2/1/19
In This Issue


Maximizing the academic, social & emotional potential of each student.

Dear Friend of CCSD93,
How Do We Decide When to Close Schools?   
What a week! In my 40+ years in education, this was one of the strangest I've encountered from a weather standpoint. While I've shared with you in the past what to expect from us when we cancel school, I want to take this opportunity to give you insight into our decision-making process for closing schools.

As a public school district, our intention is always to hold school whenever possible. However, our primary concern is the safety of students, parents, and staff members. As we seek to fulfill our responsibility of educating our community's students while also ensuring the safety of those on our grounds, our goal is to notify parents as early as we can when schools will be closed.  
When Do We Make the Call the Morning Of?
We constantly monitor the weather, but as we all know, weather forecasts can change from day to day or even from hour to hour. If the forecast looks like there is a reasonable chance that students may be able to travel to school safely by foot, by bus, and by car, we may not be able to make a decision on closing school until early in the morning. As we consider safety, we factor in what the specific conditions are and what time they'll occur. During these circumstances, I participate in a conference call with Superintendent Larson from Glenbard District 87 and the superintendents of the other Glenbard feeder districts, and we coordinate closings when possible because we know that many of our parents are impacted by not only our decision, but Glenbard's as well.

This was the case Sunday night into Monday morning. It was an especially tough call because at the time we called school, a manageable amount of snow had accumulated, but there was still more forecasted to fall at a consistent rate throughout the rest of the morning. Ultimately, we erred on the side of student, parent, and staff safety because we had concerns about the roads as well as being able to clear the parking lots, side walks, and entrance ways to get students and faculty safely into our buildings.

I grew up in a household with two working parents, so I understand the frustrations this type of early morning decision can cause parents, but it is our duty to make an attempt to hold school if there's a reasonable opportunity to do so.

When Do We Make the Call a Day In Advance?
If a forecast is such that there is very little to no chance that we will avoid extreme cold, an abundance of snow, or any other severe inclement weather, we may cancel school a day in advance of the extreme weather event. We generally will not make the call farther than a day out because we want to ensure the forecast does not change. In the case of Wednesday and Thursday, we considered it one single weather event and made the call for both days on Tuesday.

How Do We Notify Parents Schools Are Closed?
We will always actively notify parents directly via call, text, email, and app push as soon as a decision has been made to close schools, in addition to posting to our website and social media. If you did not receive the call, text, or email on Monday or Wednesday when we canceled, please notify your child's school office and they will work with you to ensure your contact information is entered correctly into our system.

If School Is In Session, We Do Not Actively Notify Parents Directly
We do not actively notify parents directly when school is in session. It should always be assumed schools are open on school days unless you hear from us otherwise. When circumstances are such that we feel many parents may be wondering if school is in session, we do post that schools are open to our website and to social media for those who are seeking a confirmation or wondering if they somehow missed the notifications calling off school.
Former CCSD93 Students Participate  
in Terrific Civic Opportunity
Former CCSD93 student Jeromel Lara interviews DuPage County Board Chairman Dan Cronin.
Former CCSD93 student Arsima Araya recites a poem at U.S. Congressman Sean Caston's swearing-in ceremony.
CCSD93 School Board President Keith Briggs informed me that he witnessed two former CCSD93 and current Glenbard North students take on major responsibilities during an important civic event last Saturday. As Chief of Security for the DuPage County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, Mr. Briggs was asked by the county to work the security detail during new U.S. Congressman Sean Casten's swearing-in ceremony at the County Administration Building. There he saw current sophomore and former Jay Stream student Arsima Araya read a poem as part of the official ceremony. She was chosen by her teachers for the honor for her oratory skills.

He also witnessed current senior and former Stratford student Jeromel Lara covering the event as the Assistant Editor-in Chief of the school newspaper, The North Current . I'm told Jeromel will be headed to Harvard in the fall, and if you're looking to take a trip down memory lane, he's also worked on archiving every edition of The North Current into a digital format spanning the past 50 years, which you can find here.

The event was attended by hundreds, including several federal legislators. Mr. Briggs was thrilled to see the successes of former CCSD93 students firsthand. It speaks volumes to the skills of both students to take on such integral roles in an event like the swearing-in of a U.S. Congressman, regardless of political party. Congratulations to Jeromel and Arsima!
Spring Student/Parent/Teacher Conference  
Signup Coming 2/8 
Spring Student/Parent/Teacher Conferences are scheduled for evenings in early- to mid-March, with specific dates varying by school. All parents are invited to sign up for conferences online between noon on Friday, February 8 and noon the day before the conference by visiting this page.

To log in, you can use the credentials you created when scheduling your November Parent-Teacher Conferences from earlier in the school year. In some cases, teachers will contact parents directly to schedule conferences. If you're unsure whether a conference is needed, simply contact your child's teacher.

Children will attend school on conference days. To check for your child's conference dates, please visit your child's school website.

Register Your Child for Kindergarten 2/19 
Do you have a child who will be entering kindergarten next school year or know anyone who does? CCSD93 will hold Kindergarten Registration for the 2019-20 school year on Tuesday, February 19, 2019 at 6:30 p.m.

Registration will take place at all CCSD93 elementary schools. To enter kindergarten in the fall of 2019, children must be five years old on or before September 1, 2019.

For more information on Kindergarten Registration, visit www.ccsd93.com/kindergarten !

Para español, haga clic aquí. 
Have a Baby or One on the Way?  
Come, Learn, Earn a Free Car Seat!
CCSD93's Early Childhood Center is hosting a Think First for Babies series in partnership with Northwestern Medicine on Tuesdays in February to teach attendees about child development, safety, and healthy practices for infants.  

Click the image above to sign up. Attend all four sessions and earn a free car seat!
Want Your Child to be Bilingual? Learn About CCSD93's Dual Language Program 2/6 & 2/26 
CCSD93 will again offer its Dual Language program for interested incoming kindergarten students for the 2019-20 school year. Dual Language classrooms contain half English speaking students and half Spanish speaking students, and they are taught lessons in both English and Spanish. The goal is for these students to become fluent in both languages, which will be a great skill for them to have as our society becomes more and more global.

You can find out even more about the Dual Language program by attending either of the following identical meetings:
  • Wednesday, February 6 - 7 p.m. at CCSD93's District Office (230 Covington Drive in Bloomingdale)
  • Tuesday, February 26 - 7 p.m. at CCSD93's District Office
For more on the program, view this video:

 
 
2/7 Board of Education Meeting Preview  
Gavel
The next CCSD93 Board of Education meeting will be held Thursday, February 7 at CCSD93's District Office, 230 Covington Drive in Bloomingdale. All community members are invited to attend. The following are among the agenda items.
  • The Board will review preliminary student assignment and staffing plans for 2019-20.
  • There will be a presentation on multi-age learning in CCSD93.
  • The Board will review their revised Board Goals.
  • There will be a discussion on polling places in CCSD93.
  • The Board will review two revised Board Policies for second reading:
    • 270.01 - Organizational Board Meetings
    • 435 - Transportation
  • The Board will review a recommended 2019-20 school calendar with a recommendation to approve it.
  • The Board will vote on the approval of a conference expense report.
Thank You, Buildings & Grounds and Custodians 
Before I conclude, I want to thank our Buildings & Grounds crew and custodial staff members for ensuring our buildings are safe and ready for students and staff members despite weather like we've had the past few weeks.

The Buildings & Grounds staff members arrive as early as 3 a.m. to plow, with head custodians arriving an hour or two later to shovel, scrape, and salt entrances. They work as late into the evening as needed, sometimes putting in 14+ hour days to ensure our school grounds are ready to go.

Even when we close schools, the Buildings & Grounds crew work in rotations to walk each building twice per day, inspecting every room and every space in each building for damage and necessary repairs. They perform thorough checks of each building's HVAC equipment, ensuring it is in working order and helping to address anything that needs attention. One of our staff members even came in this week despite his own furnace breaking down.

I thank all of our Buildings & Grounds and custodial staff members for their incredible commitment to providing a safe environment for our students and staff members.

Have a wonderful weekend! 

Sincerely, 

Bill Shields, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools
CCSD93






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