Elmhurst District 205 Community Connections Newsletter - 1st Edition

COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS

ELMHURST COMMUNITY UNIT SCHOOL DISTRICT 205 SUMMER EDITION

MESSAGE FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT amazing learning opportunity.

I look forward to seeing you all at the open house of our NEW Lincoln Elementary this fall and can’t wait to see the progress as the construction of Field Elementary continues.

Welcome to our NEW Community Connections Newsletter! In addition to the new communications tool, ParentSquare, this is a new opportunity to connect with our entire community.

The summer programming that was held in our schools created such a great opportunity to provide a fun and interactive learning environment for our students. Approximately 20% of our community took part in this program and I’m not sure if it was our teachers or students that enjoyed it more!

We have a lot to be proud of in our schools, and I’m so proud to say our electives are nothing short of spectacular. Our Project Lead the Way students at Churchville Middle School had an amazing opportunity to meet a real life astronaut from NASA and they were over the moon about this

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Our staff have been working hard all summer to make sure that we are ready to welcome the students back into the schools. We are looking forward to another amazing year in District 205 and can’t wait to share it with all of you.

As we enter our new school year, we are excited to begin implementing two new curriculums around ELA that were chosen based on data and research-based best practices. Building on currrent practices and moving toward a rigorous, integrated approach to reading and writing will challenge all students and elevate learning outcomes.

We look forward to seeing everyone back this next school year.

Sincerely,

Dr. Keisha Campbell

PARENTSQUARE LAUNCHED IN D205 ParentSquare is an easy-to-use communication tool that combines multiple communication streams into one easy-to-use interface for families and staff. This year, District 205 has transitioned from the previous notification system, School Messenger, to the much more robust communication platform, ParentSquare.

If you would like to simply continue receiving messages in your email, as you always have, you do not need to do anything at all. Messages from your school and the District will continue to be sent to you via your email. If you would like to dive further into the communications tool, dictate when and how you receive your communications and other features, you can do so by downloading the ParentSquare app (available for free for iOS and Android devices) and customizing your communications to best meet your needs.

Message From Superintendent Dr. Keisha Campbell ..........................01 ParentSquare Launched in D205 .........................................................01 Students Learn to Lego This Summer...................................................02 Students Receive Out of This World Education...................................02 Groundbreaking Updates from D205 ..................................................03 Investing in Our Students..................... ...............................................03 Meet Your New School Leaders ..........................................................04

STUDENTS LEARN TO LEGO THIS SUMMER

Approximately 20 percent of our student population participated in summer programming

By Kate Sampson

I

ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE

n District 205, learning never stops… even during the summertime! Summer programming, either through exploratory classes or Extended School Year (ESY), is a vital resource for District 205 students. This summer, around 20 percent of Elmhurst District 205’s student population participated in summer programming.

get the hang of the materials and coding platform. Then, students created their own designs, got feedback from their peers, and iterated new prototypes to get rid of the bugs. We’ve been surprised

One of the most popular courses this summer was the LEGO program, which attracted over 300 students.

The program focused on play being a central part of handson learning, not just for the youngest learners, but for students through eighth grade.

“Our summer school students stayed busy designing, building, and programming carnival rides and games, cars, boats, alarms, lightsensing homes, and more!” said Dave Beedy, Director of STEM Education. “Initially, they followed a pre-made design to

at how much students are learning and creating using these bricks.”

Meanwhile, students in

STUDENTS RECEIVE AN OUT OF THIS WORLD EDUCATION

By Tonya Daniels

S

tudents that attend District 205 schools don’t just receive an education, they create memories that will last a lifetime and, possibly, change the life of a student.

At Churchville Middle School, the Project Lead the Way classes provide students an opportunity to really make a difference and give back to the community.

Launched in 2017, Project Lead the Way was created with a mission to empower students to thrive in an evolving world. The program provides

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the dual language program continued to hone their bilingual skills in dual language classes. Native English speakers participated in an oracy class to practice their Spanish listening and speaking skills, while native Spanish speakers practiced their literacy skills through a program funded by Foundation 205.

“Summer school allowed students to not only develop new friendships with students across the district, but also explore their creativity through collaboration and hands-on learning,” one teacher said.

We are so grateful for the investment of our community that allows District 205 to provide learning throughout the summer. Around 700 students were transported to their summer classes by District 205’s contracted bus companies, First Student and Cottage Hill. Many of the programs were offered at low or no cost to families thanks to federal funds, such as ESSER and IDEA grants. Many District 205 staff members volunteered to work during the summer, teaching at different schools or with different grade levels than they do during the school year.

an opportunity to build knowledge and skills in computer science, engineering, and also promote skill development in problem-solving, critical and creative thinking, communication, collaboration, and perseverance.

Peter Richey, Project Lead the Way teacher at Churchville Middle School, is always looking for opportunities to make a difference and elevate the learning experience for his students, and this year he really reached for the stars.

After working on a project where students worked through six missions to journey to Mars and begin their return, students had a special visitor at the school. Mr. Joseph Pelfrey, the Deputy Director of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama made a special trip to Elmhurst, Illinois to visit the students at Churchville. While at the school, he provided presentations to the students about NASA, and students then had an opportunity to ask Mr. Pelfrey questions.

“Mr. Pelfrey and I have been working together for the past three school years and began the conversation of him coming to Churchville in 2020, before the pandemic hit. He has been incredibly supportive and connected

our students with many other NASA employees in a variety of fields,” shared Peter. “We are so fortunate that he would take time away from the Space Center and his family to join us! It was an amazing experience for our students!”

Programs like this are what help to create the dreams and inspiration for students to shoot for the stars throughout their life.

GROUNDBREAKING UPDATES FROM D205

For more information on building upgrades, visit www.elmhurst205.org/build205

Jo i n u Li nc o ln s at t h e Ele R i bb o n me n t a r y Cu t t in g Au g us t 16, 2 022 3:30P M-5 PM

By Kate Sampson

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COMMUNITY IMPACT

lmhurst District 205 is excited to deliver the next promise following the passage of the November 2018 referendum: a brand new Field Elementary School.

The $168.5 million bond effort included a rebuilt Lincoln Elementary and Field Elementary, the district’s two oldest buildings, as well as safety and security upgrades and building improvements made to the remaining 12 school sites in the district.

Ribbon cuttings for Edison Elementary, Emerson Elementary and the new Bridges Transition Center were held late 2021, and the buildings were opened to the community to see the updated facilities.

“We have taken time this past year to honor the past and have worked to provide closure for our Field school community with a mindful goodbye that values and acknowledges the memories we hold,” said Heidi Thomas, Principal of Field Elementary School. “The groundbreaking was a special event with the involvement of not only leaders of our district, and our building partners, but it included representatives of our most important stakeholders, our students! The groundbreaking ceremony symbolizes the beginning of an exciting project that will culminate in a new Field building that will allow for flexibility and creativity in the use of our Field space to

INVESTING IN OUR STUDENTS Using data to drive student success

By Tonya Daniels

D

istrict 205 is proud to be a high performing district with a strong retention of quality teachers. Our teachers know the importance of always looking at what is next and thinking about new and innovative ways to elevate instructional outcomes and student success. This forwardthinking led District leaders to perform an audit of their English Language Arts (ELA) curriculum, current practices and materials - alongside data and researched-based best practices.

The audit, completed in partnership with teachers, coaches, principals, assistant principals and other district employees, in addition to a steering committee, helped identify what was important for the students to garner optimum results in ELA. The outcome of the audit showed opportunities to rethink the areas of written expression and language conventions

for students. Working with students to not only elevate their writing, but also to write about what they are reading. In turn, integrating the two areas together to increase success in both areas.

“students acquire vocabular y up to four times faster” With this in mind, the team looked at the curriculum that was in place from early childhood through fifth grade and, following extensive research and review, invested in two new curriculum programs for the 2022-2023 school year. The purchase of these two new programs, Wit and Wisdom and Fundations, will be building on current practices, while moving towards this integrated approach where students are not only learning to read

enhance the learning for our students.”

The new Lincoln Elementary broke ground in June 2021, and is on track to open to students and staff for the 2022-23 school year. Some of the building’s features include colorful Learning Stairs that serve as a communal space for students and staff, a MakerSpace for STEM learning, grade level “neighborhoods”, each inspired by an area of Elmhurst, outdoor learning spaces and a gymnasium that doubles as a storm shelter.

“For the amount of work we’ve done over the last four years, we’re on schedule for every project,” said Todd Schmidt, Director of Buildings and and learning to write, but also reading to learn and writing to learn.

“This new curriculum will provide students with opportunities to deepen their knowledge of contentrich topics and then write, authentically, about what they have learned,” said Katie Lyons, Executive Director of Elementary Education.

“Research into vocabulary acquisition shows that students acquire vocabulary up to four times faster when they read a series of related texts and reading a number of texts within a topic grows knowledge and vocabulary far faster than any other approach.”

York High School has been a model for this integrated approach through their humanities project that supports English and social studies integration. Students are given multiple text sets on a topic that in turn deepen a student’s knowledge of that topic, as well as grow their vocabulary around that topic.

Coursework at York has been designed to create pathways to AP and ultimately to college,

Grounds. “Every building is getting upgraded in some way, and we’re excited to deliver on the promises we made to the voters of Elmhurst almost four years ago when they said yes to the referendum.”

The addition of several classrooms at Fischer, Jackson and Jefferson Elementaries is expected to be completed in early Fall 2022. Future projects will include a complete renovation of Madison Early Childhood Center, improvements to the York High School auditorium and interior upgrades to all three middle schools.

as they utilize an anchor novel in English to expand a student’s ability to look at larger groupings of text sets in social studies and successfully synthesize, in writing, an argument.

Not only do students learn in District 205, so do the teachers. The success of any program depends deeply on the level of partnership and development opportunities for the teachers that are teaching the coursework.

These new curricula will also provide a standard base that will be used to support teacher development and measure impact through the common assessments in ELA and writing across kindergarten through fifth grade. Elmhurst District 205 invests in the development of their leaders to ensure successful teachers, which supports the development of successful students.

District 205 doesn’t plan to stop innovating and is looking forward to continuing this process to make sure we are continuing our tradition of being a high-performing District.

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Meet Your New School Leaders

Help us give a warm welcome to the new Principal of Jefferson Elementary, Lori Sweeney, the new Assistant Principal at Edison and Field Elementary Schools, Elizabeth McDonald, and the new Assistant Principal at Lincoln and Emerson Elementary Schools, Jessica Chmura.

Lori Sweeney,

Elizabeth McDonald,

Jessica Chmura,

Principal of Jefferson

Assistant Principal,

Assistant Principal,

Elementary

Edison & Field

Lincoln & Emerson

BOARD OF EDUCATION Members serving our community

boardofeducation@elmhurst205.org

COURTENAE TRAUTMANN, SECRETARY Committee: Policy Committee Chair, D205 Safety Committee

JIM COLLINS Committee: Finance Committee Chair

KARA CAFORIO, PRESIDENT Committee: Policy Committee

BETH HOSLER Committee: Policy Committee

CHRISTOPHER KOCINSKI, VICE PRESIDENT

KAREN STUEFEN Committee: Finance Committee, D205 Tech Committee

ATHENA ARVANITIS Committee: Finance Committee

POSTAGE INFO PERMIT # 197

current resident

162 S. York Street Elmhurst, IL 60126 | (630) 834-4530 | www.elmhurst205org | info@elmhurst205.org