JANUARY 2024
FAMILY NEWSLETTER
SUPERINTENDENT'S MESSAGE Dear CCSD21 Families and Community Members, Welcome back to District 21! I hope you had a wonderful and restful winter break. As this season is upon us, it is crucial to be prepared for the challenges that colder weather can bring. I wanted to take some time to inform you about our comprehensive winter weather procedures aimed at ensuring the safety of our students and staff and maintaining smooth operational processes during adverse weather conditions. As always, we try our best to predict what conditions are going to be both while coming to school and while going home. It is sometimes more clear cut than others, so we appreciate your understanding and your patience as we try to understand what weather conditions are going to be and try to make the best call that will be safest for everyone. We have several updates this month, more of which can be found both in the video below and throughout this newsletter. Some highlights for you all: ● ● ● ● ●
Unveiling the 2024-2025 academic calendar Announcing new student and kindergarten registration opening Feb. 1 Naming a new director of early childhood education Announcing our application for the fiscal 2024 property tax relief grant A monthly update from our school resource officers
As we start off this new year, I wish you success for any New Year’s resolutions that you and your family may have established. I also hope that you stay safe and warm, and obviously as we deal with inclement weather, we will keep in communication as much as we can so that we can all make effective decisions for student attendance. See you in February! Respectfully, Dr. Michael Connolly Superintendent of Schools Watch the full video message here: Message from the Superintendent – January 2024 IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER… ● ●
Monday, January 15 – No School; Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday Thursday, January 18 – Board of Education Meeting, 7 p.m.
BUSINESS OFFICE UPDATES ● Registration for students new to the district, including new incoming kindergarten students, will open on Feb. 1! A child whose fifth birthday falls on or before Sept. 1, 2024, is eligible to enroll in kindergarten for the 2024-2025 school year. Read more about that here. Micheal DeBartolo Assistant Superintendent for Finance & Operations/CSBO micheal.debartolo@ccsd21.org
Tel. 847-520-2707
● The 2024-2025 academic calendar is now available! Over the summer, the district will undertake significant construction projects aimed at enhancing our facilities. To ensure the successful completion of these projects, it became necessary to extend our summer break until Aug. 28. This extra time will give our construction teams the required time to finalize their work, ensuring each school is ready to welcome students in a safe and optimal manner. Follow this link to see the full list of dates. ● CCSD21 applies for fiscal 2024 property tax relief grant: The program gives school districts the chance to lower the property tax burden on local taxpayers with the state replacing a portion of abated tax revenue with state funds. Read more here. ● CCSD21 extends pupil transportation services agreement with First Student: The renewal for the 2024-2025 school year calls for a 7.5% increase over the 2023-2024 contract, which will primarily be allocated toward the starting salary increases for newer drivers based upon current market rates. Read more here.
● Schneider tours progress of student-based health center in CSCAO: The congressman helped secure $1 million in federal funds to construct the center, which is slated to open in April. See more from the visit here.
COMMUNICATIONS UPDATES ● ParentSquare has enabled Ukrainian translations for messages sent to parents! Going forward, any messages sent from the communications platform to a parent marked as needing Ukrainian will be automatically translated. If you need help configuring a specific language for your ParentSquare communications, please contact your school’s secretaries. Cassandra Young Director of Communications cassandra.young@ccsd21.org Tel. 847-520-2728
● Congratulations are in order for Arlen S. Gould, board member for CCSD21, who was recently nominated for the Arlington Heights Chamber of Commerce 2023 Community Leader of the Year Award! Gould will be recognized as a nominee during the chamber’s annual Gala and Awards Dinner on Friday, Jan. 26. ● Hawthorne Preschool Family Engagement Night has dual purpose: What preschoolers didn’t know was that the activities they participated in at Hawthorne’s Preschool Family Engagement Night in November 2023 was actually helping parents and educators recognize their growth. Read more here. ● Inspire Through Flowers donates 88 ‘Bouquets of Gratitude’ to Frost staff: The entryway of Frost Elementary School was a little more floral during the early afternoon of Thursday, Dec. 7, as 88 bouquets were wheeled in to distribute to all staff members to thank them for their hard work and dedication. Read more here. Happy New Year! (contributed by Sofia Horwitz, communications intern and senior at Buffalo Grove High School): I hope your break was filled with leisure and liveliness and that you were able to spend time with family and friends. Read more here. ● The CCSD21 Board of Education during its December meeting formally appointed Andy Steckling as our newest communications specialist! Andy, a product of CCSD21 himself, has been helping the district in a freelance capacity since January, but now joins the district full-time as we expand our communications department to tell the many stories within the district. Let’s give him a warm welcome!
EQUITY & LEARNING UPDATES ● There is still time to apply to Congressman Brad Schneider’s Bookworms Challenge! All signed permission slips, completed log sheets and bookmark contest entries are due to the congressman’s district office on Jan. 15. More information can be found here. Beatrice Reyes Childress Assistant Superintendent for Equity & Learning beatrice.childress@ccsd21.org Tel. 847-520-2743
● CCSD21 to receive nearly $5K from state for libraries: The funds will be split between the district’s 12 library and media centers. Over the years, the grant money has made it possible for each school’s library media and enrichment specialists to purchase print and nonprint materials for students that go above and beyond their school’s annual library budget. Read more here. ● CCSD21 middle schoolers total nearly 2,000 books read during first trimester as part of reading initiative: The homeroom at each grade level to read the most books received a donut party from OrganicLife. Read more here. ● Big Brothers and Big Sisters facilitates mentorship program with students: Several students work hand-in-hand with several Discover Card employees at the latter’s corporate headquarters, partnerships put together and sponsored by the Big Brothers and Big Sisters organization. Read more here. ● A reminder on the district’s distance learning snow/emergency days ● MAP Growth Progress Reports: At the end of December, your student’s MAP Growth Progress Report was sent home via ParentSquare for students in grades 2-8. The report is a summary of how your child is performing academically, as measured by the most recent MAP Growth test your child has taken. These tests and scores help teachers check student performance by measuring achievement and growth. Read more about that here.
EQUITY & LEARNING UPDATES (CONT.)
Let’s Celebrate! Did You Know… As a district we are proud to celebrate the diversity of our learning community! Some of the celebrations taking place during the month of January include: New Year’s Day, Epiphany/Three Kings Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Holocaust Remembrance Day. If you’d like to learn more, click on the links! If there is a celebration that we missed, don’t hesitate to reach out and share it with our Language Services Department. Looking for Winter Break Reading FUN? Join Us at The Indian Trails Library: The Indian Trails Library has many events and workshops for students and their families during the month of October. Check out the calendar of events for specific activities and times this month.
HUMAN RESOURCES UPDATES ● CCSD21 promotes Melissa Scaletta to director of early childhood education: The board on Dec. 14, 2023, voted unanimously in favor of naming Scaletta to the role, effective July 1. Read more here.
Robert Gurney Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources robert.gurney@ccsd21.org Tel. 847-520-2724
Becoming a Substitute in District 21: We had some wonderful new sub candidates that applied to work with us this past spring and throughout the summer. Many of these subs are from our community! We’re excited for these additions to our sub group but we’re not done yet. We are continuing to hire subs each month. Please let your neighbors and friends know that we are still hiring throughout the school year. Whether you want to help us out one day a week or every single day, the choice is yours. Apply here. We still have openings in our sub pool for the following positions: ● Secretary - $100/day ● Health Assistant - $100/day ● Teaching Assistant - $125/day ● Teacher - $137/day ● Long term teacher (more than 10 days in the same classroom) - $220/day In addition, any subs who work 100 days this year will receive a $1,000 bonus at the end of the year. ● ●
How to Apply for a Short-term Substitute License How to Apply for a Short-term Substitute License
INFORMATION SERVICES UPDATES Student Chromebook Tips: With the increased reliance on technology and Chromebooks for everyday learning, it’s crucial that devices are in good working condition at all times. We’ve put together a quick guide to help students and parents resolve common Chromebook issues should you experience basic issues at home. Check out all our tips here!
Mike Frantini Chief Technology Officer mike.frantini@ccsd21.org Tel. 847-520-2732
Cybersecurity Audit and Improvements: We’re always working to make CCSD21 technology as straightforward and dependable as possible, so our staff can dedicate more time and energy to students and learning. At the same time, we strive to improve our cybersecurity strength, protecting the privacy of the sensitive student and parent data that is entrusted with us. It’s a constant focus to protect students, parents, the community and the district against the ever-evolving cyber threat landscape. Read more about our cybersecurity audit here. ●
Student Technology Activity Examples: Below are examples of some fun and important technology learning activities that have taken place recently across the district in collaboration with the Information Services team: ○
Merge Cubes in Mrs. Raube’s class at Frost Elementary School
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VR Expeditions in Ms. Amaro’s class at Whitman Elementary School
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Middle School Digital Citizenship Talks
SUPPORT SERVICES & SCHOOL SAFETY UPDATES ● Partner Spotlight – OMNI
Kim Cline Assistant Superintendent for Support Svcs. & School Safety kim.clilne@ccsd21.org Tel. 847-520-2717
● Medicaid Redetermination Information: Medicaid renewals, also known as “redeterminations,” are once again required annually. Just like pre-pandemic procedures, Medicaid customers will receive a renewal form in the mail that they must complete and return by the deadline to continue to receive Medicaid coverage. Your renewal date may differ depending on when you were enrolled. To assist you, the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services created this messaging flyer. ○ English ○ Spanish ● A Message from the School Resource Officers: “Curfew” – As your friendly school resource officers, we wanted to send a reminder about curfew, although with Jack Frost in the air, this might not be a concern after all. Read more here. ● A positive youth development approach to school safety: Researchers developed a comprehensive model of school safety to describe the multiple pathways that contribute to school safety and positive youth development. Read more about that here. ● On Dec. 11, 2023, CCSD21 hosted a “Safe Families” event that gave attendees a chance to learn from the Be SMART organization about safe gun storage, as well as meet two of our SROs. See more from that event here. ● OMNI will host a new round of SPARCS (Structured Psychotherapy for Adolescents Responding to Chronic Stress), a therapy group for teens who have experienced trauma or chronic stress/anxiety, in its Wheeling office later this month. It is free for all youth ages 12-18. Here are flyers with more information: ○ English ○ Spanish
BOARD OF EDUCATION December 14, 2023 Board Meeting The livestream video of the December 14 Board of Education meeting can be viewed here.
Next Meeting The next regularly scheduled Board of Education meeting of Community Consolidated School District 21, Wheeling, Cook County, IL, will be held on January 18, 2024 at 7 p.m. at the CCSD21 Community Service Center and Administrative Office, 959 W. Dundee Rd., Wheeling IL, 60090.
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COMMUNITY CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICT 21 959 W. Dundee Road Wheeling, IL 60090 Tel. (847) 537-8270 www.ccsd21.org
Empowering Every Student, Every Day