May 17, 2023

At the May 16 Barrington 220 Board of Education meeting, the Board recognized three Barrington High School journalism students who were recently named state champions. Sahil Mittal, Hanna Faulkner, and Jacob Feightner took first place in the "TV News" category in the IHSA Journalism competition. Their winning submission, which was put together under a tight deadline, helped them defeat 21 other teams from around the state. Mittal, Faulkner, and Feightner are all students in the nationally recognized BHS-TV program. Click here to view the recognition at the Board meeting.

The Board also recognized BHS junior Neha Doppalapudi for earning one of 12 spots on the 2023 Illinois Journalism Education Association All-State Journalism Team. This is the first time a BHS student has earned this recognition. The team recognizes students who have proven themselves indispensable to their respective school media (e.g., yearbook, print or online newspaper, print or online newsmagazine, broadcast or other journalist media). Neha is the Editor-in-Chief of the BHS student newspaper, The RoundUp. Click here to view the recognition at the Board meeting.

At the May 16 Board meeting, the Board recognized Derek Contreras Lopez, who received the 2023 Infinitec Technology Award. Derek is a 2nd-grade student at Arnett C. Lines Elementary. This honor is awarded to students who have demonstrated outstanding achievement in overcoming challenges and accomplishing personal goals using assistive technology. Derek uses a specialized app on his iPad to support his communication. Click here to watch a video about Derek! Click here to view the recognition at the Board meeting.

At the May 16 Board meeting, the Board recognized BHS student Katherine Zhang, who received this year's Superintendent Art Award from Dr. Winkelman. The artwork was made with oil paint and is a play on the word jam (food) and jam (music). Click here to learn more about the piece. It will be on display at the District Administrative Center for the next year. Click here to view the recognition at the Board meeting.

At the May 16 Board meeting, the Board approved several administrator hires for the 2023-24 school year.

• Zach Ernst will be the district's new Director of School Improvement beginning July 1. He has served as the Hough Street Principal since the 2020-21 school year. Learn more about Mr. Ernst.

• Jim Aalfs will be the new Principal of Hough Street Elementary for the 2023-24 school year. Aalfs has served as the Principal at Station Campus since the 2020-21 school year. He previously served as the Hough Street Principal for seven years. Learn more about Mr. Aalfs.

• Chad May will be the new Principal at Station Campus beginning July 1. May has served as Station's Assistant Principal of Curriculum, Instruction & Student Services for the past 12 years. Learn more about Mr. May.

• Antonio Diaz will be the new Assistant Principal at Sunny Hill Elementary School beginning July 1. He comes to Barrington 220 from Community Consolidated School District 89 where he is an Assistant Principal. Learn more about Mr. Diaz.

• Kat Romero will be the district's new Director of Student Services for grades 6-12 beginning July 1. She comes to Barrington 220 from Huntley Community School District 158 where she is the Director of Secondary Special Services. Learn more about Ms. Romero.

• Kerri McCastland will be the district's new Executive Director of Instructional Programs and Future Readiness beginning July 1. McCastland comes to Barrington 220 from Central School District 301, where she is the Director of College & Career Readiness, CTE Curriculum Director and Post-Secondary Partners. Learn more about Ms. McCastland.

In his Superintendent's Report at the May 16 Board meeting, Dr. Winkelman shared the following updates with the Board of Education:

• Recent data from the Illinois State Board of Education shows that between 2012 and 2022, Illinois saw the largest 10-year increase of any state in percentage of high school graduates taking an AP exam and scoring a 3 or higher on an AP exam. Specifically at BHS, between 2012 and 2022, the number of students taking an AP exam increased from 393 to 462, and the number of students earning a 3 or higher increased from 334 to 405. In addition, since 2012 BHS has increased the number of Dual Credit courses offered from 0 to 21, and the number of students taking Dual Credit courses from 0 to 683. Both AP exams and Dual Credit courses provide students the opportunity to earn college credit while still in high school.

• This school year four BHS students were named U.S. Presidential Scholar Candidates. They were among 5,000 students out of roughly 3.6 million who were named as candidates for the prestigious award, which honors graduating high school seniors with superior achievements in academics, leadership, and community involvement. Each year the Commission on Presidential Scholars selects approximately 600 of the candidates to be semifinalists and less than 200 to be finalists. Congrats to Evan Cui, Alana Hamwi, Leo Lai, and James Zhang on being selected as candidates!

Educational Foundation shares update on major projects

At the May 16 Board meeting, the Board heard an update from the Barrington 220 Educational Foundation about its latest projects to support the district. The Foundation is currently supporting the new BHS Culinary Internship Program which begins this fall, where students will be able to learn professional culinary skills and techniques such as proper knife use, food safety, menu planning, cooking techniques, hospitality management, the economics of food, marketing, and more. In addition, the Foundation will be funding several major projects which will be piloted mostly at the elementary level. Those projects include: Amira, Writable, VEX Go Education Kits, and the Creativity Project. Click here to learn more about each project. Click here to listen to the presentation.

At the May 16 Board meeting, the Department of Student Services and Support provided an update on the Barrington Transition Program (BTP), which serves students who qualify for special education services, have been deemed appropriate to continue their education in the area of transition activities by their IEP team, and are between the ages of 18-22 years old. Currently, the program utilizes a renovated space inside an office complex located at 1525 S. Grove Avenue. In order to accommodate increasing enrollment and to provide more opportunities for students, the program will expand to an adjoining office suite next school year. The Student Services & Support Department recently gathered feedback from stakeholders about what they would like to see in the new space. It will include a state-of-the-art vocational lab for in-house job training. BTP students operate a micro-business called Barrkington's, where they make dog toys and accessories. Click here to listen to the presentation.

At the May 16 Board meeting, the Board said goodbye to BHS Junior Olivia Felfe, who served as the BHS Student Council Board Liaison for the 2022-23 school year. Melissa Guo, who is currently a junior, will fill the position for the 2023-24 school year. The role of the Student Council Board Liaison is to provide high school updates to the Board of Education at meetings. Pictured: Olivia (left) and Melissa (right).