District awarded Preschool for All grant
Summit Hill District 161 has been awarded a Preschool for All grant for three additional sessions of its program for the 2010-11 school year. Preschool for All is the State of Illinois’ initiative to make preschool accessible to all families, serving three and four-year-olds who choose to participate, including children with special needs and English language learners.
Preschool for All is funded by a state grant. A school district must reapply and be granted funding for the continuation of the program the following year. District 161’s program would serve eligible three and four-year-olds living within its school boundaries. Space is limited to 20 students per session.
The program will be housed at Dr. Julian Rogus School, 20027 South 88th Avenue in Frankfort and begin on Sept. 27, 2010. Overall, there will be two morning sessions and two afternoon sessions, each lasting 2.5 hours, five days a week.
To begin the application process for possible entrance into the program, parents may complete the Interest Survey. Please send this information to Frankfort Square School, 7710 West Kingston Drive, Frankfort, by 5 p.m. on Sept. 10, 2010.
Families will be screened based on a series of factors to identify students who may be at risk of failure due to English proficiency, physical and academic delays, stresses in family structures, health concerns, and financial need. Students are then selected based on the outcome of the screening process.
Noted Keith Pain, Superintendent, “We are very pleased to be able to expand our school district’s preschool services with the assistance of this state grant. This type of preschool experience helps our children gain valuable skills for later academic success in school.”
District receives Bright Star Award for educational excellence
For the 15th consecutive year, Summit Hill District 161 has been awarded the SchoolSearch 2010 Bright Star Award for achieving high student performance while managing the finances of the district. District 161 is one of the 81 Illinois school districts (out of 869 school districts) to be honored with the award in 2010. The district has received the honor yearly since the award originated in 1995.
Award criteria are based on districts whose students’ academic performance ranks in the upper one-third of Illinois school districts, but whose expenditures per pupil ranks in the lower one-fourth of Illinois school districts. The ranking is based on 2009 Illinois Report Card data, which is the most recent data available.
Award criterion for student achievement is based on the average percentage of meets/ exceeds percentages in Reading and Math on the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT). The state average for this percentage is 80.06. The Bright Star Award sets the bar for student achievement at or above 87.73%. The award criterion for fiscal management – the average operating expenditure per student -- is at or below $7,939. The state average is $10,417.
“This prestigious award demonstrates the success of District 161’s Board, administration, and staff in continuously reaching high student achievement in all of our classrooms and in the superior financial management of the district’s resources,’’ said Keith Pain, Superintendent.
The Bright Star Award is distributed by SchoolSearch, an educational research and consulting firm that publishes online rankings of school systems.
District to roll out behavior component of RtI
Over the last six years, District 161 has been systematically introducing the various components of the Response to Intervention model of instruction. RtI is the practice of providing high-quality instruction based directly on student needs. Within the RtI model, teachers collect data on student progress, analyze the data and modify instruction so that struggling students receive interventions to become successful learners.
"The instructional model reminds us that improving general classroom instruction for all students via differentiation and use of modifications is key to successful learning," said Superintendent Keith Pain.
During the upcoming school year, the District will add phase five of the program, which includes behavioral interventions. The interventions are called Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports, and serve as an educational approach to teaching, modeling, and acknowledging expectations. The program is also aimed to shift the focus to prevention and minimizes behavioral problems thereby increasing academic time for students.
The first phase involved increasing the use of differentiated classroom instructional strategies to engage all students. Phase two involved teacher training on the use of data-based student assessments to guide instructional decisions for students. In phase three, the district focused on improving universal reading instruction and implemented reading interventions. Math interventions followed the next school year. Throughout the process, tutoring programs, human resources, and curriculum enhancements were put in place.
"The purpose of RtI is to identify those students who are struggling in school and to ensure that each student receives just the right instruction or intervention to be successful," Supt. Pain said. Teachers choose specific materials or methods (such as the instruction or intervention) to use with students who need extra help. Teachers then carefully keep track whether or not the student is doing better and making progress when these materials and methods are used.
"One of the District's goals has been to develop and to provide curricular and extracurricular opportunities that will allow all students to achieve their full potential," Supt. Pain said. "We are pleased to say that the District's implementation of the RtI model of instruction has significantly raised the academic achievement of all of our students, including those who had previously experienced learning difficulties."
Parents asked to complete student re-registration
Parents of returning students in Summit Hill District 161 schools are asked to please re-register their student as soon as possible. Noted District 161 Superintendent Keith Pain, "If your child will be attending during the 2010-2011 school year, it is critical that we now have this information so that we can adequately plan teacher assignments, hire the right number of teachers, and correspondingly, maintain the proper class size guidelines for our students."
Student registration can be completed with credit card payment on the District 161 website, left navigation. If a parent wishes to pay by cash or check, has special concerns, or would prefer to complete the registration process in person, staff are available Mondays-Thursdays from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. and Fridays from 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. at the District Administrative Center and at 815.469.9103.
Kindergarten, new student registration drives continue
Summit Hill School District's Fall 2010 Kindergarten registration drive and new student registration drive continues. To begin the process, parents must come to the District Administrative Center located at 20100 South Spruce Drive in Frankfort to present the following documents and receive their child’s personal login:
Official birth certificate (with certification seal from county); Kindergarten student must be 5 years old on or before Sept. 1, 2010.
Proof of residency via: ONE document from the following group: real estate bill, signed and notarized lease, mortgage papers, closing papers (closing must have occurred before registration), or mortgage coupon book. If a parent cannot provide a residency document in his/her own name and is living with someone who owns the property, a form is available at the Administrative Center that would need to be notarized by the parent to partially complete this requirement. Additionally, the person who owns the property would need to come to the Administrative Center and prove residency as well; and TWO documents from the following group: gas, electric or water bill, driver's license vehicle registration, home or apartment insurance papers, voter registration card, or public aid card.
The registration fee is $150. Half-day kindergarten is $125. Parents can pay online via credit/debit card.
Should registration assistance be needed or the parent wishes to pay by cash or check, the Administrative Center will be open from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. on Fridays.
Parents can access our interactive calendar by clicking on the "View entire calendar" link below. Please select your child's school or check multiple schools via the "Select location" drop down box. Please also check the District Events box to view these events. Click "Go". When an event is clicked, a popup window will appear with detailed information.
