason Kaiz, Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations, shared an unaudited review of the fiscal year budget for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023, as well as the 2023-2024 tentative budget. Under Kaiz’s leadership, the district was able to stay under budget for the 2022-2023 school year and move into the FY24 fiscal year with healthy reserves. The tentative 2023-2024 budget shows a surplus for the school year with the percentage of cost remaining similar to the 2022-2023 school year.

Full Day Kindergarten Legislation Update

Lastly, in May, House Bill 2396 - best known as the Full Day Kindergarten Bill - passed both the Illinois Senate and the Illinois House of Representatives. This bill requires Illinois public schools to offer full-day kindergarten to its residents by the 2027-2028 school year. The bill now sits with Governor JB Pritzker and is expected to be signed into law soon. Regarding the specific impact this bill will have on District 57: at this time, the Illinois government is not providing the district funding to implement this mandate. District 57 may be eligible for a 2-year extension to the timeline depending on pending unreleased details. While District 57 ideologically supports full-day kindergarten (and in fact, was moving in this direction independently), the complex reality of implementing the program in five years understandably raises some concerns. District 57 representatives have a meeting scheduled with Illinois Representative Mary Beth Canty - one of the House sponsors of the bill - to continue to advocate the needs of our district.

Thank you for taking the time to keep on top of all our district’s efforts.

In the spirit of education,

Dr. Mary Gorr, Superintendent

On May 1st, the district emailed registration codes to families to complete the 2023-2024 school year online registration. Registration is completed online using PowerSchool Registration. Families are encouraged to register early to receive an early-bird discount on registration fees through June 21st.

Families that did not receive an email should check their spam folders or email onlineregistration@d57.org for additional assistance. For more information about the registration process, you can visit the registration page on the D57 website.

Email: mgorr@d57.org
Website: https://www.d57.org/
Location: 701 West Gregory Street, Mount Prospect, IL, USA
Phone: 847-394-7300
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dist57/
Twitter: @dist57