Sunday, January 27, 2019

I'm feeling a lot like Tom Skilling...

Please trust that I’ll keep everyone informed as/if weather 
decisions are made tonight...and for the rest of the week!





Kudos to Matt Peters for winning not only the School Category but also Overall Champ at the Chili 
Cook Off!!!!

Thanks to Sam R. for letting us come in a watch a math lesson in your room and having a reflection 
with us afterwards.  It is so helpful to see what previous experience they have.
- From The First Grade Team


Kudos to Matt Shannon for clearing off tons of vehicles after the ice & snow yesterday (Tuesday, Jan 22).  Thank you!
-From Dan Olsen


Shout out to Samantha Rusciolelli and Brittany Mason for spending their own time finishing enter 
students' names into AIMSweb Progress Monitoring. It was such a blessing to come back from 
another meeting and find out it was finished!!
-From Sami Harshaw


Norm and Donnie for their hard work getting the school ready after the snow.
To all the Stanton Staff for battling the elements and giving our kids
💯
-From Jeff Sefcik


Kudos to Michele Burgess who is ALWAYS on top of any new CICO kids in regards to sending out 
letters and adding them to our master spreadsheet.  Her attention to detail makes Tier 2 run smoothly.
and
Kudos to Kathleen Winkiel for her outstanding commitment and dedication to our 6th grade student.  
Her approach is a true example of ALL IN.
-From Keli Swierczek


Thanks to Connie Lancaster, Valerie Soderstrom, Thomas Preston, LIz Andersen, and Gizelle Wells 
for sharing CFAs with me. The teachers in Dallas learned A LOT from seeing your examples!
and
To our amazing bus team for safely getting kids to school all last week---it was really trying weather, 
and we counted on you! Thanks especially to Becky and Bob for coming in so early on Friday to start 
the buses and vans!
and
To Jeff, Matt, Natalie, and Rachelle for all your help at the Chili Cook Off so I could be a mom on 
Saturday--made it to Braden’s basketball games AND Katie’s first Winter Guard exhibition of the year. 
I really appreciate your help!
-From Heather


Thank you to Natalie Miller for organizing and coordinating a fun and educational field trip for our 
second graders!  We are all so excited!
-From Mo, Emily and Sue


To Stanton’s open gym volunteers.....
Mr. Wasilewski - Dungeon Master
Karen Brnot and Laura Livesay - Artisits in Residence
Mrs. and Mr. Martin - Volleyball Coaches
Thomas Preston - joined basketball with his son Drew
Another great Sunday morning!!  Last one is Feb 10!
-From Jeff Sefcik

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!


 
Business Office Updates
SENIORITY LISTS
The 2018-19 Seniority Lists are posted in each building lounge, and I’ve attached to this week’s email. 
Please take a look and let Maddie Espinoza or me know if you have questions.


CALENDAR UPDATE
Also attached to this week’s email is the new proposed calendar, moving Spring Break a week earlier. 
This will go to the Board for approval at the February meeting--I anticipate no issues with approval.


Curriculum Updates
Math


PIZZA PARTY CHALLENGE---pizza for all staff when we reach 80% of students meeting the 45 
minute goal!


SEL


Free Workshop: Building Resilient Students
Certified and support staff are both encouraged to attend!
February 6, 4:30 – 7:30 pm; Dinner and Registration, 4:00 – 4:30
Libertyville I.E.A. Office; 1860 W. Winchester Road, #202; Libertyville, IL 60048
Space is limited so be sure to RSVP soon if you are interested in attending!
CPDU's are available!


New Awesome IEA Podcast:


Don't forget about FREE professional development offered by the IEA!
Click HERE to see what is available!




Melissa Jakstas, President
Maureen DeVoss, Vice President for Certified Staff
Chris Brown, Vice President for Non-Certified Staff
Katy Gardner, Treasurer
Betty Cwiak, Secretary
Cathy Jawnyj, Region Representative
Kendra Smeigh, Stanton School Representative
Tiffany Tardio, Lotus School Representative


*check here for documents most frequently used/requested
Please let Heather know of suggestions for any documents to add to this folder!






Blue Cross Blue Shield:


SEL Pacing Guides
Stanton:





Questions to Consider
This just came out from George Couros, a blogger lots of us enjoy reading. Thought this 
post from him presented some interesting opportunities…
Would you do the book study?
Would you consider presenting? What would be your proposal?
Let me know your thoughts on either or both!



Hey everyone!

Just some quick announcements of opportunities for learning 
coming your way.

1. The Innovator's Mindset Instagram book study starts on Sunday, 
January 27. Keep an eye on the #InnovatorsMindset hashtag on 
Instagram or follow me @gcouros to participate.

2. I am speaking at the National School Transformation Conference 
in Palm Springs in July and it is shaping up to be a great event.  
They are looking for presenters so if you are interested, 
you can submit a proposal here before February 28, 2019.

3.  The last day to purchase your "Make the Positives" shirt is on 
January 31! You can purchase here:


Thanks for all that you do for education! I look forward to seeing 
many of you online and in person.

Sincerely,
George Couros






Save the Dates!
The Mobile Dentist is coming to Lotus on Monday February 11th, 2019 and Tuesday February 12th, 
2019 and Stanton on Thursday February 14th, 2019. These clinics may be free of charge and will help 
fulfill the necessary Kindergarten, 2nd grade, and 6th grade dental requirement. Forms were sent 
home with every student earlier this week. If you are in need of additional forms, please visit our 
website www.d114.org or contact Jessica Lanners, our district nurse. In order for your child to 
participate, the forms must be returned to the health office no later than Friday January 18th, 2019. 
Ronald McDonald  physical and immunization mobile clinic will also be coming to Lotus on Thursday, 
February 21st, 2019 and to Stanton on Friday February 22nd, 2019. More information to follow!

February 19, 2019--Board of Education meeting
May 14, 2019--Board of Education meeting--NEW DATE
Many,  many parents were asking for a district spirit wear order for them. I think this is SO COOL! 
So, there’s a new order open for families and for staff, if you’re interested. Flyer attached!


Please watch your email and keep your phones handy for weather updates. I shared the our decision 
making criteria via email on Thursday, and it’s posted on the D114 website. As decisions are made, 
please trust that I’ll let you know ASAP. Communication will come via email, and if we close then also 
through phone, Facebook, and Twitter posts.

Stay warm and be safe!
Heather (a.k.a. Your local weather person)

Sunday, January 20, 2019

Enjoy the Day Off!







Thanks to Gayle McManamon, Erica Barraza, Katie Jalove, and Victoria Miller for your
OUTSTANDING presentations at Tuesday’s Board of Education meeting!!!!
and
Thank you to the Calendar Committee---Liz Andersen, Erica Barraza, Katy Gardner, Katie Jalove,
Victoria Miller, Rachelle Peters, Cary Scarpino, Tiffany Tardio, and Natalie Udstuen, and Kim
VanHoorelbeke--- for your hard work and presentation to the Board!
-From Heather


WOW a huge thank you to Gina Crosthwaite for taking on any subbing assignment when asked
to fill in!  You are amazing and we couldn't have gotten through the last couple of weeks without
you being so willing to step in.
and
Thank you to Sami Harshaw, Erin Connelly Jordt and Tiffany Tardio for being willing to take on
extra students in order for other teachers to be able to participate in peer observations.  Such a
huge help and benefit to be able to learn from other another. You ladies ROCK!
and
Thank you to Lynn Smolen for helping to rearrange my office to make the space more functional.  
I appreciate you!
-From Natalie Udstuen


Kudos to Renee Kanari, who tediously printed and sorted Stanton Fitnessgrams one at a
time so they could be back to back to help us reduce the amount of paper that
will be going out in Q2 report cards.  With iReady, MAPS, Fitnessgrams, report
cards, IEP info and 8th grade information, every little bit helps!
-From Michele Burgess


Thanks to all the teachers that are making positive connections by eating lunch with students!
and
Thanks to Rachelle for starting a Chess Club at Stanton!  
and
Thanks to Kally Kitbitlewski for hosting 5th grade at Stanton for a Math peer observation.  
and
Thanks to Kindergarten and First Grade for making Math peer observations happen!  
-From Matt Peters and Natalie Udstuen


HUGE Shout out to Sonia and Penny for being incredibly generous and kind, helping me get one
of my students some new clothes.  I am so lucky to work with such amazing people!!!!!
and
Thank you so much Don, for getting us materials so we could get our Guided Reading Lockers
organized!
-From Becky Vedder


Thank you Tiffany Mihovilovich for connecting Crossroads with Lotus School and starting a new
after school program for our K-4 students.  The program kicked off this week and we already had
29 students be a part of it. Also, I would like to thank Tiffany Tardio for volunteering her time and
helping out as well.
-From Matt Peters


Big shout out to Ms. Dory for helping Mr. Nickles and the students in HW Club!!
-From Jeff Sefcik


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!


 
Business Office Updates
W2’s are ready!
Lotus and Transportation  staff--please pick up from Maddie Espinoza in the Business Office.
Stanton staff--please pick up from JIll/Michele in the Stanton Office.


Perfect Attendance
Please know that no additional forms need to be completed to report perfect attendance. Maddie
has it all in Frontline, and we can run a report to get the information that’s needed!


Time Stamping
As many of you may know, we are in the process of launching an automated Time & Attendance
system. Time & Attendance is a web-based time and attendance management system that works
directly with Frontline Absence Management. Within this system, employees will clock in/out daily
and the system will track all hours. Our goal is to move away from using paper timesheets, improve
accuracy and consistency in calculations, and reduce time spent calculating hours worked and
additional pay.


Each building will have two web clocks for employees to use and employees will use their door key
card/badge to clock in and out. Employees subject to federal wage and hour rules and subject to
overtime will be required to clock in and out. This includes all support staff and maintenance staff.
NO MORE TIMESHEETS---you just need to swipe your key card by the clock!


We will be using a small group of employees to pilot the system for a couple weeks before going live.
Once we go live, we’ll still ask you to keep paper timesheets to make sure everything’s working
while we also ensure that all employees are paid for all their work.


Please let Maddie or me know if you have any questions!

911 Accuracy Testing
After a TON of work by Mike Szotek, we are ready to test our phone system to make sure each and
every phone can be used and identified by 911 dispatch in case of emergency.
The plan is to conduct the test on Wednesday, January 23 after school. Testing will be done at Lotus
first, followed by Stanton.
As a reminder, when 911 is called, there are designated phones in the office area that will ring.  
We will make sure that the proper phones ring, but this will be the only noticeable impact during the testing.
The plan is to test as follows:
- test 4 phones from each school:  
Lotus:  office phone, Gym phone, Library phone and a phone from the Kindergarten/or 2nd grade end).
2 calls from each one call with dialing 911 and second call dialing 7-911. (both should work).  
Stanton:  office, Gym, Dan Olson's room, and a basement phone will be tested the same as above.  
-  Dispatch will let us know what is displaying on their end as Mike/Dave set it up with Comcast to
indicate what level and room call is being placed from.  
-  In addition, dispatch will also do a call back from one of the phones at each school just to make
sure this feature is working as well.  


Thanks, also to Kim VanHoorelbeke and David Roat for your help in this process!!!


Curriculum Updates
Math
iReady Update




PIZZA PARTY CHALLENGE---pizza for all staff when we reach 80% of students meeting the
45 minute goal!


SEL


Free Workshop: Building Resilient Students
Certified and support staff are both encouraged to attend!
February 6, 4:30 – 7:30 pm; Dinner and Registration, 4:00 – 4:30
Libertyville I.E.A. Office; 1860 W. Winchester Road, #202; Libertyville, IL 60048
Space is limited so be sure to RSVP soon if you are interested in attending!




Melissa Jakstas, President
Maureen DeVoss, Vice President for Certified Staff
Chris Brown, Vice President for Non-Certified Staff
Katy Gardner, Treasurer
Betty Cwiak, Secretary
Cathy Jawnyj, Region Representative
Kendra Smeigh, Stanton School Representative
Tiffany Tardio, Lotus School Representative


*check here for documents most frequently used/requested
Please let Heather know of suggestions for any documents to add to this folder!






Blue Cross Blue Shield:


SEL Pacing Guides
Stanton:




Continuing the theme of trauma informed teaching...
Check out this blog:

Essential Trauma-Informed Teaching:

Strategies for Managing Stress in

the Classroom



Questions to Consider
What do you already do that aligns to the recommendations?
What’s one thing you can take away from this article?
Are you interested in learning more...if yes, please email me to let me know!




Save the Dates!
The Mobile Dentist is coming to Lotus on Monday February 11th, 2019 and Tuesday February 12th,
2019 and Stanton on Thursday February 14th, 2019. These clinics may be free of charge and will help
fulfill the necessary Kindergarten, 2nd grade, and 6th grade dental requirement. Forms were sent
home with every student earlier this week. If you are in need of additional forms, please visit our
website www.d114.org or contact Mrs. Lanners, our district nurse. In order for your child to participate,
the forms must be returned to the health office no later than Friday January 18th, 2019.

Ronald McDonald  physical and immunization mobile clinic will also be coming to Lotus on Thursday,
February 21st, 2019 and to Stanton on Friday February 22nd, 2019. More information to follow!

January 26--Rotary Chili Cook Off!!!
May 14, 2019--Board of Education meeting--NEW DATE

Enjoy the Monday off, and let’s have a great week!!

Heather