4-25-13 Superintendent's Message - School District U-46

Superintendent’s Weekly Message
April 25, 2013
Personal Reflection
I began the week at Centennial Elementary School along with our grief counselors who were on hand to
offer support to students after the death of a Centennial student. We appreciate the work that our
counselors, Centennial Principal, teachers, and staff are doing to help our students and staff through this
difficult time. The student passed away over the weekend, possibly due to flu related complications.
My sincere condolences go out to the student’s family, friends and classmates and staff at Centennial.
Sadly, this is one of those tragedies in life that is difficult to understand, but bring light to some of those
things we do behind the scenes as a school district to support our students and communities. I
presented these types of things in my latest "State of the District" address.
Recently, I learned about "TLA." TLA is "Three Letter Acronyms." You might know a few: ESC, TMP, TEI,
USA, OMG, LoL, etc. I'm sure you can come up with many of your own.
I learned another TLA that had a huge impact on me this week ‐‐ that FTT stands for "Failure To Thrive"
and relates to a label placed on the chart of babies in hospitals who might not receive sufficient
nourishment to grow.
I thought that FTT (Failure To Thrive) is applicable to all of us, including our students, who unless they
receive the right kind of support and encouragement might not thrive. It might include, teachers, who,
unless they receive mentoring or appropriate coaching in our Teacher Appraisal Plan might fail to thrive.
It might include administrators, including yours truly, who, unless they receive encouragement and
feedback might be labeled "FTT." So, I would like to encourage you not to allow those who are near you,
nor those whom you can influence, neither your supervisor/principal, nor your employee, nor colleague
fail to thrive.
Finally, I wanted to thank you once again for all that you continue to do for our students, whether you
are teaching, administering, serving food, answering calls, writing letters, receiving parents, sweeping
floors, fixing or driving buses, filing files, etc. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Have a great weekend!
Yours Truly,
José M. Torres
Superintendent Scholarship
District Information
This week, with the help of Board Member Traci O’Neal Ellis and Theresa Goldberg, I hosted a special
event for the Superintendent Scholarship winners to teach them the importance as well as the do’s and
don'ts of networking. Each of the students will have business cards printed for them and will test out
their networking skills next week at an awards ceremony hosted in their honor.
It’s not too late to donate to the Superintendent Scholarship and I will continue to personally match new
donations. Earlier this week, Elgin Mayor Dave Kaptain and his wife Sandy donated $1,000 to help grow
the program.

Charter School Update ‐ Call to Action
You may have read in the newspaper or heard from your colleagues about a controversial attempt to
bring an online charter school to our district.
Here’s a brief update on the issue:
Virtual Learning Solutions has proposed to bring an online charter school to our district and 17
others and following a public hearing, our Board of Education rejected this idea for several
reasons.
This particular online school would receive state funding that would otherwise come to our
district ‐ approximately $8,000 for every U‐46 student who enrolls in the school.
The performance track record of K12 Inc., the for‐profit company contracted to run the online
charter school, presents concerns around a whole host of issues including the school’s
curriculum, quality of teachers, support for students with special needs, low test scores, a lack of
extracurricular opportunities, and graduation rate.
Since the proposal was denied by all 18 school boards, including the U‐46 School Board, Virtual
Learning Solutions is appealing the decision with the Charter School Commission.
Lawmakers in Springfield have already begun the process of placing a one‐year moratorium on the
establishment of new virtual schools so they can gather important information about the effectiveness
or ineffectiveness of these schools before approving them. Call Illinois Senate President John Cullerton
(217‐782‐2728) and your state Senator to ask them to support HB 494. You can find your senator’s
contact information online at https://www.voteguide.com.
Call to Committee: Report Card Committee
School District U‐46 is seeking volunteers to serve on the Elementary Report Card Committee to
evaluate current reporting tools and make recommendations for revisions based on the Common Core
State Standards. The Elementary Report Card Committee will meet for 1.5 hours on the third Thursday
of every month throughout the 2013‐14 school year. The first meeting will take place on Thursday, May
16 th at ESC in room 351. Fill out the attached application and email to Rita Weber at ritaweber@u‐
46.org.
Call to Committee: Social Studies Committee
School District U‐46 is seeking certified or licensed staff members to volunteer to serve on the
Elementary Social Studies Committee for the 2013‐2015 school years. The Committee will lead the
District’s K‐6 Social Studies curriculum writing process and support the implementation of the District
Common Core Implementation Plan with a focus on the CC ELA Reading and Writing for Information
Standards. There will be a total of 20 committee members consisting of two teachers in each grade
level, kindergarten through sixth, with a minimum of four ELL teachers, two special education teachers,
and one administrator. Please fill out the attached application and return it to Rita Weber
(ritaweber@u‐46.org) by May 10 th .
Save the Date: Day of the Children Festival

The U‐46 Bilingual Parent Advisory Council, the English Language Learners Department & Gail Borden
Public Library are hosting a Day of the Children Festival this Saturday, April 27 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at
the Elgin High School Auditorium, 1200 Maroon Drive.
The public is invited to attend the celebration which will feature stories, clowns, drawings and cultural
performances. The event is free to the public and tickets can be picked up at the Gail Borden Public
Library, 270 N. Grove Ave in Elgin.
Successful STEM Expo
The fifth annual STEM Expo was quite the successful event. When the doors opened, the line was
already out the door and around the building at South Elgin High School, which was packed with
students eager to show off their science, technology, engineering and mathematics projects. Read the
Daily Herald article here to learn about some of our students’ fun and innovative projects.
Moving Forward with STEM Discovery Summer Camps
The next "Moving Forward with STEM" event will be June 10‐14, 2013 at South Elgin High School. STEM
Discovery Camps are being made available to 6th, 7th, and, 8th grade students and focus on discovering
the STEM curricular offerings in U‐46 and what post‐secondary/career path best aligns with individual
student goals. The camp experience will culminate with a Field Trip to the Museum of Science and
Industry on Friday, June 14
Streamwood High Students Compete in International Conference
Nine Streamwood High School students will compete at the International DECA Conference in Anaheim,
California, April 24 through April 27. DECA, “An Association of Marketing Students”, is a program
designed for students interested in business, marketing, management and entrepreneur related jobs.
The nine students will compete in a variety of events at the International DECA conference including
Business Services Marketing, Automotive Services Marketing, Apparel and Accessories Marketing, Retail
Merchandising, Professional Selling, and International Business. In early March, 34 Streamwood High
School students competed in the State DECA Conference in Decatur, Illinois. Students needed to place
in the top three in their event to qualify for the international competition.
School Walk for Diabetes
On April 30 th , Gifford Street High School is taking part in American Diabetes Association School Walk for
Diabetes. The fundraiser promotes active, healthy living and raises funds for the American Diabetes
Association. Nearly 26 million Americans have diabetes and the fundraiser will go toward efforts to find
a cure and advance diabetes treatment, education, and advocacy. A percentage of the funds will be
returned to Gifford Street High School for P.E. equipment and school medical supplies.
U‐46 employees who would like to donate to the cause or walk a few laps with the Gifford Street High
School students can visit their online fundraising locker here.

U‐46 Parents Wanted to Join: Hispanic Parent Leadership Institute and African‐American Leadership
Institute
U‐46 is looking for parent volunteers to join the 2013‐2014 African‐American Parent Leadership Institute
or the Hispanic Parent Leadership Institute. Parents of students in elementary and/or middle school are
invited to learn more about this program ‐ for parents and by parents. Candidates must be interested in
helping involve more African‐American and Hispanic parents in district and school activities.
Once a month, for eight months during the school year, sessions will be held to provide training for up to
25 participants in each group. Informational meetings will be held from 6:00‐7:00 p.m. on May 29, from
5:00‐6:00 p.m. on June 18 and July 17, from 6:30‐7:30 p.m. on August 7 and from 9:00 ‐ 10:00 a.m. on
August 28 in room 240 at the U‐46 Educational Services Center, 355 East Chicago St., Elgin. For more
information, call Karla Guzman at 847 888‐5000, ext. 4211.
Bartlett High School Wins Media Mini‐Grant
Congrats to Bartlett High School for being awarded with a $1,500 media mini‐grant funded by the Illinois
Press Association. Jill Flanagan, a Bartlett High School English teacher and “The Hawk Eye” Newspaper
Adviser, applied for the grant to develop her students’ skills and knowledge in multi‐media. Bartlett
High School was one of 16 high schools in the state to receive the grant. It was offered to public or
private high schools with existing media programs.
Bartlett High School will use the grant to buy cameras, video equipment and editing software. The grant
will allow the Hawk Eye to provide multi‐media coverage and give students more exposure to other
media platforms.
Summer School Staffing
All summer postings for Elementary and Middle school as well as Extended School Year are posted on
Applitrack. Elementary Summer School will be held at Hillcrest, Heritage, Nature Ridge and Lincoln.
Summer school will be held Monday through Thursday from June 10 ‐ July 18 with no school on July 4 th.
The hours at Heritage and Hillcrest will run from 7:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., while Nature Ridge and Lincoln
will run from 8:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Middle School will be held at SEHS and will be held from 7:15 a.m.
to 1:15 p.m. Extended School year will be held at Liberty from 8:00 a.m. ‐ 11:30 a.m.
Please take a moment to review the available openings at:
http://www.applitrack.com/u46/onlineapp/default.aspx?Category=Summer+School.
Interested applicants should apply via Applitrack and should not contact building principals directly
about the openings.
Message from the State Superintendent
The April 22, 2013, Weekly Message from State Superintendent Christopher A. Koch is available online in
Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format at:
http://www.isbe.net/board/archivemessages/2013/message_042213.pdf

Also, all editions of the Weekly Message are archived on the Illinois State Board of Education’s Web site
at http://www.isbe.net/board/archivemessages/archivemessage.htm
Kudos
Remember to submit Kudos to superintendent@u‐46.org. For the remainder of the 2012‐2013 school
year, all individuals who submit kudos will be entered into a monthly drawing as a “kudos” for your
kudos. Winners will be announced at the beginning of each month.
From Martin E. Aburto to Det. Bill Woods and Elgin High School Administration
“Kudos to Det. Bill Woods and administration staff at Elgin High School, who made possible a smooth,
well organized plan on helping students get home last Thursday when the over flooded creek blocked
the walking path to students who walk home. Buses were placed to bring students home at the other
side of the creek, regular buses were relocated to easily access available traffic routes, a traffic path was
created for the overwhelming number of parents who came to pick up their students due to the
weather emergencies situation, and a path was planned for staff members leaving home.”
From Eastview Middle School Principal Donald Justin Donner
“Kudos to Plant Operations: Josh Beu, Jay Tebell, and Cathy McNamara for the job they did in clearing
the building of water etc... and having a team out immediately to clean and sanitize the building!! What
a great team effort.
Kudos to Rex Ademi, head custodian at Eastview for the work he did Thursday working with crews to
clean and sanitize the building so that the building would be ready for kids the next day looking like
nothing had ever happened.
Kudos to Dr. Johnson, Tony Sanders, and Theresa Goldberg for the work they did behind the scenes to
help ensure that students were safe and received the care they needed during a difficult day.
Kudos to Dr. Colombe for taking in our students whose parents were unable to pick them up right away
and needed to be moved to another building, as well as find an area where teachers from Eastview
could go to plan and work.
Kudos to Dr. Torres who came out to Eastview to check on and help ensure that the safety and care of
the students at Eastview was taken care of.
Kudos to Andy Martin and Transportation for being able to send the needed buses over to Eastview to
transport kids; the communication between transportation and Eastview was excellent!
Kudos to Donna Magnuson for all of the work she did contacting other schools, canceling things that
needed to be canceled (contacting all parties affected) and rescheduling all things so that Eastview may
return to business as usual with minimal inconvenience to as many people as possible.”
From Dawn McCusker, Katie Stan and Dan Henderson to Jonathan Bast

“We would like to send Kudos to our very talented Music teacher Jonathan Bast! He prepared, yet
another, amazing Spring Sing for Otter Creek School! By his hard work, the students were well‐prepared
and excited about this event! The turnout was great! Thank you from all of us here at Otter Creek
School!”
From Rob Smith to Erika and Marc – Math, Science & Technology
“Just wanted to acknowledge Erika (& Marc) over in Math, Science, & Technology for providing much
needed calculators for Gifford Street students during District testing!”
From Lori Brandes, Washington Elementary to Larsen Middle School
“Jane Ambroso and Trish Molley, two science teachers at Larsen Middle School, prepared a group of
students to be part of the Regional Science Fair at NIU over Spring Break. Most of these students are
now moving onto State! They'll go to U of I to show their talents on May 4th. Thank you for your
dedication to our students and showing the importance of Science!”
To the staff at Washington Elementary
“It's amazing what the Office Staff at Washington School can accomplish in a day. We are so grateful
for Sandy Dayton, Mydna Beniquez, Lisa Kearbey, Katelynn Sheptick and Tina Saldivar for what they do
every day to support our students, parents and staff.”
From Jon Tuin, Darlea Livengood & Randy Ellison to the teachers at Larkin High School
“Thanks for showing up in full force to pull off an incredibly complicated day of testing. The 100%
teacher attendance was much appreciated.”
From Jennifer Tallitsch to Rickey Sparks and Bruce Phelps
“Kudos go out to Rickey Sparks and Bruce Phelps for the assistance they have provided Hillcrest. They
are quick to respond and help problem solve so that our building has what it needs for materials and
supplies.”
From ELL Speech and Language Pathologists to Hilde Elg
“Thanks to Hilde for all her hard work on behalf of our ELL early learners. She is always looking for the
most efficient way to insure our bilingual little ones are provided with the special services to which they
are entitled. Also, her support of staff is beyond limits. She is not only an excellent professional who
goes beyond her responsibilities but also a great person with charisma and character. Hilde, thank you
for all you do.”
From Cheryl DeRoo, Principal Glenbrook Elementary
“Kudos to Amy Cook, Andy Martin and the U‐46 bus drivers for jumping in so quickly to provide
transportation to our Glenbrook walkers. Our back path was flooded so the students needed to be
transported to and from school. Within a very short time period Amy was able to provide buses on

Thursday both before and after school. On Friday morning, before the sun rose, Andy came out to check
the water levels and again provided buses to insure safety for our children. The drivers were kind and
patiently awaited anxious parents and students as well. Thank you all for a great job!!!
Kudos to the Glenbrook teachers who participated in the interviews during voluntary transfer as well as
the U‐46 teachers who went through many, many interviews! My team stayed three nights in a row
until very late to help with over 30 interviews and still managed to keep a smile on all day for the
students. I was equally impressed with the level of teacher quality of the interview candidates. What
talent we have here in U‐46!”