MESSAGE FROM BOARD PRESIDENT JOHN KENWOOD

on behalf of the Board of Education

I hope everyone is having a great summer.  Our family just hiked some incredible trails in Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park.  The red, orange, and white colors of the Hoodoos are formed through millions of years of frost thaw cycles, erosion of the rivers, and lake bed sedimentary rocks.  Ask your fourth grader after they have taken geology in school to explain it.  I hope you all get a chance to enjoy these wonderful mountains.   

As the district continues to adopt technology, we are using the summer months to refresh our policy and instructional use of technology.  This involves implementing new tools to protect our children on the internet, as well as new procedures and policies for using technology in the schools.

Several days ago, you received an email from Dr. Gordon inviting you to one of three Technology Listening Sessions.  I am writing to further express the importance of these sessions.  If you are available, I hope you will consider attending.

The Listening Session discussions will influence how the School Board proceeds with a new Acceptable Use of Technology policy for the district.  We will be addressing questions such as:

• How are students using technology at home and in school to enhance learning?

• What support/education do parents, students and staff need to create a safer internet learning environment?

• What would you specifically want to see in a policy to help manage the use of technology (i.e. personal devices/cell phones) in the grade schools and at the junior high level?

Our goal is to have a new technology policy in place for the beginning of this coming school year.

The use of technology can be vastly different from family to family and from teacher to teacher. I look forward to coming together on this important topic. We have a lot to learn from each other. 

All sessions will be held at Hadley in the Library Media Center. 

Monday, July 28, 7 p.m.

Wednesday, July 30, 7 p.m.

Saturday, August 2, 8:30 a.m.

In order to plan for space, the central services office asks that you please reserve your spot at http://www.d41.org/cls.htm 

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the role of technology in our schools. 

Sincerely,

John Kenwood

President

Glen Ellyn School District 41 Board of Education