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On the Horizon
April 23: Early Release Day
April 26: Edgewood French Cafe, 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
May 7: Board of Education meeting, 7 p.m.
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 Shining Light Congratulations to Elm Place 8th-grader Joey Sereda, who scored in the top 100 of geography bee school winners in the state to qualify as a semifinalist to compete in the 2013 Illinois National Geographic Bee, held on April 5 at the College of DuPage. In each of the 50 states the National Geographic Society invited the students with the top 100 scores to compete at the state level. This is the second year in a row that Joey has qualified and this year he was accompanied to the bee by Elm Place social studies teacher Leslie Jaffe. At the state meet, Joey scored a perfect 8 in the preliminary round qualifying him for a tie-breaking semi final round to determine the top 10 finalists. Although he just missed the final round, he enjoyed the competition and met many other students who are passionate about geography. Congratulations to
Oak Terrace School, which won the "Be an Education Champion with Box Tops for Education" award. The award was given for the school's use of box tops earnings to help fund after-school science programs for low-income students. The school received 20,000 Box Tops, worth $2,000 from the General Mills Box Tops for Education program.
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Foundation News
Thank you to Ravinia Festival for another outstanding partnership program. This year, four elementary schools (Ravinia, Wayne Thomas, Red Oak and Sherwood) were treated to performances by Opera for Kids and the South Shore Opera. Following a month of working with guest conductor Javier Mendoza, middle school orchestras treated families and community members to an incredible performance on April 12. Caring cards are a wonderful way to honor or recognize that special teacher or staff member. Order forms are on the website. Grants in ActionThere is still time for April in Paris! If you missed Chez Northwood or La Fleur de Paris at Elm Place, you can still visit Café Edgewood on Friday, April 26th from 8-11:30 am. These French cafes, supported by a 112 Education Foundation Grant, are designed to give all middle school French students an authentic real-world experience in which to speak French and explore French culture. Don't miss out on this great opportunity to see how the monies raised through vehicle stickers enrich our students' educational experience. Be sure to check the Foundation website and Facebook page for updates on all 112 Education Foundation Programs, including information to be posted soon about this summer's Kids Go Classic Concert: WebsiteFacebook |
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The View is the electronic newsletter of North Shore School District 112. You're receiving this because you indicated that you would like to receive district email communications. You may unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link at the bottom of this page.
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April Board Highlights
New Administrators Hired
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Jennifer Ferrari
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Jim Kallieris
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At a special meeting April 2, board members voted to approve the hiring of Northwood Principal Jennifer Ferrari as the new Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning, Jim Kallieris as the new principal of Oak Terrace, and Nick Demchenko as Edgewood associate principal. All appointments are effective July 1.
District Wins Meritorious Budget Award
North Shore School District 112 has received the
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Board President Dr. Bruce Hyman and District CFO Mohsin Dada
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Meritorious Budget Award for excellence in budget presentation from the Association of School Business Officials International.
The district was one of just 12 school districts in Illinois and 121 in the country to receive the award, designed to recognize a standard of excellence in budget presentation. Association officials said the district earned the award because its final budget was presented in a way that can be understood by the layperson while including sufficient information so a detail-oriented expert can understand the budgeting process used by the district.
"Providing accessible, transparent and understandable information about our budget is a key goal for our board," said North Shore School District 112 Board President Bruce Hyman. "We are fortunate to have a community that values and supports education, and it is our responsibility to provide our staekholders with resources to help them understand how their tax dollars are spent. This award affirms that we are meeting that goal."
The budget document can be found on the district website at this link.
Board Recognition Board members recognized students in the Elm Place Community Problem Solving Group and their teacher Suzanne Greenwald at its April 2 meeting, and the students at Lincoln School who are part of the Lincoln Service Club at its April 16 meeting. The ten Elm Place students recently took first place
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Lincoln Principal Claire Kowalczyk, Dr. Hyman, Dr. Behlow, Lincoln Service Club parent advisers Kim Mathews and Diane DeBell with students in the club.
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in the Illinois Community Problem Solving Competition. The team includes five students in rural Jordan. Together, they use books to build bridges of friendship and to improve critical thinking skills. The project with the Jordanian students is being facilitated by former Elm Place student Emily Scott, now a Peace Corps volunteer in Jordan. Students at both schools are selecting and sending books to each other. The Elm Place students sent picture books that promote higher-level thinking to their Jordanian teammates, who translated them into Arabic and read them to younger classmates. Soon the Jordanian students will send books to their Elm Place teammates which they will share with other District 112 students. The Elm Place and Jordanian students communicate weekly via Skype.
The Lincoln School students were recognized at the April 16 meeting for the extensive charitable work they have done through the Lincoln Service Club, including food collections for Moraine Township Food Pantry, book collections for Bernie's Book Bank, a winter coat collection for Oak Terrace, making fleece blankets for dogs at Tails of Hope, cards for Highland Park Hospital's meal trays and many other projects.Board PresentationsThe innovative Use of iPads to Deliver Speech-Language ServicesOpportunities for Advanced Learning 2013-2014
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Committee Hears Presentation on Alternative School Configurations
While all schools in North Shore School District 112 serve students in buildings that house grades K-5 or 6-8, many suburban districts have moved to different configuration models. Some have restructured their schools to serve grades K-2, 3-5, 6-8, others have schools that serve grades K-4, 5-6, 7-8, some have schools for grades K-2, 3-4, 5-8, and still others have K-8 schools. Financial constraints and population changes are often instigating factors that cause districts to reconsider how to most efficiently use their buildings.
Those are just a few facts that committee members studying configuration in District 112 learned at a presentation earlier this month. Five panelists spoke to the Configuration Models Subcommittee of the Superintendent's Citizen Finance and Facilities Advisory Committee (SCFFAC), which has been meeting since November to study and develop options to share with the larger community for how the district can best meet its facility and financial challenges.
Panelists included administrators from three nearby districts that have gone through changes in their configurations, along with two current District 112 principals, Craig Keer and Claire Kowalczyk, who came from other districts that changed grade structures.
The panelists all shared stories about the process of change in their districts and the resulting beneficial outcomes despite initial community opposition. Some of the main points made by panelists included:
- There is no definitive research that indicates one single configuration model works better than any other.
- The ideal school should have at least 4-5 sections per grade level in order to offer students the best possible educational experience. When schools have too few sections per grade, it is more challenging to do flexible grouping, to schedule appropriately and to place children with teachers and classmates who are a good fit.
- It makes sense for a district to choose a configuration model that allows it to be as financially efficient as possible, sore more resources can be directed toward student learning.
Read more Have questions about district facilities or the work of the Superintendent's Citizen Finance and Facilities Advisory Committee? Email them to facilities@nssd112.org, and answers will be posted on the district website and in future issues of The View. |
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Ravinia Festival guest conductor Javier Jose Mendoza with district middle school students
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Orchestra students from Edgewood, Elm Place and Northwood gave a spectacular performance last Friday at Ravinia Festival's Bennett Gordon Hall. Thanks to a partnership between the Ravinia Reach*Teach*Play Program and the 112 Education Foundation which goes back more than a decade, district middle school students had the opportunity to work with top-notch Chicago-area musicians and perform in a professional venue.
The sixth-grade orchestra students performed an arrangement of A Night at the Opera by Giuseppe Verdi and Giacomo Puccini, and Gargoyles by Doug Spata. The 112 Honors Ensemble performed Mozart's Overture to Lucio Silla, and the seventh and eighth grade orchestras performed Puccini's "O Mio Babbino Caro" and Verdi's Triumphal March from Aida.
The students were directed and conducted by Javier Jose Mendoza, who is the Music Director and Conductor of the Chicago Arts Orchestra. Guest musicians accompanying the students included Julia Birnbaum on violin, Becca Wilcox on viola, Emily Hu on cello and Roland Moyer on bass.
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District Receives Bright Red Apple Award
North Shore School District 112 received the Illinois School District Bright Red Apple Award for educational excellence from SchoolSearch, an educational
research and consulting firm. The district was one of just 78 Illinois school districts out of 866 statewide to receive the award.
The award is based on criteria that include strong academic performance, low pupil/teacher ratio, sufficient operating expenditure per pupil and the strength of the teaching staff. SchoolSearch is based in Kansas City, MO, and provides information to help families make informed school choices.
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