Keeneyville School District

Keeneyville School District 20

5540 Arlington Drive E

Hanover Park, IL 60133

Phone Number (630) 894-2250

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April 3, 2017

Spring Wood Middle School Band Concert, March 16, 2017

Ignite the power and potential of each student!

Dr. Connolly, pictured above, was a guest reader during Read Across America events held at Greenbrook and Waterbury Elementary Schools.

While the weather wasn't as nice as it could have been, I hope that everyone had an enjoyable Spring Break and are ready to go as we head into the final stretch of the 2016-2017 school year. The spring ahead will be an exciting one with many opportunities for our students to grow and learn and end the year on a strong academic and social emotional footing.

In the next several weeks, students in grades three through eight will sit for the annual Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) test. We are confident that our students are well prepared for the rigors of this state mandated assessment, and ask that you take just a few moments to encourage your child to do their best and show what they know!

We are also growing more excited by the day as our first district musical production of Wizard of Oz: Young Performers Edition draws nearer. A cast of over 80 students is set and they are working hard at rehearsals. Please see additional details on performance dates below.

Let's have a great April and welcome in the spring weather while watching our trees and flowers come back to life!

Sincerely,

Dr. Michael Connolly

Superintendent

P.S. We are always looking for ways to make sure this newsletter is read by parents and community members so feel free to forward this email on to someone who may be interested in signing up to receive them by clicking the sign up link on our District Home Page.

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Follow the Yellow Brick Road...

Keeneyville District 20 launches its theater program in May with four performances of The Wizard of Oz: Young Performers Edition at Lake Park High School West Campus. Auditions were held in February and rehearsals are well underway! The program, open to fifth through eighth grade students, provides an opportunity for cast members to express themselves as actors, singers, stage designers, make up artists and musicians.

The program is directed by District 20 music teachers, Ms. Hughes (Waterbury Elementary School) and Mr. Logan (Spring Wood Middle School).

Wizard of Oz Performance Schedule:

Thursday	May 11	7:00 p.m.
Friday	May 12	7:00 p.m.
Saturday	May 13	3:00 & 7:00 p.m.

School District 20 News

School District 20 Board of Education Briefs for March

The Keeneyville Board of Education held its regular board meeting on Thursday, March 23. Board business included:

Recognition of: Jennifer Lowe, Greenbrook ELL Teacher; Terry Karner, Spring Wood Eighth Grade Teacher; Mark Bocian, Spring Wood Assistant Principal; Rocio Becceril, Immigration Attorney and Tiffany VanderVeen, Waterbury Third Grade Teacher.
Presentation provided by the Faubourg Theater Group regarding the Literacy Through the Arts summer program.
Approval of several routine business items including health, dental, and life insurance and Internet, phone, and mobile phone service for the 2017-2018 school year.
Approval of renewed usage agreement of Spring Wood Middle School for Emilia Platter Polish School for the 2017-2018 school year.
Approval of the district staffing plan for the 2017-2018 school year.

The next regular meeting of the District 20 Board of Education will be held on Thursday, April 27.

A Visit with State Representative Mussman

State Representative Michelle Mussman, pictured above center, met with school officials at Spring Wood Middle School on March 20.

The State of Illinois continues to live through highly uncertain times as it relates to its budget and funding of public schools. Recently, a School Funding Panel was created in the Illinois House of Representatives to continue to look at the issue of adequate and fair funding of all Illinois public schools and State Representative Michelle Mussman was selected to serve on that panel.

State Representative Mussman is the home Representative for Keeneyville District 20 and graciously accepted an invitation to meet with Dr. Connolly and a dozen other superintendents and school business officials from across DuPage County at Spring Wood Middle School on Monday, March 20.

In a very frank and productive conversation, Representative Mussman discussed the work ahead for the House Panel and the challenges ahead in forming legislation that will adequately fund all Illinois schools for 2017-2018 and into the future while also advocating for property tax relief.

All present committed to continue to work with Rep. Mussman and her colleagues on the House Panel in support of adequate and equitable funding for all Illinois public schools.

We thank Representative Mussman for her willingness to visit Keeneyville and engaging in this very important conversation.

Spring Wood Middle School

Hosts Band Concert

Spring Wood Middle School students demonstrated their tremendous musical talent during a band concert held on March 16. Under the direction of Mr. Hellyer, students involved in Concert and Symphonic Bands had the opportunity to play several selections to a packed crowd.

Student band members introduced each song and a special QR code could be scanned with a smartphone to provide additional information about the musical selections. Sixth grade flutist, Emilia Burzawa, (pictured) spoke on the importance of music in her life. She told the crowd, "Music improves on

our learning and is fun to do. When I play, I lose the sensation of stress and have this great feeling inside of me like I'm accomplished."

To read Emilia's full essay, click here. To view a photo album of the concert, click here.

The Spring Band Concert is scheduled for May 18 at 7:00 p.m. at Spring Wood Middle School.

Leadership Panel Held for Fifth Grade Students

On Friday, March 10, community leaders were invited to share their experiences with fifth grade students enrolled in Greenbrook and Waterbury's Reading Enrichment Program. The goal of the event was to provide students with leadership examples to help them better understand concepts they have studied in the classroom. Students had the opportunity to interview the panel at large and also meet for small group question and answer sessions.

A special thank you the guest speakers who shared their time with District 20 students:

Rodney Craig, Village President, Hanover Park

Gayle Smolinski, Village President, Roselle

Jeff Janus, Chief, Bloomingdale Fire Protection District

Eira Corral-Sepulveda, Village Clerk, Hanover Park

Laura Dihel, CMO, EZLinks Golf

Dr. Michael Connolly, Superintendent

Kelsey Gilbert, Director of Community Relations, Boomers Baseball

Gulam Samdani, Vice President Global Technology, JPMorgan Chase

Greenbrook and Waterbury Host

Read Across America Events

On Thursday, March 2, students at Greenbrook and Waterbury Elementary Schools participated in Read Across America. The annual event, sponsored by the National Education Association, aims to highlight the importance of literacy while also celebrating the birthday of Dr. Suess.

Guest readers visited classrooms during morning and afternoon sessions and read aloud to students.

Click to view:

Greenbrook Read Across America Photo Album

Waterbury Read Across America Photo Album

Schools Host McTeacher Fundraisers

Staff Members from Waterbury Elementary School on March 16.

Staff Members from Greenbrook Elementary School

on March 22.

S taff members from Waterbury and Greenbrook Elementary Schools volunteered their time serving dinner to restaurant guests at the Hanover Park McDonald's during school sponsored McTeacher fundraising events. A percentage of restaurant sales were donated back to the schools.

*photos courtesy of the Hanover Park McDonald's

Greenbrook Wins Trip to LEGOLAND

In March, students at Greenbrook Elementary School won an exclusive trip to LEGOLAND after entering a contest sponsored by the LEGO company. Working together, the

school created a one-minute video explaining why they love LEGO bricks and what they hoped to learn if they won a field trip to LEGOLAND.

Greenbrook's video was one of just five selected to move on to the final round of public voting on Facebook.

Once at LEGOLAND, students had the opportunity to go on rides, view movies and participate in a workshop.

Waterbury Students Become Paper Engineers

The DuPage County Children's Museum equipped Waterbury second graders with scissors, tape, glue and a lot of imagination, and turned them into "Paper Engineers." The students converted circles into cones and transformed rectangles into prisms as they learned about the world of geometry through three-dimensional paper constructions.

The GeoSpace Lab Specialists introduced a wide variety of paper engineering techniques that were used to construct cones, cubes, cylinders, spheres, pyramids and more! Our "Paper Engineers" took these techniques and created a geometric diorama inside and around a cardboard box-all in 3D.

The GeoSpace program offered an exciting and innovative opportunity for students to engage in geometry, a significant branch of mathematics most visible in the physical world. GeoSpace is an integrated Math/Art program addressing the Common Core State Standard of Geometry and is designed to demonstrate to students the connection between two-dimensional shapes and three-dimensional solids that define the world in which we live.

Preschool News

I t is hard to believe we're in our final two months of the school year! We still have a lot to do this year, but we are in the process of starting registration for next year and packets have already gone home. If you did not receive one, please let us know. Construction in the buildings will make it difficult to register this summer, so we'd like everyone to register before the end of the school year (May 25). Please bring your registration information to the main office at whichever school your child will attend kindergarten (Waterbury or Greenbrook) or to the Greenbrook main office for returning preschoolers as soon as possible.

As we look forward, we have some important dates we'd like you to remember this month:

Friday, April 14	Non-Attendance
Thursday, April 27	Parent Night	5:30 - 6:30 p.m.
Friday, April 28	Mosley Zoo Trip

As stated above, we will be having a Parent Education Night on April 27. We will have classes as usual on that day since this program will be in the evening. We have several community organizations coming, including the Roselle Library, Hanover Park Park District, WDSRA, Roselle Park District, and Parents As Teachers. The YMCA will also have flyers with information available. Dinner will be served and daycare will be provided. If you attend, you will be entered into a raffle for a gift card. Information has been sent home with your child, but if you have any questions, please contact your child's teacher as soon as possible.

We also have our last field trip of the year on April 28 to Cosley Zoo in Wheaton. We will be taking a class at the zoo so due to space, only one adult will be able to attend per child for this trip, even if you are driving separately. Information has been sent home with your child, so please let us know if you are coming as soon as possible. If you need another RSVP form, please let your child's teacher know.

The preschoolers have been learning all about insects the last few weeks and soon they will be learning about farm animals in preparation for our field trip. We are hoping for warmer weather so we can play outside, so please keep dressing your child appropriately. We are happy that spring is here!