Naperville Community Unit School District 203 Board of Education met Dec. 2.
Here is the minutes provided by the board:
Call to order
President Kristin Fitzgerald called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Board members present: Charles Cush, Kristin Fitzgerald, Kristine Gericke, Joe Kozminski, Janet Yang Rohr, Paul Leong and Donna Wandke.
Administrators present were:
Dan Bridges, Superintendent,
Bob Ross, Chief Human Resources Officer,
Closed Session
Janet Yang Rohr moved, seconded by Charles Cush to go into Closed Session at 6:00 p.m. for consideration of:
1. Pursuant to 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(1) The appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees of the District or legal counsel for the District.
Meeting Opening
Charles Cush made a motion, seconded by Kristine Gericke to return to Open Session at 7:09 pm. A voice vote was taken. Those voting yes: All. No: None. The motion carried.
Welcome and Mission
Kristin Fitzgerald welcomed all and read Naperville Community Unit School District 203’s Mission Statement.
Roll Call
Board members present: Kristin Fitzgerald, Donna Wandke, Paul Leong, Joe Kozminski, Kristine Gericke, Janet Yang Rohr and Charles Cush.
Student Ambassadors present: Claire Yu. Absent: Anna Snyder.
Administrators present: Dan Bridges, Superintendent, Roger Brunelle, Chief Information Officer, Michael Frances, Chief Financial Officer/CSBO, Chuck Freundt, Assistant Superintendent for Elementary Education, Jennifer Hester, Chief Academic Officer, Carol Hetman, Chief Human Resources Officer, Christine Igoe, Assistant Superintendent for Student Services, Rakeda Leaks, Executive Director of Inclusion and Diversity, Sinikka Mondini, Executive Director for Communications, Patrick Nolten, Assistant Superintendent for Assessment and Accountability, Bob Ross, Chief Human Resources Officer, Nancy Voise, Assistant Superintendent for Secondary Education, and Jayne Willard, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction.
Pledge of Allegiance
Led by the Board of Education
Good News
Superintendent Bridges announced that Dan Iverson has been named Illinois Track and Cross Country 3A coach of the year.
Public Comment: None
Action by Consent:
1. Adoption of Personnel Report
| EFFECTIVE DATE | LOCATION | POSITION | |
| APPOINTMENT-CERTIFIED FULL- TIME | |||
| Kathleen Pusateri | 11/25/19-5/22/20 | Steeple Run | 1st Grade |
| LEAVE OF ABSENCE-CERTIFIED | |||
| Jacquelyn Barker | 8/10/20 – 1/3/20 | NCHS | Science |
| RETIREMENT-CLASSIFIED | |||
| Lawrence Zacharias | 6-Jan-20 | Transportation | Bus Driver |
| RESIGNATION-CLASSIFIED | |||
| Susanna Swarm | 6-Dec-19 | River Woods | Special Education Assistant |
| EMPLOYMENT-NON-UNION CLASSIFIED | |||
| Noemi Vargas | 16-Dec-19 | ARECC | Preschool for All Parent/Program Coordinator |
| EMPLOYMENT-CLASSIFIED FULL-TIME | |||
| Sandra Castelan | 2-Dec-19 | Naperville Central | Custodian |
| Christine Eckberg | 2-Dec-19 | Mill St. | Special Education Assistant |
| Elizabeth Sheridan | 7-Jan-19 | Naper | Special Education Assistant |
| EMPLOYMENT-CLASSIFIED PART-TIME | |||
| Kelly Trieu | 9-Dec-19 | Naperville North | High School Financial Secretary |
Student Ambassador Reports
Claire Yu from NCHS
November 20th and 21st Endless lines of seniors lining up to turn in their Cap and Gown Orders On Thursday and Wednesday
November 22nd and 23rd IHSA Girls State Swimming State Competitions. Overall our team placed 7th and several girls placed in the top 12 in their individual events.
A Look Ahead:
Wednesday, December 04 - Course Recommendation Day. This is where freshmen, sophomores, and juniors carry a sheet of all courses available to them throughout the day and ask their teachers to sign- off on courses they want to enroll in for the 2020-2021 school year.
December 5th and 10th - Freshmen Only study session called “Cocoa and Cram” after school from 3:30 - 5:00 PM to study for finals! Help is available in a centralized location.
December 8th- 13th - Holiday Dress Up week to get into the holiday spirit while studying for finals!
In Anna Snyder’s absence, Claire Yu reported the news from NORTH: SOCIAL
Thursday November 21st, the Adaptive Students had an early Thanksgiving feast to get ready for Thanksgiving break
Leading up to break, the NNHS learning commons encouraged students to draw hand turkeys to get into the spirit of Thanksgiving!
NNHS had their annual Winter Assembly last Tuesday!
ACADEMICS
Winter Art Week started November 26th featuring many art students work and will last for the next two weeks
3 NNHS Students have been named Coke Scholar Semifinalists
Congressmen Casten came to talk to the NNHS Government Student on November 22nd
An essay that was written about NNHS State Winners for Cross Country and Soccer last year and on November 23rd, it finished third in the country in Washington DC
ARTS/CLUBS
This weekend is the annual Children’s Show, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Anna is a part of this show and that is the reason she cannot make it tonight
NNHS Show Choir DVC is next weekend, December 14th which will include 5 different ensembles
ATHLETICS
Over the weekend, Girls basketball beat Oswego 63-57!
Boys Bowling had their best match so far this season, beating central 2967-2828!
The rest of the winter sports kick off a great start to their season!
Superintendent/Staff/School Report
Superintendent Bridges invited Principal Megan Ptak and Assistant Principal Eric Decker to give their School Improvement report.
School Improvement Plan-Jefferson Junior High
One of the best attributes of Jefferson is our diversity, and we are proud of who we are. We are the most diverse junior high in the district having a representative population from all of the State identified subgroups. Jefferson is the magnet school for English Language Learners as well as the district’s Dual Language program for all of junior high. These numbers represent the number of students per demographic group out of a student population of 848 in 2019. You will see that 55% of our student population is white, 6% of the population is black while 20% of our population is Hispanic. 15% of the Jefferson student body is Asian. 4% fall in the category of two or more races. Outside of ethnicity, we also have the highest population at the junior high level for economic disadvantaged students with 25% of our student body falling into this category. Other highlights of who we are include 9% English Learners and 9% of the student body holding an IEP. This diversity is a celebration for Jefferson, but also holds areas of focus and growth in our school improvement plan.
At the start of the school year, based on reviewing our preliminary data, we knew that Jefferson needed to refocus, adjust instruction and grow as an institution where all students can achieve to their highest potential academically and behaviorally. After developing all new academic teams for the 2019-2020 school year, we asked the questions what do we stand for and why are we here. We continued to ask these questions with the newly formed Building Leadership Team and the School Improvement Team.
The answer became clear that our purpose and responsibility to Jefferson students is to continue to build a collaborative community of staff and students where all feel safe and accepted in order to grow into their best selves. As a team, we know that we needed to create a plan where the needs of all students are addressed.
We are happy to share that students made growth in ELA in 2019, trending upwards from 63% to 66%. We believe students will continue to grow in the expectations measured by the Illinois Assessment of Readiness for English Language Arts and have set our two-year goal at 71%.
Jefferson is currently higher than the state’s average for ELA proficiency and with the initiatives we have in place, we believe Jefferson students will continue to propel to a higher level of achievement.
With the supports we just mentioned, our subgroups with identified gaps in achievement showed positive growth over the past year. As you can see, the Hispanic/Latino subgroup grew 12 points in proficiency, while the Black/African American subgroup grew 16 points in proficiency. You’ll likely notice that the CWD, Children with Disabilities, numbers jumped significantly. This number traditionally represented our students with IEPS. As of this year, it also includes students receiving 504 accommodations, accounting for some amount of the change. There was also growth in Jefferson’s emergent bilingual and economic disadvantaged subgroups. While none of the groups are at the point of our overall school scoring of proficiency for ELA, their growth and progress toward closing the gaps has begun.
Our Math data is not showing the same growth as our ELA data. In 2019, 49.15% of students met or exceeded expectations on Mathematics as measured on the Illinois Assessment of Readiness. We are determined with the many changes of the Math Department, the professional learning being supplied by the district as well as the school, and the continued work using the multi-tiered systems of support, Jefferson students will grow to 55% of all students meeting or exceeding expectations on the IAR by 2021.
Math growth overall has been fairly stagnant. Due to this, we have made many changes to our staffing and professional learning focus. A change with immediate impact has been adding a second Math Interventionist in order to support a larger percentage of our struggling students. We have also continued to support students in Special Education and English Language Learner classrooms with Co-Teachers. We have changed teaching assignments to build upon our teachers’ strengths and areas of growth, named a new Math Department Coordinator, and have provided district level training with Graham Fletcher, a math coach, as well as building level work with PLC expert Maria Ward. Many of these interventions would not have been possible without the funds allocated by this Board of Education. Thank you for your support of the Jefferson community.
When looking at our subgroups with identified gaps in achievement, the Hispanic/Latino and economically disadvantaged groups each grew slightly as well as our emergent bilingual subgroup. However, our Black/African American subgroup is trending downward. Therefore, we know we have to make changes and have several initiatives in place to incorporate what we have learned about effective instruction for these subgroups from the successes in ELA.
We are now utilizing the flooding model, as well as increasing formative assessments and reteaching. Math teachers are working on professional learning through the reading of Visible Learning for Mathematics by John Hattie and working closely with a learning support coach through monthly department meetings. Teachers have also started an equity book study to help facilitate increased community and enhanced instruction for our subgroups. These initiatives and interventions have direct impact on teacher instruction and student learning experiences.
Thanks to the board of education and the money allocated to Jefferson, we are able to target our professional learning in areas such as English Language, Math, and Literacy Strategies, and Formative Assessment tools.
LSCs and teachers used reflection guides and assessment protocols to build teacher capacity in creating common formative assessments and high quality Tier 1 instruction. Teacher teams partnered with specialists to identify essential standards, analyze data, create student groups, and develop plans for re-teaching.
We created a plan that allowed for staff during monthly meetings to share their personal successes with formative assessments. We also created a plan that allowed for continued professional learning during all Institute Days and Staff Development days focused around EL, Literacy, and Math strategies.
To increase awareness and understanding of the academically talented learning process to our students and families, we set up individualized stations during our parent teacher conferences which allows students and parents the chance to explore a presentation about entering academically talented learning, the scores needed, and how to advocate for their child.
Last year, Jefferson began the process of refining the MTSS process with a committee of teachers. This year, the entire Jefferson staff is implementing the MTSS framework to enhance academic and social emotional support we provide for students. This shift in instructional practice has already made a positive impact on how Jefferson staff identify student academic and social/emotional needs.
Board Questions/Comments:
Thank you for your report. A concern is the downward trend in math scores especially among the Black/African American students. What are some of the root causes and what are you doing to make improvements?
We are not happy and have made some changes in where teachers are teaching. We have increased our Professional Development in math in addition to moving teachers to different classrooms. We are utilizing our learning Support Coaches and are using a lot of the new strategies. We have seen some gains in 6th grade where some strategies were piloted last year. Our LSC’s are helping teachers learn new strategies like flooding and we are seeing some gains already. The students are showing growth as well as the teachers using those strategies across grade level.
What have you done in 6th grade and how is that going to continue thru 7th and 8th grade, as the decline is concerning?
We have used the flooding technique that allows for smaller groups as well as a different teacher that may teach something a bit differently. Helps students learn at a deeper level.
In the area of ELA what are the practices that were used in 6th grade
The practices piloted in 6th grade are now being used in all grade levels. Putting best practices at all grade levels. Students have access to all teachers at their grade level and not just their team.
The Board is concerned with the downward trend in Math and feel that an urgent response is needed.
Is there anything more that you need?
We need support in Math and need additional Professional Learning in math. A second Math interventionist has been a huge help. Would like to see an additional one so that we have one at each grade level.
President’s Report
President Fitzgerald reported on Professional Learning the Triple I conference.
Looked at issues with regards to Implicit bias and culturally responsive practices. Great to hear districts who are making progress in making all students feel safe, improve family engagement and communication. The Board receives a lot of value from attending this conference and learning from others throughout the state.
Board of Education Reports:
Joe Kozminski:
Appreciated the opportunity to learn.
Attended sessions on diversity and inclusion.
Went to legislative sessions to see what is being discussed like pension reform and district consolidations.
Heard about the importance of accurate census counts.
Happy that Resolution one was voted down.
Kristine Gericke:
The delegate assembly looked at Resolution three and it did pass. It was for additional funding for trained personnel, retired police officers and off duty officers in school buildings.
Resolution one was defeated by a close vote. There was a lot of discussion and many districts have different thoughts.
Was only able to speak on Resolution three. Many people liked the Board’s statement on resolution three.
Good experience to be the delegate at the Delegate Assembly. Would like to encourage others to take a turn.
Donna Wandke:
Independent PE-interesting and would love to share these ideas and students’ ideas.
eLearning emergency day session-how three districts did who piloted these days.
Charles Cush:
Appreciate the opportunity to attend. Good to benchmark ourselves against others.
Drug paraphernalia is being made to look like common everyday things.
Trends of legalization. Perceptions of harm is not as common as in the past.
Keynote-Kai Kite- don’t neglect to see the music in front of you instead of always looking for something new.
Matt Mayberry –former Bear–Event + Response = Outcome
Paul Leong:
Learned about safety and security- as a district we place a high priority on those.
Urgency, education and prevention for drugs and vaping. We need to step up our efforts.
Janet Yang Rohr:
Do appreciate the opportunity. Important to see what other districts are doing.
Carousel –trauma informed practices. Good reminder to see what other districts are doing to be sure students are ready with their whole selves. Notion of surrounding students with these supports to be sure the students are ready to learn.
Kristin Fitzgerald:
Our board is committed to lifelong learning for students and the board’s willingness to continually learn.
Discussion without Action
2019 Tax Levy Workshop and Discussion:
Superintendent Bridges reminded all that the CFO previously presented the information about the FY 2019 tax levy. On November 20, met with the Citizen’s Finance Advisory Committee.
There were some comments about the EAV. We are still working with the assessors to get a better EAV. It will not change the dollars.
Board Questions/Comments:
Thank you for reporting on the CFA meeting.
Board members Kristine Gericke and Joe Kozminski represent the board on the Citizens Finance Committee. They liked that there was a different perspective from each of them. President Fitzgerald reminded the Board that action will be taken on December 16.
The Board reminded the audience that last year we approved the full amount. Board members would like to still consider an option to reduce the levy amount. Didn’t want to forget to have these comments about abating the debt service levy.
At the next meeting the purpose will be to approve the full levy. By the last day in March there is the opportunity to abate some of the levy.
School Improvement Plans:
Superintendent Bridges introduced Dr. Patrick Nolten, Assistant Superintendent of Assessment and Accountability.
Dr. Nolten reminded the Board that these are created to guide buildings in their work for two years.
• Review school improvement process and changes during 2019 -2020
• Identify components of School Improvement Plans and Action Plans
• Summarize progress toward goals
• Recommend School Improvement Plans for Board of Education approval
• Implement a common research-based school improvement process that maximizes continuous student growth and achievement.
• Alignment to improvement and change
• Comprehensive review of student performance data
• Review prior improvement plan accomplishments
• Establish goals and identify priorities addressed via empirically supported action steps. • One English Language Arts/Literacy goal
• One Mathematics goal
• Linked to accountability assessment data
• Adheres to SMART goal format
• Specific
• Measurable • Achievable • Relevant
• Time-bound
• Identifies most recent and historic levels of performance
• Based on accountability assessment
• Targets corresponding academic area related to goal statement
• Acknowledges whether or not prior goal was attained
• 2019 - 2020 Benchmarks on NWEA MAP Growth
• In the fall of 2019, 52.7% of students were at or above the 75th percentile as measured by NWEA MAP Growth’s Reading test.
• In the fall of 2019, 29.3% of Economically Disadvantaged students were at or above the 75th percentile as measured by NWEA MAP Growth’s Reading test.
• By the spring of 2020, 56% of students will be at or above the 75th percentile as measured by NWEA MAP Growth’s Reading test.
• By the spring of 2020, 32% of Economically Disadvantaged students will be at or above the 75th percentile as measured by NWEA MAP Growth’s Reading test.
• 2020 - 2021 Benchmarks on NWEA MAP
• By the spring of 2021, 59% of students will be at or above the 75th percentile as measured by NWEA MAP Growth’s Reading test.
• By the spring of 2021, 35% of Economically Disadvantaged students will be at or above the 75th percentile as measured by NWEA MAP Growth’s Reading test.
• Similar format as academic goals
• Emphasis on continued implementation of Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Curriculum
• These SEL goals are not standardized across buildings as there is no formal assessment available.
Early Childhood School Improvement Plan
• Early language and mathematics
• Teaching Strategies Gold as metric
High School Improvement Plan
• Two-year timeframe
• College Board SAT and PSAT as growth metrics • Professional Learning Communities
• Connections:
• Proportion of students making progress toward meeting Education, Employment and Independent Living Post-Secondary Outcomes
• Proportion of students competitively employed
• Implementation of SEL curriculum relative to feelings of safety and respect by students
• Recommendation for approval of School Improvement Plans and Action Plans at the December 16, 2019 meeting.
Board Questions/Comments:
Please submit questions as we don’t take action on these until December 16.
It would be helpful to have last year’s goals to see if they were met.
What happens when a school doesn’t hit the target, they still set the same or higher target? A school always wants to write a higher goal if they have met their targets. We guide them to keep increases to around 3%-5%.
If a school didn’t meet the target, we have them take a look at the students and we will give them guidance by looking at them historically.
Board members see a large disparity with ELA and Math across all schools. Does the standard need to be changed?
The difference is across districts. We have acknowledged that we need to look to see why students are meeting the ELA standards and not the Math standards. They should be able to meet both. Curious to understand if we are able to predict whether we are going to meet a goal?
One way is to use our district’s benchmark assessments. PLC’s are using this to measure student progress toward ELA and Math standards. Map data in January will give us a good idea as to who is on track and who needs extra support.
Are there Science standards?
The Science assessment is radically different. Present assessment is not very robust. We are the highest achieving district in science as well as Math and ELA.
The Board thinks it is great to see the SMART goals. These goals help us see the progress towards goals.
Thank you for the efforts of all to put these together. Exciting to hear about NWEA MAP predictions of testing on IAR.
Guidance for schools-are they counseled specifically when they need to benchmark student groups?
Depends on the diversity of the school. The school team does identify the student group that will benefit from benchmarking. This is a building decision as they know who their student groups best. We are interested in all students making growth. Principals do get some guidance from district staff.
The Board would like to see some consistency across schools, especially impact schools.
Where can parents see these plans?
They are in BoardDocs and will be on the website.
Can we out them on the school website?
Yes, we will get these on each School’s page on the website.
Looking at student mistakes is probably more helpful than what they are getting correct. Helps to know where students need help.
How do schools decide what goes into the Action Plans? Does the district drive that? Schools do decide what they want to work on at their buildings. They also have peer review that helps guide some of that.
Is there an ongoing process to build best practices?
Yes, thru DLT and leveled meetings.
SUMMER SCHOOL 2020
Superintendent Bridges invited Summer of Learning Director Kevin Wojtkiewicz to present a summary of 2019 and recommendations for summer of learning 2020.
Our goal for the Summer Learning in 2019 was to continue to:
o provide quality programming through increased access for all learners
o providing support services to meet the needs of all students
o leveraging community partnerships to enhance summer learning experiences.
Looked for additional stakeholder feedback as a way to further assess our programs in order to make thoughtful recommendations for 2020.
In an effort to continue to provide support for our students in special populations attending general education classes, many classes were co-taught by a learning behavior specialist or an EL teacher.
Our enrollment of students with disabilities and English learners continues to make up a significant portion of our summer learning population.
In the area of community partnerships, the Naperville Education Foundation awarded a grant to summer school which allowed us to partner with the DuPage Children’s Museum to bring summer learning labs to our elementary school students.
We also partnered with the Alive Center for students in grades 6-12. Over 60 students were transported daily from our JH location to the Alive Center to participate in after school activities.
The successes we experienced through our summer programs this past year include:
o Increased enrollments at the elementary and junior high levels compared to 2018;
o Continued high enrollment of students in with disabilities and English learners;
o Continued high enrollment of students utilizing free/reduced waivers in all general education programs at a level greater than that of students in the District during the regular school year;
o High percentages of students attending summer learning for all 6 weeks and utilizing transportation services;
o And new partnerships with the DuPage Children’s Museum and Alive Center
In order to further evaluate student needs and summer offerings, K-12 staff and all high school students were surveyed to give feedback on summer learning experiences.
Our programs continue to be a valuable part of our students’ academic and social/emotional growth in our District and we employ an excellent team of support staff, teachers, and administrators who are focused on providing opportunities to advance student learning.
All of the recommendations related to Blueprint Commitment 1.16.E have become standard operating procedures within summer learning.
Blueprint commitment 1.16.E says, “Implement Summer School recommendations that maximize opportunities to advance student learning.”
In 2014, transportation was added for elementary school students and a partnership with the Naperville Park District for after school care was formed.
In 2015,
o elementary summer learning was split into north and south side locations to accommodate the growing number of participants;
o transportation was added to JH and HS programs;
o elementary general education, ESY, and EL programs were consolidated to be able to meet the needs of students through both general education and self-contained classes; o food service was added K-12;
o additional staff such as learning behavior specialists, social workers or counselors, and classroom assistants were added to general education sites;
o technology courses were added to the JH level and HS summer
o eLo courses were offered;
o summer courses began the curriculum revision process,
o an online registration system was implemented,
o a plan of modest tuition increases of $10 per course at the K-8 Level and $15 per year at the HS level for 4 years was developed to help cover the rising costs of summer learning.
In 2016,
o summer school was expanded to 6 weeks,
o the summer curriculum committee met to create maps, identify resources, create course assessments, and plan professional development for K-8 summer staff.
o New courses for students entering JH honors math and high school algebra were created,
o Additional technology courses at the JH level as well as EL courses were developed to meet the needs of learners K-12,
o ESY added summer learning opportunities for early childhood students.
In 2017,
o the curriculum committee continued to work on improving K-8 course content, materials, and professional development;
o additional enrichment courses were created at the JH level;
o JH ESY was moved from the high school to the JH site to meet the needs of students in general education and self-contained environments as needed;
o Courses were restricted to families in the 203 boundaries for technology deployment and state reporting reasons.
o A partnership was added with Champions to address the high number of families needing after school care at the elementary level;
o Another partnership was added with the Naperville Public Library to bring the summer reading program to our summer learning sites.
In 2018,
o a variety of HS courses including courses in the areas of science, world languages, and art were added.
o Additional staff were added at the elementary and JH levels to meet the increasing needs of students.
o A new partnership emerged with the Golden Apple Scholars, placing aspiring teachers in classroom at all levels, assisting with the increasing needs of our student population.
o A stakeholder survey was conducted and results analyzed to determine the effectiveness of the program changes from 2014-2018 and make recommendations for 2019.
In 2019,
additional enrichment opportunities were created at the elementary and JH levels.
Next level art and Business Boot camp were introduced as first year classes.
AP studio art prep was created at the HS.
K-12 staff and all high school students were surveyed on summer learning experiences.
The summer learning committee reconvened to look the work from 2014-2018 as well as stakeholder feedback to make recommendations for 2020.
General observations from 2014-2019 showed an increase in enrollment in all general education programs. In addition, the number of students in target populations increased dramatically, specifically those students qualifying for a waiver due to financial status, extended school year status, or EL status. As a result of an increase in enrollment from targeted populations, the Board’s investment in summer learning also increased.
A survey was created and distributed at the end of the 2019 summer learning sessions. In addition, feedback from the Board in 2018 included obtaining feedback from high school students who have not attended summer learning to explore opportunities that might increase enrollment.
While not enough high school staff responded to the survey to give a strong enough sample size to make meaningful conclusions, we were able to obtain enough feedback from K-8 staff. The results of the K-8 surveys showed staff believed the curriculum, materials, and support through community partnerships were strengths of our summer programs. Feedback also revealed that class sizes, support for students with higher needs and time to recharge over the summer were opportunities for growth.
K-8 staff recommendations included an additional focus on building SEL skills. In addition, they recommended more opportunities for learning outside of the classroom to help give students experiences in the summer they otherwise might not be able to have such as field trips and community engagement. Further, to help staff and students recharge over the summer, staff suggested moving to a 4-day week, mirroring the extended school year calendar.
All high school students were administered a survey in the Fall of 2019. Feedback from over 3300 students indicated that over half of our high school population has never attended summer learning in 203. The top reasons for not attending summer learning reflect scheduling conflicts, time of day, and social concerns.
All students overwhelmingly responded that they would consider taking classes or additional classes in the following areas: Standardized Test Prep, CTE classes, and trades. Students also indicated that weighted courses would incentivize them to enroll in summer classes. While online or blended classes would offer students more flexibility in completing work, most students stated they prefer the classroom experience when engaging in summer learning classes.
The summer learning committee reconvened in the spring of 2019 to review summer learning enhancements and data from 2014-2018, review current literature on best practices in summer learning in the areas of planning, teacher professional development, student time on task, recruitment and attendance, curriculum and instruction, enrichment activities, positive summer climate, cost and funding, and connections to district goals and initiatives. The committee also researched other school district’s summer learning programs for content and cost and made recommendations for summer learning 2020.
As a result of the literature and data and an examination of the current states of our programs, the committee recommended additional SEL opportunities for students to build community and meet a variety of needs of our summer learning population. The committee recommended taking advantage of the relaxed atmosphere of summer learning coupled with good weather to explore learning opportunities outside of the classroom. Additional recommendations for high interest science and music camps leveraging community resources were also recommended. Additional work in this area to build curriculum will be needed in 2020.
Blueprint Commitment 1.16.E. has allowed us to expand our summer services and remove barriers so that all 203 students are able to participate. As we move forward, our goal will be continuous improvement. In the summer of 2020, we will continue to focus on the specific practices that have proven to be successful over the last 6 years. We will further focus on specific recommendations from staff, students, and the summer learning committee. We anticipate these recommendations will help to maintain or increase summer learning enrollment in all programs including students in our target populations, prevent summer learning loss, and enhance students’ academic and social/emotional experiences.
At the K-8 Level, summer learning will be offered Monday-Thursday to mirror the ESY schedule. The 4-day week will provide students with the academic and social emotional learning needed to prevent summer learning loss and maintain current levels of academic performance moving into the next school year. In addition, it will provide staff and students with time to recharge over the summer after a rigorous school year.
In addition, K-8 classrooms will integrate additional SEL opportunities through team building activities, goal setting, summer themes, and incentives in order to make a smooth transition from the regular school year to summer learning, increase social opportunities for students, and make summer learning a fun experience for staff and students.
The elementary level will add additional learning opportunities outside of the classroom. Students will participate in a Learning Lab through the DuPage Children’s Museum in one semester and take a field trip to another local site in the other semester that will connect to their math and/or reading curriculum to increase background knowledge and provide a summer experience they might not otherwise have. The junior high will also explore opportunities for curriculum based field trips that support areas of study and provide students with a positive summer experience.
High school course additions include an SAT prep course. Each high school will have 15 reserved seats for students who qualify for tuition waivers. We will work with the high school to identify and register students in need. We will also offer online classes to replace summer eLo for American Government, US History, and Consumer Economics. Seats will be limited, however, they are reflective of the number of students in our District who have taken eLo classes in these subject areas over the past 3 summers.
We continue to be grateful for the Board’s ongoing support of our Summer Learning programs.
Board Questions/Comments:
Can you speak to CTE and weighted courses that students are interested in taking in the Summer?
Jayne Willard, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction, noted that we are looking into how we can offer those classes but that curriculum will need to be developed and we need to have a longer timeframe to develop new courses. As far as Honors and AP courses, we are concerned about students handling the rigor of those courses in 6 weeks as well as what will the right courses be?
Mrs. Willard mentioned that students take some high school courses in order to have more time for weighted courses in the school year.
Board members are wondering if can we offer additional courses so especially JH students will be able to multiple languages instead of having to choose?
How does the four-day week work in comparison to a five-day week?
How does taking away 20% of the days help students.
It will be helpful for students to have some opportunity to relax.
What would happen to child care programs?
We have looked at some opportunities for some of our programs to offer a full day of care on Fridays.
Thank you for the map of the growth through the years.
As I look at the actuals of 2019 and projections for 2020 it seems the revenue is decreasing. There is a decrease due to additional waivers.
If we are shifting to a four-day week, are we expecting fewer paying students?
We are noticing our tuition paying students are decreasing.
Are there grants for Summer School?
We have looked in the past but since our program is not new and we have resources, it is hard to find grants.
The partnerships have allowed a lot of families participate that before could not.
Happy to see the fee waivers and happy to see us look for ways to make this attractive to all students.
Has the committee looked at the transportation costs? Have they looked at a small few increase?
If the board has an interest in that, we can look at some options and bring those costs to the next board meeting.
Why have Science camp-expenses increased?
Materials had to be purchased this past year where in the previous years, we were able to use materials that were left over.
Board Policy 7.270 Administering Medicines to Children
Superintendent Bridges invited Dr. Christine Igoe to give an update on this policy.
Recent updates in legislation required us to update our policies. One is a process for medical cannabis and one is for students to self-administer medication.
Do we have policies for storage and security for those medications?
Yes, we do and it depends on what the medication is.
Medical Cannabis will have to be locked in the Nurses’ office.
Do we need to include our staff as well as students when speaking of exposure?
If we feel the substance of medical cannabis is going to disrupt the environment of students, its use can be denied.
Board Policy 7.190 Student Behavior:
Superintendent Bridges noted that we typically update this in the spring and we will continue to do but there is an emergency order regarding restraint and seclusion. Dr. Christine Igoe has been working on making sure we are in compliance with the new emergency order. To be in compliance, we need to make these specific changes to our policies.
Can you give us counts of this intervention in our district?
Dr. Igoe responded that our data on isolated time outs was low 7 in a year about and reporters wanted to know why ours was so low. We were able to talk about some strategies that we use for behavior. Physical restraint data, we do have some when students are a danger to themselves or others. That data will have to be brought later.
If this is not a discipline strategy, why is it included in this policy?
This is the most appropriate one that our legal counsel advised us to use.
When we look at this policy more extensively, we can decide if this is the place for it. The title of the policy is student behavior so this fits as it is a de-escalation tactic. We will look to see if this is the best place for it to be.
Discussion with Action
Old Business New Business
Upcoming Events
Superintendent Bridges noted that the next Board meeting will be held on December 16, 2019. Winter vacation will begin on December 23-January 3, 2020
Thursday, November 21 FOCUS 203-tremedous turn out for conversations on Courageous conversations.
Will be looking to schedule follow up Focus 203’s on implicit bias. Lots of community partners who want to help us move forward.
Return to closed session
Janet Yang Rohr made a motion seconded by Kristine Gericke return to Closed Session at 9:14 p.m. for the purpose of:
Appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees of the District or legal counsel for the District 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(1).
A roll call vote was taken. Those voting yes: Leong, Kozminski, Fitzgerald, Cush, Gericke, yang Rohr and Wandke. No: None. The motion carried.
Adjournment
Cush moved seconded by Kozminski to end the Closed Session at 9:59 p.m. A voice vote was taken and the motion carried unanimously.
Cush moved seconded by Kozminski to adjourn the meeting at 9:59 p.m. A voice vote was taken and the motion carried unanimously.
https://www.naperville203.org/cms/lib/IL01904881/Centricity/Domain/732/BOE%20OPEN%20SESSION%20MINUTES%20DECEMBER%202%202019.docx.pdf
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