 | | Singing and dancing were only part of the fun when Virginia Lake School hosted its Multicultural Festival on April 10 to celebrate the ethnic and cultural diversity that makes Virginia Lake a special community. |
|
|
Board names District 15's new
leader of 'Teaching and Learning'
 | | Dr. Meg Schnoor |
The Board of Education named Meg Schnoor, Ed.D., the District's new Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning during its May 7 special meeting.
Dr. Schnoor currently serves as Assistant Superintendent of Student Services in Elmhurst Community School District 205. She has held that position since 2009. In all, Schnoor brings to District 15 a total of 20 years of experience in education.
Prior to serving in her current position, Dr. Schnoor served for eight years in Consolidated School District 158 - one year as an assistant principal, and seven as a principal and director of special services. Before that, she served for seven years in Township High School District 214 - three years as a special education instructor, two as a division head and special education instructor, and two as a special education coordinator.
Dr. Schnoor holds a bachelor's degree in education from Illinois State University, a master's degree in educational leadership from Northeastern Illinois University, and a doctorate in curriculum leadership from Northern Illinois University.
"The core mission of the District is teaching students, ensuring that each learns at the highest levels. Dr. Schnoor brings the skills and leadership to help the teachers and staff members see that mission continue to be a reality," said Scott Thompson, Ed.D., superintendent of schools. "The District is fortunate to welcome Meg to the leadership team, and I know all of us will benefit from her work on behalf of our students."
Dr. Schnoor will officially begin her new role with District 15 on May 27.
|
|
District 15 appoints four new principals
Community Consolidated School District 15 has announced the appointment of four new principals for the 2014-15 school year.
All four appointments are effective July 1, 2014.
 | |
Robert Harris
|
Frank C. Whiteley School
Robert Harris will serve as Frank C. Whiteley School's new principal. Mr. Harris joined the District in 1993, and has served as the interim principal at Whiteley since late December of this school year. Prior to that, he served for 13 years as the school's physical education teacher.
Mr. Harris holds a bachelor's degree in elementary education from Moorehead State University in Minnesota, and a master's degree in educational administration from Roosevelt University.
 | |
Erika Johansen
|
Carl Sandburg Junior HighErika Johansen will serve as Carl Sandburg Junior High's new principal. Mrs. Johansen joined the District in 1999, and has served as the assistant principal at Central Road School for the past three years. Prior to that, she served for 12 years as a third-, fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade teacher at Gray M. Sanborn School.
Mrs. Johansen holds a bachelor's degree in elementary education from Augustana College, and two master's degrees - one in teacher leadership from Roosevelt University and one in educational administration from Northern Illinois University.
 | |
Adrienne Moseley
|
Lake Louise School
Adrienne Moseley will serve as Lake Louise School's new principal. Ms. Moseley will join District 15 after serving for the past four years as the principal at Kipling Elementary School in Deerfield School District 109. Prior to that, she served for two years as the principal at Grove Elementary School in Northbrook School District 27, and for a year as the assistant principal at Apollo Elementary School in East Maine School District 63.
Ms. Moseley holds a bachelor's degree in elementary education from Valparaiso University, and a master's degree in early childhood leadership and advocacy from National Louis University.
 | |
Melissa Sabatino
|
Willow Bend School
Melissa Sabatino will serve as Willow Bend School's new principal. Mrs. Sabatino will join District 15 after serving for the past two years as the student services coordinator at Caruso Middle School in Deerfield School District 109. Prior to that, she served for five years as the director of curriculum and instruction at Allendale School in Lake Villa, and served for seven years as a special education teacher for Lake Villa School District 41, the Special Education District of Lake County, and the Franklin Jefferson County Special Education District.
Mrs. Sabatino holds a bachelor's degree in psychology from Bucknell University, and a master's degree in educational leadership from Aurora University.
|
 | On April 30, Palatine Public Library and second-grade students from Gray M. Sanborn School hosted a program celebrating Día de los Niños, or Children's Day. Día de los Niños is a day that celebrates children and connects them to the world of learning through books and libraries.
|
|
District 15 students dominate
Illinois Mathematics League Once again this year, District 15's mathletes dominated recent sixth-grade-level contests in the Illinois Math League. Six District 15 schools finished ranked in the top 20 of the 94-team league. Central Road School placed first, Frank C. Whiteley School placed second, Marion Jordan School placed fifth, Pleasant Hill School placed sixth, Hunting Ridge School placed seventh, and Winston Campus Elementary placed 17th. In individual standings, 18 students from District 15 ranked among the top 35 competitors at the sixth-grade level: Read more about the Illinois Mathematics League.
|
D15 students receive state, national
honors in PTA Reflections program
The Illinois PTA recently chose two works of art produced by District 15 students to be judged at the national level of the Reflections art program, and one of those entries earned a prestigious national honor.  The National PTA presented its Award of Excellence in the Reflections program's Dance Choreography category to Zen Wang, a third grader at Pleasant Hill School, for his entry titled Superhero in Action. Along with the Award, Zen will receive $200, a silver-plated Reflections medallion, a certificate and letter signed by the National PTA President, and recognition in the annual PTA Reflections online gallery. In the previous round of judging, the Illinois PTA selected Zen's performance and The Love of the Ride, an entry in the Visual Arts category by Chris Schmit, an eighth grader at Plum Grove Junior High, to advance to the program's national level. It also awarded Honorable Mentions to four other entries from District 15 students: - Samantha Nieman, a fifth grader at Gray M. Sanborn School, for her Film Production entry title Ordinary Miracle
- Pierce Allord, an eighth grader at Plum Grove Junior High, for his Photography entry titled Getting Ahead of the Storm
- Madison Flowers, a fourth grader at Winston Campus Elementary, for her Musical Composition entry titled A New Day
- Stella Chung, a fifth grader at Pleasant Hill School, for her Visual Arts entry titled The Trees of Mars
Read more about Reflections.
|
 Paddock fourth grader recognized
with prestigious Red Cross award
Rosie Colucci, a fourth grader at Stuart R. Paddock School, has been named the 2014 American Red Cross recipient of the Youth Good Samaritan Award. Rosie received the award April 30 at the American Red Cross of Greater Chicago Region's Heroes Breakfast in the Imperial Ballroom at the Fairmont Chicago. Annually, only 10 adults and one child are chosen for recognition at the Heroes Breakfast for their acts of great bravery, dedication, and service to the community.
Rosie was diagnosed with cancer at age 3. She's had 21 surgeries and 308 rounds of chemotherapy, and she has spent 47 nights in the hospital and made 26 visits to the emergency room. Over the past six years, though, Rosie has raised more than $325,000 for pediatric charities, including her beloved Lurie Children's Hospital. "I have brain cancer, NF1, hydrocephalus, Pituitary Gigantism + but that's not the only thing I am," states Rosie's Twitter profile, @RockStarRosie1. "I fundraise, raise awareness for Pediatric Cancer & sprd Joy!"
 | |
Rosie Colucci's Red Cross Youth Good Samaritan Award video
|
During the Heroes Breakfast, Rosie and her older sister and No. 1 supporter, Bella Colucci, an eighth grader at Walter R. Sundling Junior High, met CBS2 news anchors Rob Johnson and Kate Sullivan (pictured above), who hosted the sold-out ceremony attended by nearly 1,000 people. They were all treated to the American Red Cross of Greater Chicago Region's videos detailing stories of each of its 2014 award recipients. Check out Rosie's video here. Read more about Rosie Colucci's Red Cross Youth Good Samaritan Award.
|
Plum Grove's 'Pennies for Patients'
drive raises $12,000 in just 12 days
For the past 12 years, Plum Grove Junior High has participated in the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's annual "Pennies for Patients" fundraiser. In fact, its tremendous support for the program is a point of pride throughout the school.  Since partnering with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in 2003, Plum Grove has raised the most money of any school in Illinois by $85,000. It raised more than $11,000 last year, and has raised more than $120,000 over the past 11 years. This year, Plum Grove topped itself. In just 12 days, it raised more than $12,000! That total ranked Plum Grove in the top three schools in Illinois for the most money raised, and ranked it 33 out of more than 28,000 schools nationally. Read more about Plum Grove's "Pennies for Patients" drive.
|
Pleasant Hill wins its fourth Battle of the Books
On April 26, teams from five District 15 elementary schools gathered at Hunting Ridge School to compete in the Fourth Annual District 15 Battle of the Books final round, and, for the fourth consecutive year, Pleasant Hill School emerged from that competition victorious.  Members of Pleasant Hill's Battle of the Books team are third graders Chiara D'Antonio and Pranav Kalkunte, fourth graders Jillian Price and Madison Russell, and fifth graders Rachel Ye and Angelina Zheng. Around 290 third- through sixth-grade students from five schools - Winston Campus Elementary and Central Road, Pleasant Hill, Hunting Ridge, and Marion Jordan Schools - participated in the program. The Battle of the Books is an annual enrichment program that begins in December when students interested in participating in the contest are placed into teams of five to eight students. Each team must work together to study 30 different books that they are then quizzed upon in April. From December through March, each team meets a minimum of two times a month to prepare for the trivia contest, which is broken into four rounds of questions that determine the winning team at each school. The final competition on April 26 challenged the winning teams against each other in another four-round contest that crowned Pleasant Hill as District 15's four-time defending Battle of the Books champion.
|
 Plum Grove seventh grader
excels at state geography bee
Shyam Sai, a seventh grader at Plum Grove Junior High, recently took 11th place in the Illinois National Geographic Bee, narrowly missing the competition's finals. To qualify to participate in the competition, Shyam first beat out nine other competitors in the finals of Plum Grove's geography bee. He then advanced to the state competition by scoring among the top 100 school geography bee winners on an extremely difficult written test. At the state competition, which was held April 4 at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Shyam made it all the way to a tie-breaker round, where he missed making the finals by just one question. Many of the participants in the Illinois National Geographic Bee are repeat winners and finalists. This, however, was Shyam's first opportunity to participate in the incredibly tough competition, and his wonderful accomplishment is all the more impressive considering geography is not a course offered at Plum Grove. He succeeded due to his own studies and his Scholastic Bowl training.
|
|
Community Consolidated School District 15
The mission of Community Consolidated School District 15 is:  "To produce world-class learners by building a connected learning community." Producing world-class learners in today's complex and fast-paced world is the single most important responsibility of the district. Schools, teachers, administrators, and support staff work together to ensure that all students enrolled in district schools receive the highest quality of educational opportunities that will not only enable them to meet or exceed state standards, but also will position them for success in future educational and career endeavors. Community Consolidated School District 15 is the third largest elementary district in Illinois, serving a diverse population in all or part of seven northwest suburban communities: Palatine, Rolling Meadows, Hoffman Estates, Inverness, South Barrington, Arlington Heights, and Schaumburg. District 15 has fifteen elementary schools, four junior high schools, and one preschool early childhood center and alternative public day school. For more information, please visit the District's website, www.ccsd15.net. |
|
|
| Be sure to check out the flyers from nonprofit groups, intergovernmental agencies, and other business partners online at www.ccsd15.net | Links | D15 E-Flyers.
|
CONNECTIONS is a quarterly newsletter for Community Consolidated School District 15 parents and the community. It is prepared by the Communications Department and is distributed via e-mail.
It can be viewed at www.ccsd15.net | Our Services | Communications Department |
|
An online version of District 15's 2013-14 Parent/Student Handbook can be viewed at www.ccsd15.net | For Parents/Students | Parent/Student Handbook. |
 Thank you
for joining
our e-mail list! | D15 E-News is published by the Communications Department and offers our school community a convenient way to stay informed about the positive events happening in the district. District 15 values your privacy, and does not sell, rent, or give any contact information for its students or families to outside parties. Questions?
Please contact
Sandy Cramer at cramers@ccsd15.net.
|
Community Consolidated
School District 15580 N. 1st Bank Dr. Palatine, IL 60067 847-963-3000 www.ccsd15.netBoard of EducationPeggy Babcock
PresidentRichard L. Bokor Vice PresidentJames G. Ekeberg SecretaryScott Herr Gerard Iannuzzelli David W. Seiffert Manjula Sriram
Superintendent of SchoolsScott B. Thompson, Ed.D.
|
|
|
|
