Hello, our August newsletter is here!

August 5th

August 10th

August 16th

August 23rd

August 29th

ECHO Alternative School and STARQuest Regional Safe Schools have completed another academic year! We would like to thank our students, staff, families, friends, home school districts, and community members for

helping to make it a success.

Registration dates for returning students (students who ended the year with us) are on the following dates:

Friday, August 4 and Monday, August 7 from 9:00 am-2:00 pm

Returning students need to enroll with their home school district and have a new referral form on file with us prior to our registration dates. For more information, please contact Cortney Hale, Principal at [email protected].

CASEL SEL FELLOW ACADEMY

Our SEL Culture and Climate Coach, Crystal Newcomb, has been selected for the CASEL SEL Fellow Academy! Launched in 2020 by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning with seed funding from The Allstate Foundation, the SEL Fellows Academy is a unique opportunity for rural, suburban, and urban community leaders to strengthen their SEL expertise with those in similar roles across the country. Congratulations Crystal, and we can’t wait to see how this will strengthen the SEL guidance in our community!

Check out these quick and easy how-to videos from ELIS to prepare for the new school year!

How to Create an ELIS Account

How to Navigate Your ELIS Account

How to Register Your Professional Educator License (PEL) in ELIS

How to Renew Your Professional Educator License (PEL) in ELIS

How to Apply for a Substitute License

Please share this news with anyone who will find it helpful, and note that this continues to be a resource that is IN PROGRESS. If you would like to contribute to our guide with new or updated resources, please check out our Resource Guide Submission Form.

Head to the Regional Office of Education #21, Community Prevention Resources, and the McKinney-Vento Homeless Program (Area 6) websites for more information.

To check out the NEW search feature, visit whoiscpr.com or scan the

QR code below!

The Illinois Youth Survey (IYS) registration is coming up! The IYS gathers health and social indicator data that can help schools and communities better understand their students’ home life, social needs, school culture, substance use, etc. This data is intended to inform school and community programming, grant writing, and overall awareness.

The IYS will be available for 8th, 10th, and 12th graders from January to May and schools can begin registration in September through iys.cprd.illinois.edu.

Pro Tip: STUDENT PARTICIPATION = DATA CONFIDENCE, so be sure to prioritize a date now that will support the best participation rate to ensure confidence in your data later. If you have questions or need help, please contact Kate West or Samantha Lampley at [email protected].

Summer 2023 has been busy in the Franklin County Regional Delivery (FCRDS) Office as well as throughout ROE #21! So many of us have been writing grant applications for renewals of current grants as well as researching other grant opportunities and writing new grant applications.

One of those new opportunities for CTE is the State Manufacturing, Engineering, Technology and Trades (METT) Career Pathway Grant for Fiscal Year 2024. It will provide funding directly to eligible recipients to support planning and implementation of new METT Career Pathway Programs. The FCRDS METT Grant proposes to start two new regional programs for Franklin County High School students – Carpentry and Machine Shop Technology. We already have students who are interested and have registered through their local high schools for both programs! A great deal of research and planning has been devoted to program development and application completion. Efforts are continuing as we strive to identify the best instructors for these new programs and assist the perspective teachers in acquiring CTE Licensure if they do not already have those credentials.

In addition, new Purchasing Procedures have been developed and approved by the FCRDS Board of Control. Materials are being developed and meetings scheduled with high school personnel to explain the new processes and the benefits to be achieved as implementation begins in August 2023. Through the guidance and expertise of Alison Cross, FCRDS Fiscal Agent, these enhanced procedures will streamline and increase the efficiency and timeliness of purchases made with CTEI and Perkins Grant funds in the

2023-2024 school year.

Who is eligible by law?

All children and youth who don’t have a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, such as those living:

In an emergency or transitional shelter, with friends or relatives due to loss of housing or economic hardship (also known as doubled up.)
In a motel, hotel, campground, car, bus or train station or other public place, an abandoned building.
In inadequate accommodations, such as no utilities or running water, no working kitchen, infestations/mold/vermin, number of bodies vs. beds
As an Unaccompanied Youth, including youth who are not in the physical custody of a parent or guardian.

Once referred to the ROE for intervention, a student should have appropriate medical documentation required to excuse future absences. The only exception should be in a case where the student is chronically absent without parent contact (and thus truant on all those days).

For more information on the referral process, visit the PACT page on

ROE #21's website.