Goodbye!

The day has finally arrived and I must say goodbye after 39 wonderful years serving the Center Cass community in a variety of positions. I end my career here with pride and satisfaction for the many changes I have seen and been part of in the District since 1973. I look forward to a new life with new opportunities and will be seeing you around town. Thanks again to everyone for your support and friendship throughout the years.

Closing Out 39 Years

The end of the year festivities have concluded along with a great retirement party for yours truly! It is hard to believe that the end of my 39 years is almost here. Time has really flown the past 10 days. Graduation is a memory and summer school is already underway.

I am busy filing end of the year reports and closing out the 2011-2012 budget and working on the budget for next year. It is a melancholy time as I do many things for the last time. Summer cleaning is underway at all buildings and final work on the Lakeview water detention pond is almost complete with landscaping beginning today.

I hope everyone is enjoying the great weather and is enjoying summer. I will be here until Friday, June 29, 2012 when retirement will officially begin! Thanks to everyone for all of your support over these many years!

The Final Four Days

We have arrived at the final four days of the 2011-2012 school year. The frantic pace continues to accelerate as we move closer to the end of the school year. Many events are scheduled:

• The Annual 8^th Grade Cruise on Lake Michigan is scheduled for tomorrow. Hopefully the predicted rainy weather will stay away and it will be a nice day for our Class of 2012!

• The Elizabeth Ide Retirement party is scheduled for tomorrow evening at Suparossa.

• The Elizabeth Ide end of the year all-school picnic is scheduled for Friday, June 1^st.

• My retirement party is scheduled for Friday evening, June 1^st at the Willowbrook Holiday Inn.

• The Prairieview all-school picnic is scheduled for Monday, June 4^th.

• Kindergarten Graduation will be held at Elizabeth Ide on Monday, June 4^th and there will be no classes for Kindergarten students on Tuesday, June 5th.

• Lakeview Graduation will be held at 7:30 pm Monday evening, June 4^th at Lakeview Junior High School.

• Last day of classes for grades 1-7 is Tuesday, June 5^th!

• Summer school begins on Wednesday, June 6^th at Lakeview.

Have a good week!

Update for Monday, May 21st

It is hard to believe that we are down to less than 10 days of school for the year. I don't know where the time has gone! This past week the Lakeview Drama club presented its 2012 production of “Once Upon A Mattress Jr.”. The show was an unbelievable success that showcased the many talented young thespians we have at Lakeview. If you missed it, you missed a wonderful night of great entertainment.

Thanks to all of the parents who drop off students at Lakeview for their cooperation with the new traffic pattern. For the first week the plan has worked very well with only a few glitches! Parent feedback has been very positive and the system does seem to get cars in and out of the lot safely and quicker than the previous plan with little disruption and obstruction to the traffic in the main circle driveway. Thanks for your help.

Thanks to the many parents, students and staff that have sent congratulations or offered kind words regarding my impending retirement. I appreciate the well wishes.

Have a good week.!

Monday, May 14, 2012

What a great weekend we had at Center Cass. Our four musical groups from Lakeview that competed in the Music in the Park Festival in Gurnee this past weekend ALL earned Excellent Ratings and placed high in the competition. The Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band and Jazz Ensemble all received Excellent and ranked first in their individual categories. The Lakeview Chorus earned an Excellent rating and placed fourth in their category. The crowning achievement of the weekend was the awarding of the esprit de corps award to Lakeview Junior High School for it's outstanding performances , demeanor and school spirit! Congratulations to all of our fine musicians and to Ms. Berman, Mr. Ohlsen and Mr. Tedeschi.

Thanks to everyone for their great cooperation with the new traffic pattern on the Lakeview Campus today. Parents were cooperative and attentive to the new plan which worked well this morning.

Don't miss the Lakeview Drama Club's presentation of Once Upon a Mattress Jr. this week on Thursday and Friday evening at 7:00 pm. It will be a great show!

Have a great week and enjoy the wonderful weather.

Random Ramblings

Time continues to fly by as it does each year. After 39 years, the pace seems even quicker than before. As I do many of the routine things involved with the close of the school year, such as filing the final school calendar and planning the graduation and end of the year remarks how the realization that this is the last time I will preform these tasks starts to creep into my thoughts. This is a strange feeling as I ponder the future and plan a new life without the demands of the past four decades. Now that everyone is aware that I am retiring in a couple of months, it feels strange to hear people talk about me almost like I was gone. It feels a bit like being at your own funeral in a Mark Twain kind of way. I have been very fortunate to have been allowed to spend my work life in the Center Cass family! To be able to live and work in one life space is a rarity and has worked well for me. I am sure that a new future is dawning and will also be rewarding.

It was a real honor and pleasure to be invited to guest conduct the Lakeview Chorus this past week at their Spring Concert. It is so much fun to be able top get back to your roots and enjoy working with students again like I did in my teacher life! It is also great to see that today’s students have the same great energy and drive as they did back in the decades of the 70's and 80's! This week the Wind Ensemble has invited my to guest conduct a selection on their final concert of the year on Thursday evening at Lakeview. Come on over! It will be a great concert! 
 

Spring sports are winding down this week and final tournaments will be held this coming weekend. The spring concert season is underway and will conclude during the week of May 21^st. Soon we will be consumed with the 8^th grade class trip and graduation which is always a joyous but sad time of the year. Joyful to see the students whom we have worked with for years mature and excel and sad to see them leave to begin the rest of their lives.

Good luck to the Lakeview Junior High bands and chorus as they compete in the Music in the Parks Festival this weekend in Gurnee! Good luck to Ms. Berman, Mr. Ohlsen and Mr. Tedeschi and our fine musicians!

I hope you have a great week! See you soon.

Center Cass School District 66 names new superintendent

Center Cass School District 66 names new superintendent

DOWNERS GROVE, IL . . . April 23, 2012 . . . Center Cass School District 66 has named Tim Arnold as the new Superintendent of the K-8 school district. The Board approved Arnold’s appointment at its April 23^rd special board meeting.  Mr. Arnold will fill the vacancy created by retiring Superintendent Jay Tiede, who has served the district for the past 39 years.

Mr. Arnold, who has been an educator for 22 years, is currently the Superintendent of Elwood CCSD #203 in Elwood, IL. He has served in that position since 2010. Prior to that, Mr. Arnold spent 2 years as an Assistant Principal and 9 years as a Principal in McLean County Unit 5 School District.

“I am looking forward to leading a team that will continue to develop the culture of excellence that already exists in Center Cass #66,” Mr. Arnold said. “Serving the students and working with the high quality staff of Center Cass #66 is a unique and exciting opportunity.”

Mr. Arnold graduated from Illinois State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Special Education. He also earned his Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership and is currently pursuing a Doctoral Degree in Educational Leadership at ISU. He has led schools to earn both the Illinois Academic Improvement Award and Illinois Academic Excellence Award.  Additionally, Mr. Arnold has advocated for education policy at the State and Federal levels.

Board Member Cathie Killian said. “The Board of Education is very pleased that Mr. Arnold has accepted the position as Superintendent.  We believe that, with Mr. Arnold’s education and experience, he will be able to lead the district to the next level in terms of preparing our students academically for high school and beyond, while maintaining the district’s positive financial standing.”

Mr. Arnold is married and he and his wife have five children. He will assume the position July 1, 2012.