State of the Schools

1. State of the Schools September, 2011 Inspiring… continuous learners responsible, caring citizens In a global community

2. Curriculum & Instruction

3. Challenges for 2010-2011Department of Curriculum and Instruction • Providing professional development on the writing process and 6 Traits to prepare for implementing the Writing Curriculum. • Designed and implemented a sustained professional development program for the teaching of writing by establishing a partnership with the Illinois Writing Project. Workshops began on April 25 and will continue throughout the 2011-12 school year.

4. Curriculum Challenges for 2010-2011, continued • Implementing the K-8 Science and K-12 Writing Curriculum over the next two years. • Began field test of the K-5 Science Committee; finalized the 6-8 Science Curriculum for implementation 2011-2012. • Finalized the K-5 Writing Curriculum and Sophomore Curriculum to implement 2011-12; 6-8 Literacy will field test during 2011-12. • Purchased K-5 Writing resource; resources for Sophomore English curriculum. • Provided teachers with three options during the summer for training on Write Traits.

5. Curriculum Challenges for 2010-2011, continued • Providing a cohesive approach to professional development that communicates how various initiatives assist us in achieving the District Mission. • Provided sustained professional development for District administrators to enhance their instructional leadership. (effective facilitation skills, preparing for and having difficult conversations, and Understanding by Design). • Provided District administrators with a course to assist in observing and analyzing teaching in preparation for the revised Teacher Evaluation Model. • Provided 33 CUSD 95 staff members with Studying Skillful Teaching course.

6. Curriculum Challenges for 2010-2011, continued • Provided choice for teachers on Institute Days with an emphasis on reading comprehension and the use of Web 2.0 tools. • Co-designed with elementary principals the professional development to guide the PLC conversations at the elementary level. • Attendance of staff and administration at Lake County ROE Common Core workshops for both mathematics and ELA. • Utilization of Atlas Rubicon for all curricular reviews.

7. Curriculum Challenges for 2010-11, continued • Providing professional development and support to District staff to facilitate the analysis of student assessment data. • Provided an infrastructure to assist staff in analyzing data. • Facilitated a Data Retreat for K-8 Building Leadership Teams September 2010. • Collaborated with the Technology Department to meet the deadlines for populating the data warehouse. • Provided administrators with initial training on the data warehouse May 2011. • Collaborated with Technology Department to design the K-5 portlet (dashboard) for teachers to be shared with K-5 teachers in August 2011.

8. Curriculum Challenges for 2010-11, continued • Implemented Mastery Manager at the High School (a classroom assessment processing and monitoring system) • K-8 Writing Committee and 6-8 Science Committee developed common assessments. • Provided Gifted Committee with a report showing differential analysis and combination plotting of data to indicate achievement and growth simultaneously as one indicator of Gifted Program effectiveness. • Developed a K-8 Literacy Assessment Plan to assist building based teams in diagnosing student needs and progress monitoring student growth, including a diagnostic assessment for ELL student population. • Provided professional development on WIDA standards and ACCESS scores.

9. Curriculum Challenges for 2010-2011, continued • Developing a bilingual program continuum that meets the academic needs of our students and aligns to grade level curricula. • Implemented a Bilingual program at three elementary schools • Provided additional literacy, mathematics and science resources. • Established a Bilingual Parent Advisory Group. • Two parent representatives attended an all day conference with two CUSD 95 staff members. • Held four Parent Advisory Committee meetings. • Secured topics for workshops from parents and provided native speaker consultant to facilitate workshops. • Provided literacy resources through Title I and Title III grants to encourage reading throughout the summer.

10. Curriculum Challenges for 2010-2011, continued • Increased parent involvement through ELL parent nights, BPAC, and focus groups. • Three administrators attended professional development on increasing parent involvement (Title I). • Established and implemented an ELL Summer School Curriculum. • Developed and implemented a K-2 Bilingual curriculum for summer school.

11. Curriculum Challenges for 2010-2011, continued • Collaborating with the Special Education Department to assist the High School and MSN in meeting the needs of specific students as identified in Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) data. • Collaborated with High School to complete the required SIP plan for schools not meeting AYP. • Provided selected elementary teachers and MSN special education teacher with professional development on mathematics diagnostic assessments.

12. Curriculum Challenges for 2010-2011, continued • Developing an induction/mentoring program along with the Department of Human Resources to support teachers through their first three years in the district. • Two district representatives attended a 3 day training, Induction for the 21st Century Educator, at the Lake County ROE on June 13-15, 2011. • Redesigned the first day of the New Teacher Orientation program to focus on mission and curricular design. • Piloted Studying Skillful Teaching course to determine its role in mentoring program.

13. Curriculum Challenges for 2010-2011, continued • Beginning a K-8 Applied Tech and K-12 Art curriculum review. • Began the K-12 Applied Tech Curriculum Revision Committee February 2011. • Funding continuous improvement as Title IV, Title IID and Reading Improvement have been eliminated for the 2010-11 school year. • Moving more students into the “Exceeds” category on state testing • All of the preceding. • Began SEL (Social Emotional Learning) Steering Committee. • Implemented Reading Recovery in four elementary schools.

14. Curriculum & Instruction Challenges for 2011-2012 Responsible, caring citizens

15. Curriculum & InstructionChallenges for 2011-2012 • Significantly reduced grant funding (Title II funding decreased by 40%). • Must begin math curriculum revisions a year earlier than anticipated to address common core. • Supporting teachers through multiple content area curriculum implementations (K-5). • Increased need for professional development to support valuable initiatives and new curricular content (PLCs, RtI, Common Core, UbD, differentiation, writing, science, using data to inform instruction, etc.)

16. Curriculum & InstructionChallenges for 2011-2012, continued • Implementing assessments that provide valid, reliable data for K-1 to inform instruction in both math and reading. • Developing reading support programs 6-12 based on evidence based practices and current research to support students and teachers. • Exploring electronic books/digital texts for library media centers.

17. Student Services

18. Challenges for 2010-2011Department of Student Services • Providing staff training and implementation of IEP PLUS. Full day training sessions on the IEPPLUS web based program that enhances federal and state reporting capabilities was provided to all special education staff. This included training on all mandated forms and coordination with accessing current data real-time with student data integration from eSchool. The pre-populated data reduces the time of processing with automated workflows and saves time by dramatically improving accuracy with data and compliance validation. Global community

19. Student Services Challenges for 2010-2011, continued • Coordinating our hearing itinerant services and equipment with Suburban Hearing in Barrington. • Hearing itinerant services were strongly reinforced through partnering with Suburban Hearing Services in Barrington. All older and out of date equipment was replaced with newer technology. All equipment was documented in order to coordinate maintenance with student needs.

20. Student Services Challenges for 2011-2012, continued • Increasing job opportunities for our transition students. • The Transition Program classroom designed and constructed. • Pre-Vocational program provided support for 15 students. Some of the students worked within the community at TJ Maxx, Foglia YMCA, Termax Manufacturing, Lexington Nursing Home, Culver’s, and All Creatures Animal Hospital.

21. Student Services Challenges for 2010-2011, continued • Continuing the ongoing integration of assistive technology within the classroom. • Assistive Technology expanded into all special education classrooms and at all student levels. A standard special education assistive technology image was available for use by special education staff including Dragon Naturally Speaking, Inspiration, Natural Reader, Bookshare, and Dropbox.

22. Student ServicesChallenges for 2011-2012 Responsible, caring citizens

23. Student ServicesChallenges for 2011-12 • Continue to expand employment opportunities for transition and pre-vocational students. • Begin the process for locating a permanent site off-campus to house the transition program. • Continue providing support to staff and students with integrating assistive technology into their classrooms as well as between school and home. • Continue providing staff development and ongoing team training regarding RtI, data collection and documentation, differentiation, behavior intervention, and progress monitoring at all grade levels. • Continue providing support for staff in understanding neurobehavioral issues as they pertain to students with disabilities.

24. Technology Department

25. Challenges for 2010-2011Technology Department • Implementing a pilot virtual desktop initiative. • Supported STAR Program Pilot for three classes (two freshmen sections of World Cultures and one senior section of Anatomy/Physiology) beginning February 2011 which allowed students to bring personal electronic devices (PED’s) to school for use in the classroom.

26. Technology DepartmentChallenges for 2010-2011, continued • Implementing IEP Plus to automate the IEP process. • Supported Special Education Department with the implementation of an extended module of eSchool student management system which automates the IEP process.

27. Technology DepartmentChallenges for 2010-2011, continued • Expanding professional development and support to teachers to integrate technology into the curriculum. • Continued successful Technology Integration Expert program. • Added A-TIE (Advanced) sessions. • Institute Day sessions focused on using technology with reading strategies. • In May, partnered with the Curriculum and Instruction Department to bring nationally recognized key note speaker Will Richardson to D95. • Over 350 teachers attended summer training focused on CMS (web page creation), document cameras, new laptop and tablet overviews, follow up from Will Richardson’s message “Learning in a Networked World,” and our first on-line tech mini sessions using Go2Meeting.

28. Technology DepartmentChallenges for 2010-2011, continued • Renewing the District Long Term Technology Plan • Approved by ISBE June 2011. To be incorporated into District’s Five Year Plan. Areas of focus: • Ensure that students have access to the tools necessary for development of 21st century skills in the area of (ICT) information communication technologies.   • Develop and maintain strong network infrastructure to support instructional needs of students.   • Implement and support a diverse program for staff development that will expand staff knowledge and ability in leveraging technology for instruction.

29. Technology DepartmentChallenges for 2010-2011, continued • Support data warehouse implementation. • Installed, configured and mapped student management system to DW. • Created electronic loads for assessments, loaded four years of student management history including student demographics, grades, discipline, programs and assessments. • Partnered with Director of Assessment and vendor to develop reports. • Designed custom portal for teachers grades 2-5.

30. Technology DepartmentChallenges for 2010-2011, continued • Support Smart Classroom initiatives sponsored by the Board of Education, the School District 95 Educational Foundation, and PTO’s. • Partnered with Superintendent and Curriculum Department to develop Smart Classroom white paper. • Visited exemplar schools. • Shared information about the District’s long term technology needs at community focus groups, Chamber of Commerce, Expo, Rotary and school open houses. • Supported Foundation’s and PTO’s efforts to provide additional student devices (30 laptops, 59 iPods, and 39 iPads, and 10 Zooms for students to use in the classroom). • Upgraded High School Network. • Completed installation of a projector in every standard classroom in the District. • Provided a Document Camera for every standard classroom in the District.

31. Technology DepartmentChallenges for 2010-2011, continued • Firewall Security Audit • Third party security audit completed and minor corrective action taken. • Provide an update for our enterprise system report writer, Cognos Version 8, and re-developed all reports from previous, unsupported version. • Updated enterprise report writer to Cognos version 8 and redeveloped all (100+) reports from previous unsupported version.

32. Technology DepartmentChallenges for 2011-2012 Responsible, caring citizens

33. Technology DepartmentChallenges for 2011-12 • Expand STAR program at the High School to all students. • Expand iDevices pilot throughout grades K-8. • Transition computers to Windows 7. • Transition teachers to our Content Management System for web page creation. • Continue to develop and enhance functionality and reporting capabilities of the data warehouse. • Expand bandwidth to the Internet. • Explore move to VoIP forced by aging PBX phone system. • Explore efficiencies in operations and possible cost reductions through developing technology self-service portals and automating identity management and user provisioning. • Elementary teachers grades K-3 move from Microsoft Word to eSchool for progress reporting.

34. Business & Operations

35. Challenges for 2010-2011Business & Operations • Developing a strong five year plan and financial projections to help us navigate the uncertain future of CPI and state funding. • Not accomplished. • Priority for 2011-2012.

36. Business & OperationsChallenges for 2010-2011, continued • Continuing to generate the resources to maintain an aggressive life safety and repair schedule for our buildings. • Replaced fire alarm at SA/MSS/IF. • Improved emergency lighting at HS Athletic Stadium. • Resurfaced HS track. • Replaced concrete throughout District. • Door addition and replacement at SP and HS.

37. Business & OperationsChallenges for 2010-2011, continued • Replaced ceiling, floor and lights at SP. • Roof replacement at SA and HS. • Roof maintenance at all buildings. • Patched/resurfaced various parking lots, playground surfaces throughout District. • Installed building automation system at SA. • LIFE SAFETY ITEMS

38. Business & OperationsChallenges for 2010-2011, continued • Updating the ten year life safety study. • Completed for HS. • Continuing to fund improvements to our kitchens. • Replaced dishwashers at SA and MSN. • Will assess with new foodservice provider.

39. Business & OperationsChallenges for 2010-2011, continued • Implementing a new radio system and time clock system for Transportation. • New time clocks installed & payroll software in the testing phase. Projected to be fully operational by October thus allowing abandonment of oldest computer in the district that is no longer supported by operating systems. • New digital two way radio system has been installed. We are now in compliance with the mandatory narrow banding conversion required by the FCC. The GPS portion of the software is being programmed and will be operational for the 2011-12 school year.

40. Business & OperationsChallenges for 2010-2011, continued • Activity Bus implementation with the Athletic Department has been smooth. There have been over 50 trips of which 6 were overnight excursions. • Ten IPASS units were purchased for the buses to use on trips. The State allows all our buses to be registered on each unit which are signed out by staff when needed. This has afforded us a lower toll rate and considerably less time in the toll lanes.

41. Business & OperationsChallenges for 2010-2011, continued • Converting all of our entry system from key access to card access. • Not accomplished. • Add to 2011-2012 list.

42. Business & OperationsChallenges for 2010-2011, continued • Rebidding our foodservice provider and potentially our maintenance provider. • Selected Southwest Foodservice Excellence as our foodservice provider. • Maintenance contract extended one year. • In the process of reviewing performance by both Southwest Food Excellence and GCA.

43. Business & OperationsChallenges for 2010-2011, continued • Maintaining a balanced budget if the CPI comes in under 1% this December. • CPI used for 2011 levy is 1.5%. • Ended the fiscal year approximately $5.3 million in the black.

44. Business & OperationsChallenges for 2011-2012 Responsible, caring citizens

45. Business & OperationsChallenges for 2011-2012 • Continue to provide financial resources to maintain, repair, and update district facilities. • Complete MW Demolition restoration. • Repair MW storm water system. • Restore and repair Building Automation System for heating, air conditioning control system at High School. • Roof repair and replacement. • Develop a long-range facility plan to identify priorities and cost.

46. Business & OperationsChallenges for 2011-2012, continued • Maintenance contract rebidding and explore bringing maintenance services in-district. • Develop 5-year financial plan to facilitate long-range planning and the impact of continued funding challenges. • Improve financial reporting - Review, reorganize Chart of Accounts, address audit findings related to activity accounts, and proper account coding in accordance with the Illinois Program Accounting Manual. • Continue to make resources available to upgrade kitchen equipment.

47. Business & OperationsChallenges for 2011-2012, continued • Following through with the Village of Lake Zurich on completion of the Safe Routes work in the Isaac Fox/MSS boundary area. • Pupil Transportation Reimbursement reductions by the State.

48. Human Resources

49. Challenges for 2010-2011Human Resources • Drafting certified and administrative evaluation plans that must be revised by September 1, 2012 and incorporates a new, mandated rating system and incorporates student growth (2016). A group will begin reviewing plans and developing a new evaluation tool. • A focus group began reviewing plans to develop a new evaluation tool. The group will continue their work this year to implement the new tool for 2012-13.

50. Human ResourcesChallenges for 2010-2011, continued • Preparing for contract negotiations. • Prepared a collective list of areas/items that need to be discussed and addressed during the negotiations of the new contract. • Replacing 25 retirees over the next two years including two administrative positions. • Actively recruited for staff to fill vacancies. • Worked with Department of Curriculum and Instruction to plan a mentor program. • Trained/recertified all administrators in Ventures for Excellence model.