The first day of classes in Community Consolidated School District 15 is set for Monday, August 25, for Grades 1-8, and Tuesday, August 26, for kindergarten and early childhood students.

Before classes convene, students and their families will be able to visit their schools to meet their teachers or walk their schedules. 

District 15's junior highs are offering "Walk Your Schedule" opportunities on Thursday, August 21, from 1-2 p.m.

All of the District's elementary schools have scheduled "Meet Your Teacher" opportunities on Friday, August 22, from 1:30-2:30 p.m., except for Stuart R. Paddock School, which will hold its event from 1-2 p.m.

"Meet Your Teacher" opportunities for students attending John G. Conyers Learning Academy are as follows: 

• ACES/Multiple Needs/Second Chance classes -- Friday, August 22, from 1-2 p.m.
• Early Childhood/ECDEC classes -- Monday, August 25, from 1-2 p.m.

For more information, please contact your child's school. 

Your child's class assignment or schedule and a variety of other important back-to-school information such as school rules and procedures, District and school calendars, principal letters, and PTA information will be mailed to you in early August. If you have not received this packet by Monday, August 18, please contact your school. 

School supply lists for each school are available from the schools and are posted on each school's page on the District 15 website at www.ccsd15.net | Our Schools.

District 15 students are entitled to bus transportation at no charge if they are residents of the District and live more than 1½ miles from the District-assigned school they will attend, or in an area declared to be hazardous as determined by the Illinois Department of Transportation. 

All bus assignments, as well as routes and stops, are determined by the Transportation Department, which will send in mid August letters detailing this information to parents whose children ride school buses. This information includes the student's morning and afternoon route numbers, the student's bus stop location, and the approximate times that the bus will pick up and drop off the student. Parents are asked to be sure the information on the bus assignment is accurate. If the information is not correct, or if you have not received it by Monday, August 18, please contact your school or the Transportation Department at 847-963-3900.  

District 15 charges a book rental, material, and technology fee to help defray costs. Book/material/technology fees for the 2014-15 school year are:

• Kindergarten -- $60
• Grades 1-6 -- $120
• Grades 7-8 -- $135

Other student fees are optional. They include interscholastic sports ($85/sport/year or $175 maximum/student/year, nonrefundable) and/or paid transportation fees for students living less than 1½ miles from school. 

Student fee statements will be mailed to families at the end of August, and must be paid by November 1, 2014. A late fee of $50 per student will be charged for all student fees paid after November 1. 

Fees may be paid by cash, check, or credit card. Cash payments should be made by the parent in the office of the child's attendance school, where a payment receipt will be issued. Check payments are processed through the check processing center of the District's bank and should be mailed to Community Consolidated School District 15, 36246 Treasury Center, Chicago, IL 60694-6200. Credit card payments may be submitted online by visiting ccsd15.revtrak.net. Parents who do not have Internet access may come to the District 15 office at 580 N. 1st Bank Dr., Palatine, to process their credit card payments. 

The price of a school lunch in District 15 will increase slightly for the 2014-15 school year due to requirements of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010.  

The act requires schools to increase pricing annually to minimize the difference between the cost of a paid lunch and the federal reimbursement received for a free lunch for those who qualify.

The price changes for the 2014-15 school year are as follows:  

For more information, contact your child's school or School Nutrition Services at 847-963-3928. 

This year, all students who use the District's Mealtime program to purchase their breakfasts and lunches will be issued new personal identification numbers (PINs). 

In fact, the new PINs will be the students' six-digit District ID numbers, which can be found on their teacher assignment sheets that will be mailed home this month.

Parents are encouraged to review these numbers with their children before school begins, as students who purchase their lunches will be required to enter their new PINs on a keypad at the end of the serving line. (Staff will be available to help students who need assistance.) 

This change will help the District implement a new version of its Mealtime program in November. The new, improved, web-based program will feature touch-screen monitors, and it will be more efficient and better suited for the District's needs. 

Although the Mealtime PINs and program are set to change, the procedures for purchasing a lunch or breakfast will not. Students' accounts will continue to be automatically debited and their new balances will continue to be shown after they enter their PINs at the end of the serving line. Parents will still be able to make deposits to their children's accounts through Mealtime's online system, too, and the new system will reflect those payments just minutes after parents complete their transactions. Mealtime will still charge a convenience fee for deposits made online, as well, and parents will still have the option to send payments via check or cash directly to the schools their children attend. 

For more information, contact School Nutrition Services at 847-963-3929. 

New physical exams and immunization records are required for all kindergarten and sixth-grade students, as well as students who are new to District 15. 

The health exam form, completed and signed by a health care provider, must be dated within one year prior to the first day of school. The parent/guardian completes and signs the Health History section of the form.

Exams must include diabetes screening and lead screening for children who are 6 years old or younger. A tuberculosis (TB) skin test is recommended.  

Additionally, changes in Illinois' vaccine requirements for students for the 2014-15 school year include: 

• Rubella: Children entering school at any grade level (kindergarten through 12) shall show proof of having received two doses of live rubella virus vaccine.
• Mumps: Children entering school at any grade level (kindergarten through 12) shall show proof of having received two doses of live mumps virus vaccine.
• Varicella: Any child entering kindergarten, sixth grade, or ninth grade for the first time shall show proof of having received two doses of varicella vaccine. 

In accordance with Illinois' student health requirements, such students who do not provide new physical exams and immunization records by October 15, 2014, will not be permitted to attend classes.  

Certificate of Child Health Examination forms are available in the school office and online at www.ccsd15.net | Our Services | Health Services | Required Health Exams and Immunization Recording.

Physicals required before
athletes can try out for sports

Junior high athletes must pass physicals before they can try out for an interscholastic sport -- cross country, girls' basketball, boys' basketball, wrestling, volleyball, track and field, cheerleading, and pom squad.

A Certificate of Child Health Examination form, completed and signed by a health care provider, must be dated within one year prior to the start of practice or tryouts, and must be filed in the school nurse's office before the student can try out.

Certificate of Child Health Examination forms are available in the school office and online at www.ccsd15.net | Our Services | Instructional Services | Curriculum & Instruction | Physical Education | Junior High Athletic Physicals. 

Jenny Garcia-Macko

Earlier this summer, District 15 announced that Jenny Garcia-Macko will serve as principal at Central Road School this year.  

Ms. Garcia-Macko has served in District 15 for the past eight years as a second language facilitator and textbook adoption support coordinator. Prior to that, she served for six years as a bilingual resource teacher at Jane Addams School. She began her teaching career in Sterling, serving for two years as a TPI tutor at Sterling High School before moving on to serve for five years as a teacher at Washington School.

Ms. Garcia-Macko holds a bachelor's degree in music from Illinois Wesleyan, and two master's degrees -- one in teaching from Aurora University, and the other in administration from Northern Illinois University. 

Earlier this summer, District 15 appointed two new assistant principals for the 2014-15 school year.

Shannon Loughlin

Lincoln School

Shannon Loughlin will serve as the new assistant principal at Lincoln School.  

Ms. Loughlin has served for the past year as a student services learning coordinator in North Shore School District 112. Prior to that, she served for five years as a learning behavior specialist at Highcrest Middle School in Wilmette School District 39, and for two years as a special education teacher at the Mansion High School in Naperville.

Ms. Loughlin holds a bachelor's degree in special education from Illinois State University, and a master's degree in school leadership from Concordia University. Ms. Loughlin is also certified as an Exceptional Needs Specialist by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.

Karen Daly

Virginia Lake School

Karen Daly will serve as the new assistant principal at Virginia Lake School.  

Ms. Daly has served for the past four years as the mentoring coordinator in Wheeling Community Consolidated School District 21, acting as the site coordinator for the Illinois State University College of Education's Professional Development School, and leading District 21's peer mentoring program. She has also served as a District 21 summer school principal for two years, a summer school professional development coordinator for eight years, and as one of its reading and language arts instructional specialists for three years. In addition to these administrative roles, Ms. Daly has served for seven years as a sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade classroom teacher in District 21 and at ISU's Metcalf Laboratory School. 

Ms. Daly holds a bachelor's degree in English education from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and two master's degrees -- one in curriculum and instruction from Illinois State University, and one in educational organizational leadership from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.