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CCSD66 Notes

Monday, November 28, 2011

Blow Blow the Winter Wind


This cold blustery weather has me thinking of the season and especially of the beautiful seasonal choral piece by John Rutter of the same title. While the wind blows we are trying to work off the excess food consumed over the long Thanksgiving Holiday and regain some form of normal eating. The snow flurries this morning remind me that winter is just around the corner and ski season can't be far behind.

While this sounds nice and pleasant we are still waiting for the construction of the fence to enclose our new bus parking lot so that we can begin to use it. We hope to have this completed before the snow falls in force. The pace of construction for this project has been very slow and frustrating. We had hoped to have this completed by the start of school and now will not complete all of the final landscaping and plantings until the spring time since the vegetation will not thrive at this time of year.


In the next couple of weeks, the winter concert season will begin and bring the sounds of the season to the Lakeview Gym on several evenings. Please plan to join us for one of these evenings as we showcase the talents of our students. The Junior Varsity basketball season is underway and will conclude before winter break begins.


Have a great week and think SNOW!

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Thanksgiving 2011


I hope that everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving break. I hope that everyone has the opportunity to spend time with family and friends and be thankful for what we have. Here are some quotes to help us count our blessings at this time of the year and every day!


Johannes A. Gaertner
To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live gratitude is to touch Heaven.


Melody Beattie
Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.

Fred De Witt Van Amburgh
None is more impoverished than the one who has no gratitude. Gratitude is a currency that we can mint for ourselves, and spend without fear of bankruptcy.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy
As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.


Estonian Poverb
Who does not thank for little will not thank for much.


William Faulkner
Gratitude is a quality similar to electricity: it must be produced and discharged and used up in order to exist at all.


Happy Thanksgiving to all! Be Thankful!

Thursday, November 10, 2011

It's time to “tip your hat” to school board members:

Koch

Robert Koch
President


Killian

Cathie Killian
Vice President


armato

Suzanne Armato

Secretary

Motuelle

Mark Motuelle

Treasurer



Blazevich

Charles Blazevich
Member


Millbrandt

Linda Millbrandt
Member

Murphy

Alison Murphy
Member


School board members are ordinary people who wear many different hats in their everyday lives. They maybe farmers or bankers, homemakers or doctors, truck drivers or professors, business owners or retirees. But they all put on the same hat when they get to the board room. It's a hat that represents an extraordinary dedication to our public schools. And it's time we thank them for their untiring efforts.

The time school board members spend in board meetings represents just a fraction of the actual hours they devote to leading their districts. They attend meetings and seminars to learn how to be better board members. They attend extracurricular events to support their schools, and often they are involved in other community activities, representing themselves, their community and and their district.


School board members are charged with a unique job. They must listen to the voices of their community and then craft a vision, mission and goals for their district that accurately reflect those voices in the design. They must guard two of the community's most precious resources – their children and their tax dollars – while they create the best educational environment possible with the money available.

Too often communities are quick to criticize school board members without really knowing all of the details that went into their decisions. As a result, the efforts of school board members often go unrecognized and unrewarded. November 15, 2011 has been designated as School Board Member Day in Illinois. This is a time to show appreciation and to begin to better understand how school board members work together to provide leadership for schools. Join with others from throughout Illinois in a “tip of the hat” to the men and women who provide the grassroots governance of public schools. Make a special effort to tell each school board member his or her hard work has been noticed and is very much appreciated.


Hats off to our Center Cass School District 66 Board of Education!


Robert Koch, President 7 years

Cathie Killian, Vice-President 7 years

Mark Motuelle, Treasurer 3 years

Suzzane Armato, Secretary 5 years

Linda Millbrandt, Member 3 years

Chuck Blazevich, Member 1 year

Alison Murphy, Member 1 year


Monday, November 07, 2011

Information to be Shared

I am highlighting news about the District this week! First, you will find information about the 2011 School Report Card and then an update on our parking lot construction project.


Highlights From the 2011 School Report Card


Listed below are highlights from the Center Cass SD 66 District School Report Card for 2011 that was just published last week. A complete copy of the District Report Card as well, as individual building report cards are on the webpage under the Heading of Assessment!


Parental Contact District 99.2% State 96%


Student to Staff Ratios

Pupil-Teacher Elementary Ratio District 17.7 State 18.8

Pupil-Certified Staff Ratio District 13.0 State 13.6

Pupil-Administrator Ratio District 185.8 State 211.3


Teacher Information

Average teaching experience District 13.7 State 13.2

% of teachers with Masters or above District 75.0 State 60.4


Financial Information

Instructional Expenditure per pupil District $ 6,555 State $ 6,773

Operating Expenditure per pupil District $10,067 State $11,537



Academic Performance

Overall performance all state tests District 93.3% State 76.5% meets or exceeds standards

ISAT performance District 93.5% State 82% meets or exceeds standards


Attendance Rate District 96.5%



The new parking lot pad for the school buses was poured and sealed last week. This week's weather does not look encouraging for additional work on the site. We need to complete the electrical work, install the fencing, gates and light to complete this part of the project. We hope to have this done by the end of the month. There remains some additional excavation work to be done also. It now appears that the final grading and planting of the vegetation in the water detention pond and around the bus pen may be delayed until spring due to the end of the planting season. The completion of the Lakeview parking lot resurfacing and driveway repairs will be pushed back to next summer because of the poor working conditions brought on by the coming of the winter season. Having the new parking area for the school buses will enhance operations for the winter until the rest of the project can be completed.



Thursday, November 03, 2011

Progress Continues!




The new bus parking lot has moved along quickly this week. Final grading and compaction was completed and cement was poured yesterday! Things are finally shaping up. One more day pouring cement followed by the completion of the electrical work, lights and fencing. This will be a great additional to the campus and smooth operations. See the attached photos of the work in progress!


Tonight is the fall Athletic Banquet where our three undefeated teams, Boys XC, Varsity and Junior Varsity Volleyball will be honored for the their accomplishments this season. Dinner begins at 6:00 pm and the program will begin about 6:45 pm. See you there!