The final contract agreement between the District 15 Board of Education and the Classroom Teachers' Council (CTC) has been posted on the District's website, www.ccsd15.net.

The contract can be viewed here along with an executive summary highlighting its key components.
 
The contract was developed through a six-month negotiation process that began in October, and it was ratified by the CTC and approved by a unanimous Board of Education vote in April.

While the great majority of the contract reflects terms and conditions from the District's prior negotiated agreement with the CTC (2012-2016), it includes a longer term for greater stability and a few significant cost-saving actions, as well as some important enhancements and revisions to address the best interests of all District 15 stakeholders -- students, teachers, parents, and taxpayers.

"We are very pleased to have come to a fair and fiscally responsible long-term agreement," said Peggy Babcock, District 15 Board of Education President. "Our goal was to ensure our ability to continue to deliver and enhance the high-quality educational programs and services our community has come to expect from our District, while safeguarding its long-term financial health. This 10-year contract puts in place the kind of long-term fiscal planning that allows us to secure the future for our students and community."

Kinllen P., an eighth grader at Winston Campus Junior High, recently capped off his career as a District 15 student with impressive performances at the Raytheon MATHCOUNTS National Competition and the state "You Be the Chemist" Challenge.

Infinitec North, the assistive technology program of United Cerebral Palsy of Greater Chicago, presented Sean N., a seventh grader at Carl Sandburg Junior High, with its 2016 Technology Achievement Award during its annual awards banquet held April 21 at The Cotillion in Palatine.
 
Sean was nominated for this award, which honors students who have demonstrated outstanding achievements using assistive technology, by Gianna Guskey, his vision teacher; Lauren Cook, his speech/language pathologist; and Karen Aprile, his special education teacher.
 
"Sean is a loveable, sometimes stubborn, funny, and smart 12-year-old boy who enjoys communicating all he knows to his peers, teachers, and family," said Mrs. Aprile. "His best characteristic is his desire to communicate and share his sense of humor and knowledge with everyone."
 
Diagnosed with Down Syndrome, hypotonia, autism, and impaired vision, Sean participates in a self-contained multiple needs classroom at Sandburg by using the Tobii Dynavox Compass app on an iPad to express himself independently. Using this assistive technology, he answers "Who, What, When, Where, and Why?" questions, expresses his wants and needs throughout his daily routines, participates in instructional activities, interacts with his classmates and teachers, and displays his unique sense of humor and loveable personality. He has also increased his verbalizations since he began using this technology, as he is now able to vocalize many words and put together two- to four-word phrases.

Read more about the Infinitec Technology Achievement Award.

On April 30, teams from five District 15 elementary schools gathered at Central Road School to compete in the Sixth Annual District 15 Battle of the Books' final round. At the end of the day, Hunting Ridge School emerged victorious.
 
It was Hunting Ridge's second consecutive win in the competition.
 
Members of Hunting Ridge's Battle of the Books team are third graders Justyna B. and Sophia D., and fifth graders Hanna O., Ishaan R., Bill S., Megan W., and Sophia Z. Hunting Ridge teachers Deb Oltman and Sonia Nilsen coached the team.
 
Overall, 320 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 30 challenged the winning teams against each other in another four-round contest that crowned Hunting Ridge as District 15's 2016 Battle of the Books champion.