This email is being sent to you on behalf of Superintendent of Schools Dr. Joseph Dubec.  Please note that in an effort to reduce our consumption of paper, we will be sending E-Connect home via email in the future.  As you can see, we have a new look too. Should you desire a hard copy of E-Connect, please contact your child’s school office.

September, 2008

Greetings

Learning is in the air! Open houses and curriculum nights have come and gone and classrooms are in full swing as teachers, students and parents work together on a journey of learning that will last until next June. Anatole France was a 1921 Nobel prize-winning author who said, “Nine tenths of education is encouragement.”  When I look around Palos School District 118, I am inspired and deeply encouraged as Superintendent at the tremendous amount of personal encouragement the students of Palos 118 receive from parents and teachers.  From the jam packed parking lots at our district open houses, the smiling teachers who have come to know all of their students' names and personalities already, to the parent organizations who show up to our buildings daily to find ways to better improve the education of all students, and the hundreds of parents who sit around kitchen tables at night in genuine interest about their child’s school day--- I am, once again, reminded of the fact that our children succeed because they are encouraged every day by a caring and dedicated core of parents and teachers.  Hats off, as always, to each and every one of you!  You make all the difference!

Board of Education

President Pacholski introduced the board to our new certified staff for the 2008-2009 school year.  Joining the Palos 118 faculty this year are: Karen Ancevicius, First Grade Teacher at Palos East, Amy Andrekus, Seventh Grade Language Arts Teacher at Palos South, Monica Kase, Seventh Grade Resource Teacher at Palos South, Michelle Kedzierski, Academic Support Teacher at Palos South, Nida Lendraitis, Social Worker at Palos West, Lindsay Love, Speech Pathologist at Palos East, Christine Marchione, Physical Education Teacher at Palos West and East, Carlie Mastey, Fifth Grade Teacher at Palos East, Christine Mugavero, Instructional Primary/Intermediate Teacher at Palos East, Claudia Parra, ELL Teacher at Palos West and South, Denise Roche, Art Teacher at Palos West, Nicole Sokolov, First Grade Teacher at Palos West. Our new faculty members come highly recommended to our district and we are pleased to welcome them to our Palos 118 learning community!

Board of Education President Sheila Pacholski recognized 10 district teachers for the achievement of receiving advanced degrees. As a learning community, we take a great deal of pride in the fact that over 72% of our teachers hold advanced degrees in education. Congratulations to our newly minted grads: Terri Dodds, Master of Science in Educational Leadership, Sarah Leahy Master of Science in Educational Leadership (2^nd advanced degree), Carrie Lithgow, Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction with a Reading Teacher Endorsement, Julie McNamara, Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction, Allison Moreau, Master of Science of Educational Leadership (2^nd advanced degree), Katie Parker, Master of Science in Educational Leadership, Jill Rafter, Master of Science in Educational Leadership (2^nd advanced degree), Andrea Ramoley, Master of Science in Educational Leadership (2^nd advanced degree), Terri Underhill, Master of Science in Educational Leadership, Katie Wollschlager, Master of Science in Educational Leadership. Congratulations to our advanced degree candidates and their families!

Mrs. Pacholski also recognized our newly tenured teachers for the 2008-2009 school year:  Joy Adams of Palos West and Palos South, Carrie Didier of Palos East, Martin Regan of Palos South, Corinne Stewart of Palos West, Angela Turner of Palos East, Theresa Underhill of Palos East and Lindsay Wulf of Palos South.  Congratulations and thank you for your commitment to the students of Palos 118! 

Mrs. Pacholski presented The McCord Gallery and Cultural Center a certificate of appreciation to Sara Arnas and Lindsey Newman for graciously donating artwork for the school calendar.

In other President’s news, Mrs. Pacholski recognized the finance committee for receipt of the award Excellence in Financial Reporting from the Association of School Business Office Officials International. According to the ASBO, the Palos 118 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for the fiscal year that ended June 20, 2007 “substantially conforms to principles and standards of the ASBO's Certificate of Excellence program.” The board extended its appreciation to the entire finance committee for its excellence in financial reporting.

In addition to staff recognitions, Mrs. Pacholski recognized the Parent Faculty Association and the Palos 118 Educational Foundation for their generous gifts of time and talent in funding our unprecedented Applied Technology Laboratory at Palos South. As reported in the past, our PFA generously offered to donate ALL proceeds from their spring golf fundraiser, chaired by Tanya Adams and Victoria Talerico, to the Foundation to help fund the Applied Technology lab at Palos South. A check in the amount of $11,000 was presented by PFA President Mary Sievers to the President of the Foundation, Patricia Cooney. Plato, the infamous Greek philosopher of the 1800’s once said when referring to children, “direct them to what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each.” The Palos 118 Applied Technology lab would have done Plato proud.  Thank you to our parent organizations for their un-wavering commitment to providing an extraordinary opportunity for excellence to all the students of Palos School District 118.

The Board received a report from Mr. Nogal regarding the West School field lease with the Village of Palos Park.  Mr. Nogal and Dr. Dubec recommended that the Board pursue a one year extension of the current lease to permit the Village and district to develop a study as to the best use of the field and the needed repairs and maintenance.  Mr. Nogal and Dr. Dubec have been meeting with the Village and some of the organizations who use the field for the past year to look at options.  The West field is in need of some major restoration and development. Financing the project is of major concern to the Village and Palos 118.  Mr. Nogal noted that the Village has been very cooperative in discussions to address the field issue.  A lease extension will be brought to the board at the October meeting.

The District finance committee met and reviewed the tentative budget and major maintenance needs for the next three years which include:

·         Replace roofs on 1988 additions

·         Replace hallway glass at East and West

·         Replace and repair parking lots and drives

·         Install back-up generator

·         Install hallway cameras

·         HVAC repairs

·         Install Soft tile under playground East

·         ID Scanners

·         Phone System

·         District Technology

·         Applied Technology Lab

In other Board of Education news, the following items were approved by the Palos 118 Board of Education.

• The Board of Education adopted the 2008-2009 legal budget. According to Director of Business Services, Mr. Anthony Scarsella, “The fiscal year 2009 budget has been developed to support the district’s missions, vision and goal statements. Scarsella adds, “The Board of Education recognizes that it has the responsibility to the residents of Palos Community Consolidated School District 118 to provide excellence in education. The Board also recognizes that it is impossible to meet an infinite array of educational needs with finite resources. Therefore, the primary objective of this budget is to provide the greatest educational opportunities for the students of Palos Community Consolidated School District 118 within the constraints of available resources. The Superintendent and administration have formulated the 2008-2009 legal budget with that purpose. 
• The Board of Education approved a Resolution authorizing an interfund loan in the amount of $400,000 from the Working Cash fund to the Transportation fund to be repaid upon the receipt of the second installment of real estate property tax revenue. 
• The Board of Education approved the applications for Recognition of Schools for Palos East, West and South schools for the 2008-2009 school year.
• The Board of Education approved a four year contract for superintendent Dr. Joseph M. Dubec and noted his positive contribution to Palos 118.
   

In addition, the Board of Education approved the following policies:

• Policy 2:105  Ethics and Gift Ban

• Policy 4:50  Payment Procedures

• Policy 4:55 Use of Credit and Procurement Cards

• Policy 4:80 Accounting and Audits

• Policy 4:90 Activity Funds

• Policy 4:170 Safety

• Policy 6:20 School Year Calendar:  Polices will be available on the District Web site. 

Other District News

The Palos Park Parade will be held on September 20. The village plans a great community day where families enjoy a parade, chili cook off, and performances by local bands including the Palos South Middle School marching band.  Don’t miss a chance to hear our award-winning band in action in their first live performance of the year!

Everyday Mathematics

Our new K-5 math program, Everyday Mathematics, is off to a great start!  All K-5 math teachers recently completed a six-hour intensive training held in small, grade level specific sessions.  Two evening meetings to provide information on the program for parents were held last week; each meeting was attended by well over 100 parents.  Representatives from The Wright Group, publishers of Everyday Mathematics, shared a detailed overview of the program and interactive web-based resources students and parents can access from home.

The Everyday math program was developed at the University of Chicago and is in its third edition.   The program emphasizes both fundamental skills and advanced problem solving techniques.  Students will still be responsible for mastery of basic math foundations such as multiplication facts.  However, the program challenges children to use these facts to solve critical thinking problems thereby expanding their understanding of the use of mathematics  and encouraging the use of multiple problem-solving techniques.  The ability of a student to use optional arithmetic procedures sometimes referred to as multiple algorithms permits students to learn how mathematical  problem solving can be achieved through  broader conceptual understanding and thinking patterns which have the most meaning to the individual student.  The program includes optional arithmetic procedures sometimes referred to as alternate algorithms along with traditional algorithms.  The use of alternate algorithms permits students to view computation in different ways and use thinking patterns which have the most meaning to the individual student.

The selection process  for our new math program took two years. Everyday Mathematics was the unanimous choice of our District Math Committee.  Twelve of the fourteen committee members hold advanced degrees and  have a combined total of over 200 years of teaching experience.  The committee investigated six programs, surveyed all  district K-5 math teachers, and completed a twelve-classroom full-year pilot of the top two programs being considered for adoption to determine operational compatibility with Palos 118.

The most notable review of research was conducted by the U.S. Department of Education.  The DOE's Institute of Educational Sciences-What Works Clearing House gave Everyday Mathematics the highest rating of any elementary math program reviewed thus far.  It stated that rigorously conducted experiments clearly show that Everyday Mathematics has “potentially positive effects” on achievement when compared with more traditional math programs.  In addition, The ARC Center, located at the Consortium for Mathematics and its Applications, studied the records of 78,000 students and found that the average standardized test scores were significantly higher for students in Everyday Mathematics schools than for students in comparison schools.  

The ultimate goal of preparing students for their middle school and high school experiences  is supported by these repeated research studies which have shown that Everyday Math improves students’ basic skills.  As an additional example, a large-scale study of Everyday Math students in Illinois, Massachusetts and Washington State found that they outscored a matched-comparison sample of non-Everyday Math-using students on the computation sections of several state-mandated tests as well as the Iowa Test of Basic Skills.  The National Academy of Sciences (National Research Council, 2004) recently noted that Everyday Mathematics, of all current elementary school mathematics programs, has been subjected to the most scrutiny by the most researchers. 

Everyday Math further enhances parent support and involvement  through  a variety of materials available online.  Everyday Math utilizes an online reference “book” that provides specific directions and explanations for use by both parents and students together with the actual text. 

Finally, Everyday Math is the instructional program used by many high performing school districts such as Western Springs, Hinsdale, Wilmette, Northbrook and Glenview. Currently about 25% of suburban Chicago school districts use the program.

The key to the success of our students is having both quality programs and supportive parents.  Together we can provide the best math experience for children.

Palos West: Please Take Note

We apologize that the Palos West Book Fair was accidentally left off the district calendar.  Please note that the Palos West Book Fair will be held the week of November 17-20 with a family night on November 20^th culminating the book fair. Please plan on attending this annual Palos West family event!

Some Dates to Remember