McHenry School District 15
Today's Learners... Tomorrow's Leaders
Winter Update - Superintendent's Message
Dear District 15 Families and Staff,
Today marks the final day of our second trimester. The 2022-2023 school year seems to be flying by!
I wanted to update our learning community on an exciting step recently taken by McHenry School District 15, which is the formal adoption and approval of a strategic plan. We invite you to take a minute to view the video below that provides a high-level overview of some of the major components of this plan.
We are excited about our strategic plan and its potential to improve our school district. It is a blueprint for success that will help us operate more effectively and align our efforts, resources, and practices towards a unified purpose of delivering an unrivaled education for the students and families of McHenry School District 15.
To learn more about our plan, we invite you to view the digital pamphlet below.
I want to thank the individuals listed below who played a special role in the inception of our strategic plan. I also want to thank our families and staff for your future support as we work together to achieve our goals.
We wish everyone a great final trimester of school! Please take a minute to review the rest of this newsletter as it highlights important information for the remainder of the school year and includes useful resources for you and your students.
Josh Reitz, Ed. D.
Superintendent
In This Issue
- Important Dates
- Curriculum & Assessment
- Progress Reports
- Updating Information in Skyward
- Online Registration for Next School Year
- Food Services
- Special Education Parent Survey
- District 15 App
- Good News
Important Dates
February 20, 2023 - Presidents' Day - NO SCHOOL
February 24, 2023 - Progress Reports Available
March 27, 2023 - April 7, 2023 - LANDMARK ONLY - Spring Intersession - NO SCHOOL
March 27, 2023 - March 31, 2023 - Spring Recess - NO SCHOOL
April 3, 2023 - Classes Resume
April 7, 2023 - Day of Non Attendance
April 10, 2023 - LANDMARK ONLY - Classes Resume
April 28, 2023 - Early Release Day
May 29, 2023 - Memorial Day - NO SCHOOL
May 30, 2023 - Last Day of Attendance - Early Release Day
June 1, 2023 - LANDMARK ONLY - Last day of Attendance (If no snow days are used) - Early Release Day
Curriculum & Assessment
Illinois Assessment of Readiness
District 15 students in grades 3-8 will take the Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) in the areas of English Language Arts and Mathematics. Additionally, students in grades 5 and 8 will take the Illinois Science Assessment (ISA). The Assessment window for both of the assessments will be open in early April.
Teachers have been taking the appropriate steps to prepare your children for these assessments. However, if you are interested in learning about additional ways that you can support your child for the upcoming assessments or would simply like to learn more about what they entail, please refer to the following links.
Illinois Assessment of Readiness resources: https://www.isbe.net/iar
IAR Practice Tests: https://il.mypearsonsupport.com/practice-tests/
IAR Released Test Items: https://il.mypearsonsupport.com/released-items/
Should you have further questions about the IAR and/or ISA assessments, please do not hesitate to contact Assistant Superintendent, Fred Laudadio via email at flaudadio@d15.org or by phone at 779-244-1000. As always, thank you for your involvement and support in your child’s education and growth.
As the testing window gets closer additional information will be sent out to families.
Illinois 5Essentials Survey
Every year, students (4th - 8th grade) and teachers have the opportunity to participate in the statewide Illinois 5Essentials survey. Parents have the opportunity to take this survey too. The survey is designed to generate a detailed picture of the inner workings of Illinois schools from the student, staff, and parent perspective.
This report will help us understand parent perceptions of the conditions at each school and help guide improvement.
To take the survey, visit http://survey.5-essentials.org/illinois/survey/parent/ and select the appropriate survey to begin. One survey may be completed and submitted for each child by either parent/guardian.
Progress Reports
Progress reports will be available through Skyward Family Access at 4pm on Friday, February 24th. It is important to check your student's progress reports to see how they are doing throughout the school year.
If you are unable to access these reports online, please contact your child’s school office to inquire about a hard copy.
To access progress reports online, visit Skyward Family Access.
Log into Skyward Family Access and click on the Progress Report tab.
Online Registration for Next School Year
Updating Information In Skyward
Food Services
The federal program that has allowed school districts across the country to offer free breakfast and lunch to all students regardless of income expired on June 30, 2022. Since 2020, this program has eliminated the need to collect payments for school meals for any student.
As a result, schools across the nation have reverted back to free and reduced-price meals based on income eligibility guidelines set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
We encourage anyone who is eligible to fill out a free/reduced meal application to see if you qualify for this benefit. Free/reduced meal applications are available on the district website.
Additional Nutrition Resources
Northern Illinois Food Bank launched a new mobile-friendly map aimed at helping those experiencing food insecurity connect with food resources in their community and surrounding areas.
Northern Illinois Food Bank works with a network of 900 food pantries and feeding programs to provide 78 million meals a year to neighbors across 13 counties in suburban and rural northern Illinois.
This resource includes an interactive Food Finder map with a searchable directory of food distributions sites with up to date schedules, times, directions and programs.
Special Education Parent Survey
This year the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) will survey a representative sample of parents of students with disabilities to determine how well schools throughout the state are involving parents in their children’s education. The survey results are a required component of ISBE’s Annual Performance Report (APR) to the U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs.
McHenry District 15 has been selected to participate in the survey this year.
If you are the parent of a student with an Individualized Education Program (IEP), you may receive a survey in the mail from Measurement, Incorporated, the current contractor administering the ISBE survey. If you do receive the parent survey, please take a few minutes to complete it. The survey can be completed online or by mail. Your opinion is very important to us. Your answers will be combined with those from other parents to help the state and individual school districts improve family-school partnerships in special education. No one from the school district will know how you answered the survey questions.
Click here for a complete letter from the Illinois State Board of Education
Click here to see a SAMPLE SURVEY (this is last year’s survey)
Additional information can be found on the ISBE website
Download The McHenry District 15 APP Today
Get District Notifications, Updates, and Alerts!!!
Sharing Good News Around McHenry D15
Christopher Mertz - VFW Patriot’s Pen Contest
Parkland Cross Country Team
Amy Wuerger - Lina Rogers Award Recipient
ROE Educator of The Year Awards
Contact Us
Email: info@d15.org
Website: www.d15.org
Location: 1011 North Green Street, McHenry, IL, USA
Phone: 779-244-1000
Facebook: facebook.com/McHenryD15
Twitter: @School_D15