From District 41

Welcome to the 2023-2024 school year! I am excited to welcome back students this year as this will be my last “first day” of school in my career. I will be retiring at the end of this school year after over 35 years in education. It is bitter sweet as it has been my honor to lead this district since 2019. Throughout this year, I will continue, as I always have, with communicating with our families and keeping everyone in the know about what is happening in our schools and in the district. To start, this newsletter will provide information to help you prepare for the first day of school and beyond! We hope it is helpful information for our families prior to school starting.

I want to share that throughout this school year you will hear us talk a great deal about the importance of a sense of belonging. Helping all students feel that they belong is key to setting the stage for academic growth and success. They have to feel loved before they can learn. Our theme for this school year is “#WeAreD41 -Belonging is the heartbeat of inclusion.”

For those of you who have followed along with the work of the Strategic Plan, you will know that the district has been working through what exactly Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) means in D41. Where we have landed is that at its core, DEI in an elementary school district is about providing an environment where all students feel that they belong. Where barriers to growth and achievement are acknowledged and addressed. It is not at all simple and it captures exactly what our purpose is as a school district.

Experiencing Belonging
Knowing where and with whom you belong –is integral to human existence. Children belong first to a family, a cultural group, a neighborhood and a wider community. Belonging acknowledges children’s interdependence with others and the basis of relationships in defining identities. Belonging is central to being and becoming in that it shapes who children are and who they can become.

I would like to thank our Board of Education and this district for supporting my desire to land on a definition of DEI that reflects our purpose as an elementary educational organization. One that reflects the role that we play in the lives of children, families and within the community. One that brings people together and unites us around a goal that is attainable if we are all committed to it.

Please know that a sense of belonging is also crucial for all of the families that we serve. Parents play a pivotal role in partnering with schools and you cannot do this if you do not feel welcome, valued and respected when you are in our schools.

Thank you for your partnership and continued support of our district and, most importantly, of each and every student in our schools.

Dr. Melissa Kaczkowski

Superintendent

The Glen Ellyn School District 41 Board of Education will hold a Regular Meeting on Monday, August 14, 2023 at Hadley Junior High in the Library Media Center. The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. For Board Meeting agendas CLICK HERE. For Board Meeting stream archives CLICK HERE

• Elementary Teacher Assignments, Bus Info and Hadley Schedules Released in Skyward Family Access Monday, August 21. ** Registration Fees must be paid or payment arrangements made in order to receive this information.
  

• Elementary Meet & Greet Tuesday, August 22 (more details provided by the schools)

• First Day of Student Attendance for Grades K-8 Wednesday, August 23

• First Day of attendance for PreK/EC Monday, August 28

Check out the Official 2023-24 School Year Calendar:

- ENGLISH

- SPANISH

The first day of school is Wednesday, August 23, 2023. Preparing your child with the right supplies is a great first step to ensure student success. Find your school supply list below.

- Abraham Lincoln
- Ben Franklin
- Churchill
- Forest Glen
- Hadley Junior High

Children need healthy meals to learn. Glen Ellyn District 41 offers healthy meals every school day. Your children may qualify for free meals or for reduced price meals. To apply for free meals or a fee waiver, please complete the Household Eligibility Application. Clic para espanol. Submit your completed application to the Central Services Office or your school office. If you are unable to print the lunch application/fee waiver, please contact the District office or your school office.

Families who are currently receiving benefits from Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), Income Eligible Medicaid, or Foster child status do not need to complete an application and will receive notice of direct certification.

District 41’s food service partner Quest requires preorders for all elementary school lunches. The preordering process will allow Quest to better provide the accurate number of lunches to each school building. This process is required for all elementary students including families who have approved fee waivers.

Preorders must be completed by midnight the Thursday before the following week.

Preordering are taken through an app/website called MyMealOrder.com (MMO). In order to get started with MMO you must complete the following steps:

Step 1: Go to mymealorder.com to login Click here

Step 2: Click here for instructions on how to locate your student’s ID. You will need your child’s school ID number to set up myMealOrder.

Step 3: Place your order by midnight on Thursday night for the following week.

Click Here for step by step instructions and screenshots of the process to preorder. (clic para espanol)

For information about managing school lunch accounts (PushCoin) and payment of school fees CLICK HERE.

If you miss the preorder window and your child doesn’t have lunch from home, your child will be served a Sunbutter sandwich along with a snack and drink. The menus will be up in advance and families may preorder for more than one week at a time.

Please note, the above process is being used solely to collect lunch orders. The charges related to your orders will be automatically transferred to your PushCoin account and applied against your existing balance

The district will be conducting a literacy pilot that will take place this school year. The district will be piloting Into Reading and MyView at elementary. Both were highly rated by both EdReports and WIDA Prime. The district will be piloting Into Literature and Amplify ELA at Hadley Junior High School. Both were highly rated by EdReports. District Literacy Coaches have created a scope and sequence for the year that includes both pilots with a return to regular district curriculum at the end of the pilot. More information will be shared with parents whose students are participating in the pilot at Curriculum Night.

District 41 has used a math curriculum called Eureka Math for seven years. Great Minds, the company that publishes Eureka, has released an updated edition of Eureka, called Eureka Math2 (Eureka Squared). An elementary pilot of Eureka Squared was conducted last year and concluded at the end of February. Pilot teachers were asked to complete a rubric evaluating the curriculum and were also asked to provide a recommendation as to whether or not the district should move to Eureka Squared for the elementary math curriculum. 87% recommended that the district move to Eureka Squared beginning with the 23-24 school year.

While the changes aren’t significantly different, there are some key differences. We are excited to share that the district is offering a virtual parent information night with a representative from Eureka on August 21st from 6-7 p.m. The Eureka representative will provide an overview of the Eureka2 math curriculum as well as the various parent and home support resources that are available. There will also be time built in for questions. We are working with our translation partners to translate a recording of the presentation for our many multilingual families as well. We hope you can join us! Login information for the event is included below.

Eureka Math is looking forward to collaborating with D41 in organizing Math Family Night for the local district community and family members. By the end of this session, participants will:

• Learn an overview of the Eureka Math curriculum,

• Explore cohesive models within Eureka Math

• Engage in solving math problems

Please join the event

Topic: Glen Ellyn School District 41 /Great Minds Eureka Math 2 -Parent Meeting

Time: Aug 21, 2023, 06:00 PM Central Time

Join Zoom Meeting

https://greatminds.zoom.us/j/97944301342

Meeting ID: 979 4430 1342

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Email: webmaster@d41.org
Website: www.d41.org
Location: 793 North Main Street, Glen Ellyn, IL, USA
Phone: 630.790.6400
Facebook: facebook.com/glenellynd41
Twitter: @glenellynd41