The13Times

Summer 2011Bloomingdale, IL

Congratulations 8th Graders

13

“Thank you Westfield for preparing me for high school the best way you could, and congratulations class of 2011. We made it. Together, we move on to the next part of our lives.”-Alexis Vasilikos

D13 Scholarships

Academic Excellence at Erickson

For the third straight year, Erickson Elementary School has been named to the Illinois Honor Roll as a recipient of the Academic Excellence Award. To receive this award, at least 90% of students met or exceeded state standards in both reading and mathematics for at least 3 consecutive years. Pictured above are Erickson PTO President Liz Buck, Assistant Su-perintendent for Learning Dr. Linda Schielke, Principal John Markgraf, Superintendent Dr. Kim Perkins, teacher and administrative intern Stacy Johnston and parent Gina Gattusso.

Each year the District 13 Parent-Teacher Organizations provide scholarships to alumni to assist in their collegiate endeavors. This year’s recipients are as follows: Erickson - Samantha Millikan will attend Wake Forest University in North Carolina. She plans on pursuing a career as a physician.

DuJardin - Pujan Patel will be attending Yale University in Connecticut and will study science. He has already done some research in neuroscience.

Westfield - Adriana Villasuso will attend The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She will be studying to be a nurse.

“Every teacher we have had at Westfield has given 110% in their effort to pre-pare us for high school. When you are succeed-ing in life, you will remember how our teachers worked you and taught you.”

-James Palmer

Meeting Our GoalsEach summer the Board of Education meets to re-view District progress and revise and set goals for the coming year. Last summer, the Board members set two significant goals for the 2010-11 school year. An update of the progress toward those goals is offered below.

Goal 1 - At least 90% of district students will con-tinue to meet state standards/proficiency on the March 2011 ISAT tests and the May 2011 Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) tests.

To meet this goal, the District has worked on nine specific, targeted activities. Classroom-based ac-tivities include a reading curriculum, a reading intervention program for students needing extra help in literacy, curriculum mapping to eliminate redundancy and fill in gaps, use of paraprofes-sional staff to support instruction, and intervention and coaching from reading specialists. The activi-ties also include administrative support for School Improvement Planning, utilization of assessment data, and the work of the Math Task Force to re-view the math curriculum scope and sequence.

Some highlights of those efforts include MAP test-ing results at DuJardin. Students have scored at the following proficiency rates: Grade Reading Proficiency 2 86% 3 90% 4 95% 5 95% Grade Math Proficiency 2 95% 3 95% 4 98% 5 98%

At Westfield Middle School, over 70% of the struggling students who received the Reading Street program in-tervention met their projected targets for growth on their spring MAP testing results. These were remark-able gains. Overall, Westfield Achievement, Status and Growth reports from the spring MAP testing demon-strated beyond typical growth in both math and read-ing.

Erickson purchased new literacy comprehension ma-terials for addressing specific skill weaknesses. Testing within the reading curriculum shows students achiev-ing at rates of 79-95%.

Goal 2 - Activities will be planned to facilitate a smooth transition and succession for district leadership as ad-ministrators retire over the next three years.

This past year, two individuals were selected to re-place the Assistant Superintendent for Learning and the Special Education Director. They have been tran-sitioning with their predecessors and will be ready for their roles in the fall of 2011.

Administrative interns were chosen and worked with their respective principals at Erickson and Westfield to prepare them for future administrative roles. The program will continue with the same two interns next year.

The superintendent search firm selected in June will be tasked with posting the superintendent vacancy by August 1 and arranging interviews with vetted can-didates in September and October 2011. Following the selection of a new superintendent, the Board, Dr. Perkins and the new superintendent will turn their at-tention towards other administrative vacancies which will occur in the following 20 months.

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DJ’s Alex Fedor, Anthony Fedor and Shaan Amin (L) and Erickson’s Cheyenne Fischer-Zim-merman (R) win Acceler-ated Reader Awards.

Mari Colucci wins Westfield’s Faculty Recogni-tion Award

With Best WishesThough it is with great regret that we say goodbye to a handful of our colleagues this year, we give our deep appreciation for their dedicated service and best wishes for their retirement years. They each share some part-ing thoughts below.

Dr. Linda Schielke - Assistant Superintendent for Learning

I will forever cherish my years spent in Bloomingdale District 13, a rare place where all staff give 150% ev-ery day to make a difference in the lives of children. We have a mindset of continual improvement and col-laboration, and we have the heart to do whatever it takes to help chil-dren reach their full potential.

My goal in life has always been to leave every situation a little better than I found it, and to build the capacity of the people and systems so that they can be success-ful long after I’m gone. Hopefully the people I’ve been fortunate to call colleagues will remember the joy of the journey we’ve traveled together.

It has been a privilege working for the citizens of Bloom-ingdale and the staff and students of District 13. Thank you for all the support you’ve given me, and for all the wonderful goals we’ve accomplished together.

Fred Louderman - Special Education DirectorI have always enjoyed working with children and families and have especially enjoyed working in the school environment where there are so many opportunities to help shape a child’s development. I decided to go into administration because I also enjoy working with families and teams and wanted to have a wider effect on a system.

Bloomingdale is a positive, safe place where people ac-tually know and work closely with each other. I have always appreciated the professionalism and collabora-tion that occurs within the district.

After retiring, I will take some time to determine what professional options I’d like to pursue. I have some per-sonal projects I’m looking forward to working on, in-cluding playing music.

Betty Uppling - Second Grade TeacherI became an educator because my parents stressed the importance of a good education and a solid work ethic. Preparing children to become independent active learn-ers is very rewarding.

There are so many positive memo-ries from these past 26 years here at Bloomingdale District 13. I es-pecially enjoyed witnessing the growth the children made from the beginning of the year to the end. Visit-ing with former students and learning about their ac-complishments and successes always made me happy. I have many plans for retirement. I am looking forward to becoming a grandma for the first time. Also, I would like to continue to help children develop their full learn-ing potential. I am so thankful to have worked in a very rewarding district with exceptional people.

Caroline Davis - ParaprofessionalI began subbing in 1994, as it was a suitable job for me while my children were in school. I quickly realized that I loved watch-ing students discover new things and witness those “light bulb” moments. I knew that I wanted to offer students encouragement, friendship and the precious gift of knowledge.

I feel blessed and thankful for the great experience. Even though I will miss the everyday exchanges with staff and students, I will carry the memories etched in my heart forever. I am so thankful for the positive expe-rience for the many people who have walked with me on this journey.

Fran Gleich - ParaprofessionalI have worked as a paraprofessional at DuJardin since 1999. I came to work in the educational setting be-cause I liked working with children, especially in physical education.

In retirement, my husband John and I hope to spend more time with our children and five grandchildren, travel and spend more time on our boat.

Bloomingdale School District 13164 S. Euclid AvenueBloomingdale, IL 60108DuJardin Elementary School630-894-9200

Erickson Elementary School630-529-2223

Westfield Middle School630-529-6211

Board of EducationMs. Tamara Peterson, PresidentMr. Terry McKeown, Vice PresidentMrs. Linda Wojcicki, SecretaryMrs. Diane BirkleyMrs. Fina KlcoMrs. Susan LancasterMr. Cary Moreth

AdministrationDr. Kim Perkins, SuperintendentDr. Linda Schielke, Assistant Superintendent for Learning

NON-PROFIT ORG.

U.S. POSTAGE

PAID

CAROL STREAM, IL

PERMIT NO. 1152

Welcome Susan Lancaster

The District 13 community is happy to wel-come a new member to the Board of Edu-cation. Susan Lancaster began her role on the Board this spring.

“My husband and I bought our home be-cause it was in District 13,” said Mrs. Lan-caster. “My three siblings and I attended District 13 and have six degrees. I’d say that’s a pretty good record.”

Mrs. Lancaster has served on the Bloom-ingdale Park District Board for the past six years. “Parks and schools are two of the best reasons to live in Bloomingdale and I wanted to support them,” she said. Mrs. Lancaster and her husband, Larry, the proud parents of three chil-dren, recently celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary. Their oldest child, Kelly, will begin her junior year at Lake Park High School. Billy will begin eighth grade at Westfield and Bobby will be in third grade at Du-Jardin.

2011-2012 School Year

August 9Information Day

10 am-6pm Westfield1-7 pm DuJardin and Erickson

August 17 School Begins - Noon Dismissal

August 18 First Full Day of School

November 21-25 - No SchoolParent-Teacher Conferences and

Thanksgiving Holiday

December 19-January 2No School - Winter Break

March 26-30No School - Spring Break

June 4Last Day of School