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@D114Stanton
@D114Lotus
@FLGSD114
#District114proud
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Welcome to Madeline Espinosa (HR/Payroll Specialist) and Tim Douglas (Lotus Custodian)! Both start in D114 TODAY! Please be sure to make them feel welcome!
Kudos to Joan Kantenwein for planning the end of the year field day for the students. Thank you to Amber Mysliwiec for helping to plan some new and exciting games.
and
Thanks to Lynn Smolen who is always willing to step in and help out when needed.
-From Natalie Udstuen
Thank you David for getting the needed updates on the iPads so they were ready to go for our track meet scoring... I really appreciate your last minute help!
and
Thank you Betty Cwiak, Jill Becmer, Michele Burgess, Michelle Serini, Greer Lally, and Fred Miller for helping to time at the track meet Tuesday afternoon... your help to put on a great meet for the athletes is appreciated!
-From Melissa Williams
To Joseph Fernandez for directing a wonderful performance of Rikki Tikki Tavi through shadow puppetry.
and
Melissa Boyce for partnering with me and Sarah Groebe in reviewing our current ELL practices.
and
Matt Shannon for leading staff in learning in reading and writing.
and
Rachelle Peters for being Rachelle Peters!!
and
Fred Miller and the entire 5th grade team for a great job while Rich was out and to Rich Bressett for battling like a champion to get back to Stanton!
and
Barb Brown for bringing home the title of Grand Champion from the 4H IL Robotics Competition in Lake and McHenry County
and
The Mental Health and Math Teams for a great job in selecting our new and improved resources.
and
Karen Brnot and Liz Andersen and Beth Rendon for leading the NJHS and Student Council and providing so many service opportunities for our students.
-ALL from Jeff Sefcik
Thank you Greer Lally for helping out with the scholastic bowl team! You are a great Co-coach!
-Cathy Jawnyj
Thank you to Natalie Miller and Erin Connolly Jordt for all of your help and support with the Talent Show! It is definitely appreciated!
-From Maureen DeVoss
When you have a kudo to share for someone, please just email me and I'll include it here! The goal is to create system celebrations--so your input is truly welcome!
News from the Business Office
Seniority List
Just letting everyone know that I'm still working to get clarification on days for service credit as well as a review of every person's assignment in order to make sure years of service are accurately documented. There are issues with staff who first worked as paraprofessionals and then move to certified positions--specifically, only years worked in a certified role count toward certified seniority and vice versa.
Bottom line--lots of clean up needed. We're working to make sure that everything is 100% accurate by the end of the school year...and--once it's accurate--we'll be able to publish annually in accordance with the timeline in the contract (Feb. 1).
Thanks for your patience in this process.
Last Day of School--Repeat Info
In sincere hopes that we can now say there will be no more snow days, the last day of school for staff and students is May 24. This is an EARLY RELEASE day, but please note that all staff must "check out" before leaving for a well-deserved summer break! Please see your principals with any questions on that process.
Student Health Lists
Please note that student health condition lists are HIPPA protected and can only be shared on a need to know basis. Jessica Lanners and I are working to streamline this, but please don't be offended if you're not given all the information you may request--there are strict parameters around this. If you have questions, please see me.
Emergency Contacts
Please, please, please be sure your emergency contacts are updated (or completed at all) in Skyward. In three different instances this year, we have not been able to contact a family member in the time of a staff health issue. We'll make sure this is a part of the back to school process but I'd sure appreciate it if you'd update NOW. Thanks---it's truly to help make sure you are safe.
Staffing Plan Question
A great question was posed related to the staffing plan. Specifically, I had raised issues in the fall around positions being funded by grant dollars. The reason for this is that, in addition to the salary paid from the grant, the district was expected to pay an extra 40% of the salary from local dollars...and this had been our practice. With changes in legislation, the local dollar contribution is now down to 10%, which makes paying people via grants much more reasonable and fiscally sound. While I still don't like paying an overage, this allows us to use our vast grant funding to add to our programs and services...far more than we'd be able to using only the local funds generated by property taxes. If you want more info our would like to discuss, please let me know.
Please Be Sure...
You are not using District-paid software/apps/logins for personal family use. Many of these bill us for each user, so it's important to make sure that only D114 students are accessing our paid subscriptions.
INFINITEC MONTHLY NEWSLETTER FOR MAY & SUMMER 2018
CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT THE NEW ELC ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY WEBSITE!!! This newsletter will be posted there, as well as, cheat sheets for a variety of common assistive technology tools.
Infinitec is an Special Education and Assistive Technology Initiative that provides webinars, workshops, resources and other services to member districts. Their website not only includes a calendar of events of one day webinars and workshops, but also free archived webinars of a variety of topics for staff with any level of knowledge. Please contact Brandt Rosen (brosen@elced.org) for more information of what Infinitec has to offer.
VIEW FREE WEBINARS WHEN YOU SIGN UP FOR A FREE ACCOUNT:
Click here to register for a free account. For ELC member district staff and parents ONLY. When signing up, under "District/coop," be sure to type in the "Exceptional Learners' Collaborative." Please remember that if you sign up, one day webinars are archived for a certain amount of time following the time of the webinar, so it's good to sign up even though if you may not be able to attend the exact date and/or time of the webinar. You will be able to watch the webinar later. Please visit the MyInfinitec Online Classroom for archived webinars and earn CEUs.
WORKSHOPS/CONFERENCES:
FUN APPS, SOFTWARE OR RESOURCES:
- Group Buys Have Arrived for 2018!- Purchase technology at a discount through Infinitec Group Buy Program from Attainment Company, Cadan Assistive Tech, News2You, Mayer Johnson Boardmaker Online
Speech and Language Tips from Abbey
Check out this week's tips from Abbey! She came up with the fabulous idea of putting each week's ideas on a slide, then adding the slides so all the info is in one place...you can go back and look at any time!
Click here to see her amazing ideas! Updated today!
FACILITIES UPDATES
Don't forget...if you have a maintenance request, please use the work request link to share it. Our team will take care of it ASAP!
As we head toward the end of the year, please be sure that you let David/Mike know of technology issues you may be having. We're currently building next year's budget so if there are issues--we need to know. THANKS!
Education Association of Fox Lake News and Updates
The insurance committee will be meeting today, Monday, to continue to investigate insurance options for next year. The RIF committee will be meeting on Tuesday and the executive board is looking forward to meeting with Heather on Wednesday of this week. Thank you to everyone who serves on one (or more) of these committees for your service to the association and the district!
Thank you to everyone who voted in the April 19th executive board election and to Maureen DeVoss and Matt Shannon for running the election.
President: Melissa Williams 42/43
Vice President (Certified): Maureen DeVoss 43/43
Vice President (Non-certified): Chris Brown 43/43
Treasurer: Katy Gardner 43/43
Secretary: Betty Cwiak 43/43
Region Representative: Cathy Jawnyj 43/43
Lotus Building Representative: Tiffany Tardio 37/37
Stanton Building Representative: Kendra Wedl 37/37
New executive board members will take over on June 15th.
Melissa Williams, President
Maureen DeVoss, Vice President for Certified Staff
Chris Brown, Vice President for Non-Certified Staff
Katy Gardner, Treasurer
Betty Cwiak, Secretary
Barb Brown, Region Representative
Matt Shannon, Stanton School Representative
Tiffany Tardio, Lotus School Representative
Link to D114 Friday Facts Blog--ADDED 3/11/18
LINK to Strategic Planning Presentations/Documents--ADDED 2/25/18
LINK to Strategic Planning Presentations/Documents--ADDED 2/25/18
17-18 Payroll Schedule--UPDATED 10/22/17
Blue Cross Blue Shield:
Guardian:
Questions for thought as you read...
Take a look at this infographic...
Which facts surprise you?
Which facts motivate you?
May 2--Special Board of Education Meeting 7:00 PM--Limited scope of transportation planning for 2018-19
Week of May 7---STAFF APPRECIATION WEEK!
May 15--Regular Board of Education Meeting
Thanks for your kind words and TLC. My father in law had been sick, but we were shocked that he passed away so suddenly yesterday. I appreciate your care and concern more than you know.
Enjoy the sunshine!
Heather
