April 16, 2021

This week our nurses - who literally have had no break in a year - handledsignificantly more contact tracing cases. While we can now return to schoolwith 3 feet of distance, the threshold for identifying close contacts remains at 6feet and, according to state health guidance, those close contacts must bequarantined. I recognize our nurses’ incredible efforts and so appreciate them. I've visited schools and seen the amazing work of our teachers and educationalsupport professionals. While you all remain so upbeat and attentive to ourstudents, I know that by the end of each day you often want to collapse. This week on Wednesday, all our administrators came together for our nowregular bi-weekly meeting. As I scrolled through the multiple screens of faces,I saw the exhaustion in your eyes. Everyone seems weary. No preparation program covered any of this for us. Please hear me when I say that we've all endured some dents this year. Butwe are not broken. We can finish this year strong. We have the capacity, theintelligence, and the heart to persevere. We talk to students about resilience,and we can continue to model that for them. If you can, please check in on a colleague this weekend. Do not assume thateveryone has someone to whom they can talk. If you struggle, I also encourage you to utilize the benefits provided by our

Employee Assistance Program. I know the big question is what will next year look like. I wish I had an answerfor you. I expect further guidance from the State Board of Education (I amjoined by a few other U-46 staff members who are on the team drafting thatguidance). However, so much depends on our current positivity rates forCOVID-19 as well as the percentage of our community that has beenvaccinated. I appreciate your patience. With deep gratitude and respect, Tony

Teaching & Learning

National Board Certification

If you’re an Illinois educator and have been consideringNational Board certification, the time is right for you! Between now and May 10,you can apply for the Illinois National Board First Time Candidate Fee Subsidyand have the full $1,900 certification fees paid for you by the Illinois StateBoard of Education. You would only be responsible for a $75 registrationfee. Click here to learn more about the benefits of and support for NationalBoard Certification!

Teacher Appraisal PlanThe following are reminders from the TAP Office:

The Informal Observation cycle shall occur no later than April 15 The Informal Reflective Conference is to be held within three school daysof the Informal Observation

As determined by the Joint Committee:

ALL teachers will engage in at least one Informal Observation CycleInformal Observations can occur during in-person instruction or distancelearningAny evidence collected during the Cycle will be used ONLY as formativefeedback for the support of teacher professional practice and studentsuccessInformal Observations WILL NOT be utilized as evidence to arrive at anysubsequent Summative ratings

For your reference, both the original MOU informational presentation and theInformal Observation Presentation have been included below:

1. Link here to the Teacher Appraisal Plan (Informal ObservationPresentation.)

2. Link here to the Teacher Appraisal Plan (MOU Presentation.)

The TAP Office has established several resources for groups or individualsseeking support as well as a TAP Support Canvas course that can beaccessed here. Please send any questions to the TAP Office via tapadm@u-46.org.

Assessment and Accountability

Assessment UpdatesPlease refer to the checklists for guidance on testing. These are in-personassessments. Students must bring their charged laptops to school.

ACCESS 2021 Planning Checklist - Through May 28, 2021IAR 2021 Planning Checklist - April 19 through May 28, 2021 (New teachers: trainingis available - please see the checklist for details.

Equity and Innovation

Educational PathwaysU-46 and the other members of Northern Kane County Regional VocationalSystem EFE 110 have been awarded the CTE Education Career PathwayGrant from the state of Illinois. This grant will be utilized to increaseopportunities for students to explore the teaching profession. U-46 will utilizeour excellent Early Childhood Education programs as the foundation of theprogram while developing paths for students interested in elementary andsecondary education. The grant will also allow for the creation of EducatorsRising chapters at the high school level to support students in the pathway andoffer them enriching experiences including conferences and competitions.

Operations

Educational Facility Master PlanEarlier this week, all U-46 employees should have received an email with a linkto an Indoor Environmental Quality Comfort Survey. For those who did notreceive it, the survey can be accessed here:https://dlrgroup.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1A0Bv1ypNHZYhSZ This survey is part of the District’s work to develop an Educational FacilityMaster Plan. It is designed to identify the perceived thermal comfort, visualcomfort, acoustical comfort and ventilation adequacy provided in each building.The survey will be open until Wednesday, April 28 and should take about 10minutes to complete. While the survey will ask where you do the majority ofyour work, participants are not asked to enter their names. All surveyresponses will be collected anonymously, and non-aggregated data will bestored on the secure survey research platform. If you have any questions,

please use the Educational Facility Master Plan button on Let’ s Talk.

Human Resources

Administrative Certified OpportunitiesDean of Students at Larkin High School - To apply click JOB ID 22118. Summer Opportunities

School District U-46 is aiming to offer pre-K-6 summer school at four to fivesites but need more in-person teacher applicants. Information about thesummer in-person elementary positions, first posted on April 1, can be foundlisted under our summer vacancies as “Elementary Summer School, In-Person, Job ID 21778,” and “Elem Summer School Dual Language, In-Person, Job ID 21757.” We ask that any interested teachers who hold an Elementary Education (Self-Contained General Education) endorsement to please apply for these summerschool positions as soon as possible. We will be reaching out to elementaryteachers who applied for distance learning positions and asking them to applyfor these in-person roles. Elementary Summer School will run from June 10 toJuly 22.

Proposed Elementary Summer School Sites:

Harriet GiffordHighland Elementary School Heritage Elementary School Huff Elementary School

Secondary Opportunities High school summer opportunities are also listed under Summer SchoolVacancies. Please note the different locations in the job postings:

Larkin/South Elgin High Schools: Middle and High School SummerSchool All five comprehensive high schools: Freshman Connection & CollegeJumpstart All eight middle schools: Middle School Experience

Extended School Year Other sites will house an Extended School Year (ESY) program for studentswith special needs. The proposed dedicated sites are Liberty Elementary,Kenyon Woods Middle School, and South Elgin High School, for this program.Click on Extended School Year to apply for Specialized Student ServicesSummer positions.

CAC and School & Community Relations

Real Estate Professionals Virtual Coffee Local real estate professionals are invited to a virtual presentation onWednesday, April 28 at 9 a.m. to learn about all the things that make this agreat school community to own a home. Real estate professionals shouldregister here to receive their unique Zoom link: http://bit.ly/U46Realtor21. Thisevent is sponsored by the U-46 Community Advisory Council (CAC) Family and

Community Engagement Committee.

School & Community Relations

U46EngageThe U46Engage webinar series continues this month with two important topics. “How to Advocate for Your Child’s Progress” will be led by the EnglishLanguage Learners department at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 21. It is opento all and will focus on building a strong home-school communication in orderto better meet the academic and social-emotional needs of your child. It will bestreamed in both English and Spanish. “Kindergarten and Beyond” is the focus for the webinar at 7 p.m on Thursday,April 29 and is targeted at families who have a student currently in kindergartenor who will be entering kindergarten in the 2021-22 school year. This eveningwill give an overview of the various academic programs offered in the DistrictK-12 schools, such as Dual Language education, gifted programming, highschool magnet academies as well as ways they can support their child’seducation at home, school, or at the District level. Registration info for both, as well as recordings of past webinars, can be foundat u-46.org/webinars.

U-46 Educational Foundation

Teacher Appreciation Week

In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week —May 2-8, 2021 — students, alumni, and parents are invited to recognize aspecial teacher by making a donation to the U-46 Educational Foundation’sTeacher Appreciation campaign. With a donation, parents will have theopportunity to customize a card which will be sent to their honored teacher viainteroffice mail. Parents are also encouraged to tell what makes this teacherso special, and we will share those stories on the Foundation’s website and viaDistrict and Foundation social media channels. Donations brought in through this year’s Teacher Appreciation campaign willbenefit the Foundation’s Teacher Innovation Mini-Grant Program in the 2021-

22 school year! During this school year, the Foundation awarded 23 grants to U-46 teachersand staff totaling more than $21,000. Grants paid for projects such as assistivedevices for students with physical challenges, crayons and books to promotecultural awareness and acceptance among our preschool students, sensoryequipment to promote self-regulation for students on the autism spectrum, anafter-school STEAM club, a Little Free Library, and more. The Foundation is anon-profit 501(c)(3) organization. Please visit the Foundation’s website and click on the Teacher Appreciation2021 link to get started!

In Memoriam

Ada N. Sanchez had taught in classrooms and as a substitute in U-46 since2004, most recently at Coleman Elementary School. Ada passed away onMarch 9. Born in Puerto Rico, Ada was devoted to helping her students learnand grow. You can read more about Ada and other U-46 employees we havelost during the last two school years, here on the Intranet under School &Community Relations.

State News

The April 13 Weekly Message from State Superintendent Carmen I. Ayala,Ph.D., is available online in Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format here. All editions ofthe Weekly Message are archived on the Illinois State Board of Education'swebsite here.

Photo of the Week - Years of Service

On Wednesday, the U-46 Board of Education honored about three dozenemployees for their 25, 30, or 40 years of service to the District via a virtualcelebration. We thank them for their time, talents, energy, and dedication. Theceremony was recorded, and it can be watched on the Intranet under theSchool & Community Relations section here.

Kudos

Send Kudos directly by clicking HERE or using Let's Talk. They are due by 5p.m. each Tuesday.

Kudos to Patty Briones, Project Access Coordinator, from BridgetMcCaffrey, School Social Worker at Ontarioville Elementary School Patty assisted me in helping a family receive the mental health assistance theyneeded by attending the appointment, coordinating the transportation, andassisting with translating - and all over spring break! I asked for her help, andshe never hesitated. She is always willing to go above and beyond in helpingour families, and for that I am grateful! Thank you SO much Patty!! It's always apleasure working with someone with the same passion for helping our families. Kudos to our ELL Lead, Ms. Laura Azcoitia, and our ELL and Dual

Language teachers at Tefft Middle School, from Mark Gonnella, AssistantPrincipal at Tefft Middle School For managing to assess and complete 97 percent of our students for ACCESStesting - a huge undertaking during a pandemic. Thank you all for your hardwork and dedication with our students! Kudos to Greg Anthony, Teacher at Bartlett High School, from JenniferMazzone, Teacher at Bartlett High SchoolFor contributing to the positive culture of our school by going out of his way tohelp every teacher learn new technology or better utilize existing technologyduring this challenging school year! Greg is always willing to help, and sendsweekly emails with ideas and suggestions. We would not have made it throughthis year without him! Greg also helps to make a positive environment bysending out jokes each week and always greeting everyone with a smile. Kudos to Jeff Samayavong, Teacher at Larsen Middle School, fromChristine Schlueter, Teacher at Larsen Middle School Jeff went above and beyond to contact a family who is challenged by the factthat English is not the language spoken at home. Jeff was able to reach out tothe family to ensure that their student was attending classes regularly. Jeffdoes not have this student in his classes, but he even went so far as to confirmthe attendance of the student in his next class and offered further assistance tothe family. We are a diverse building - it takes all of us to help our students.Thanks, Jeff. Kudos to the Temporary Willard Food Service Team; Amy Campbell(Food Service Assistant Lead at Willard Elementary), Dorothy McMurray(usually Food Tech at South Elgin High School), and Debbie Currie(usually Food Tech at South Elgin High School), from Sue Johnson, FoodService Lead at Willard Elementary SchoolThank you for serving meals curbside since March 2020. You ladies areamazing! Thanks for all your hard work! Kudos to Roberto Cardenas, Wendy Witt, and Rachel Cornelius, WorldLanguage Teachers at Elgin High School, from Dea Zguro, WorldLanguage Teacher at Elgin High SchoolRoberto, Wendy, and Rachel successfully organized the National Honors

Society induction ceremony to reward and celebrate our students’ success inFrench and Spanish. I thank you from the bottom of my heart as a colleagueand as a parent for making our students feel so special and accomplished! Kudos to Mike Demovsky, Principal at Bartlett High School, from AndreaKohl, Parent at Bartlett High SchoolThank you so much for the past four years of “Good Evening Bartlett HighSchool, This is Principal Demovsky with your weekly message!” You continueto keep parents in the loop on what’s happening within the walls of BHS. Yourenthusiasm is unmatched, especially at the football games. You not only cheeron the team, but the cheerleaders, dance team, and especially The MarchingHawks. Thank you for all that you do for BHS .... Caw-caw! Kudos to our Middle School Counselors, from the Educational PathwaysDepartmentThank you to our eight middle school counselors for supporting our students inpreparing for the Explore event on May 3. They worked together to create a funvideo to promote the day. A special shout-out to Ziomora Gil from Ellis MS,Jessica Ventrella from Kenyon Woods MS, Diana Miranda from Larsen MS,and Jay Svendsen from Canton MS. These counselors were a part of theplanning team to organize lessons and registration for the Explore event.Thanks for all you do! Kudos to the Wonderful Food Service Team at Kimball: Miguel Medel(Food Service Lead), Jasmin Alcala, Bonnie Heins, Maria Martinez andAraceli Rodriguez, from Charlotte Coleman and Jaime Cadengo,Administrators at Kimball Middle SchoolThey are constantly striving to support students and staff. We truly appreciateall the members of our Food Service Department!

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