McHenry School District 15
Today's Learners... Tomorrow's Leaders
Back-To-School Update
Superintendent's Message
Dear District 15 Families,
We hope you had a fantastic summer break! As folks know, tomorrow, August 16th, marks the first day of student attendance for the 2023-2024 school year. We are so excited to see our students bright and early tomorrow morning for what will surely be another amazing year!
McHenry is a strong community filled with phenomenal educators, supportive and caring families, a dedicated Board of Education and the brightest students around. Whether you are a returning student or family or brand new to District 15, we know you have a great year ahead of you.
So much promise and excitement accompanies the start of each school term, and there is certainly no exception to that this year. Of particular note, we are excited to continue our work on our recently adopted strategic plan. We view this plan as a blueprint for success that will align our efforts, resources, and practices and make District 15 an even better place for students, staff and families.
Our strategic plan revolves around five critical areas – Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment; Safety and Well-Being; Innovation and Technology; Finances and Facilities; and Community and Staff Engagement. Either directly or indirectly this newsletter touches on each of these areas. We invite you to peruse its contents as it highlights important back to school information, upcoming events, and useful resources for you and your children.
Our mission is to deliver an unrivaled education by providing innovative, supportive, and engaging experiences that empower all learners to achieve their ultimate success. To that aim, we are always available for support. If you have any questions or concerns whatsoever, please feel free to reach out to the District 15 Administrative Office either via phone at 779-244-1000, by email at info@d15.org, or in person at 420 N. Front St.
As always, thank you for your partnership and involvement in your student's education. We look forward to a great start to the new school year.
Josh Reitz, Ed.D.
Superintendent
In This Issue
- Important Dates
- 2023-2024 School Information
- Transportation Information
- Student and Staff Safety
- Central Office Has Moved!
- District 15 Strategic Plan
- Meet Our New Administrators
- District 15 Board of Education
- How To Stay Informed
- We're Hiring
- Good News
Important Dates
August 16, 2023 - First Day of Attendance
September 1, 2023 - Early Release Day
September 4, 2023 - Labor Day - NO SCHOOL
October 6, 2023 - Teacher Institute Day - NO SCHOOL
October 9, 2023 - Day of Non-Attendance
November 3, 2023 - Early Release Day / End of First Trimester
2023 - 2024 School Information
Updating Information in Skyward
Curriculum and Instruction
StudySync
District 15 is excited to announce that we have purchased StudySync by McGraw Hill for our middle school literacy classes. Students in grades six through eight will be engaged with McGraw Hill Education’s innovative English Language Arts program, StudySync®.
What is StudySync?
StudySync is a comprehensive English Language Arts curriculum that is designed for today’s learners. StudySync combines print books with a digital platform for reading and writing. Your student will have their own online digital binder where they will receive their assignments, store their writing, and receive teacher and peer reviews.
Like your local or school library, StudySync offers your student access to a digital library with thousands of texts. New texts are added throughout the year to keep up with trends in popular literature and are accessible for on-demand reading.
Learning with StudySync
Lessons within StudySync are designed to build your students' ability to work both collaboratively and independently. Multimedia such as the StudySync® TV episodes model how to participate in a critical discussion of literature, how to support their viewpoint with text evidence, and how to skillfully use academic vocabulary – all while collaborating with their peers.
Why StudySync
StudySync is aligned with Illinois Learning Standards and the D15 Vision of Literacy Instruction. This will provide students with engaging texts, integrated reading and writing, as well as speaking and listening. In addition, StudySync is designed to prepare middle school students for their next academic step into high school literacy instruction.
Reveal Math
District 15 is excited to announce that we have purchased Reveal Math by McGraw Hill for students in kindergarten through eighth grade.
What Is Reveal Math?
Reveal Math is a core math resource that empowers educators to uncover the
mathematician in every student through powerful explorations, rich mathematical discourse, and timely individualized learning opportunities. Reveal Math will help students become mathematical thinkers— and learn to explain their thoughts and process.
Learning with Reveal Math
Reveal Math is designed to teach how students learn today. Purposeful technology, integrated dynamic explorations, videos, animations, and technology-enhanced items ensure that students stay engaged with learning. Rich problem solving opportunities, questions to inspire students to talk about math, and applications of the math practices provide students with a strong foundation in conceptual understanding.
Why Reveal Math
Reveal Math is aligned with Illinois Learning Standards and the D15 Vision of Math Instruction. Reveal Math encourages a math-positive classroom with strategies for helping your child develop a growth mindset, activities for students to work with their classmates in teams and groups, and learning statements with a positive “I Can” focus. Reveal Math is designed to prepare students for their next academic step.
Health Requirements
The Illinois Department of Public Health requires a number of immunizations and exams before students can attend school in person in the State of Illinois. Parents are asked to please submit the following health records to their student’s Health Office at the school for the 2023-2024 school year prior to the first day of school. You may drop the forms off at school or submit them through our form submission portal: Medical Form Submissions. If you have any questions, please contact your school nurse.
Physical Exams: All students entering Preschool, Kindergarten, Sixth and first time students entering an Illinois school are required to have a current physical examination completed on the approved Certificate of Child Health Examination https://www.d15.org/Page/278.
Immunizations: All students must be current with all Illinois immunization requirements. Please refer to the Health Requirements posted in the Health Services section of the District 15 website or consult with your physician.
Dental/Vision Requirements: All students entering Kindergarten or students who are first time students entering an Illinois school must have a vision exam. In addition, students in kindergarten, second and sixth grade are required to submit a dental exam. To obtain these forms visit https://www.d15.org/Page/278.
Food Services
We encourage anyone who is eligible to fill out a free/reduced meal application following July 1st to see if you qualify for this benefit. Free/reduced meal applications are available on the district website.
If your family is in need of nutritional support, please contact any of the following associations as they will have summer meals available to those who need them.
McHenry Public Library - Monday-Friday @ 12:00 noon to 1:00 pm. Any Student 18 and under receives a complimentary boxed lunch provided by the Northern Illinois Food Bank
St. Vincent DePaul Society - 5211 Bull Valley Road, McHenry, IL 60050
Casa De Vida - 3430 Elm Street, McHenry, IL 60050
FISH of McHenry County - 3515 N. Richmond Road, McHenry, IL 60051
Wonder Lake Neighbors Food Pantry - 3506 E. Wonder Lake Rd., Wonder Lake, IL 60097
Faith Acres Foundation Food Pantry - 225 East State Rd., Unit H, Island Lake, IL 60042, (815) 669-0188
First United Methodist Church @ Algonquin Township Road District - 3702 US-14, Bldg#6B, Crystal Lake, IL 60014
Faith Acres Foundation Food Pantry - 120 W Dowell Rd McHenry, IL 60051,
Transportation Information
Bus routes for the 2023-2024 school year are ready to view in our eLink system (see instructions below), however, please remember that they will change as we continue to process registrations. We recommend you check your student’s bus stop information daily before the first day of school and continue this practice for at least two weeks after school starts. No changes will be made to routes between August 4th through August 21st, in order to ensure consistent route assignments, however, if you have significant concerns please contact the Transportation department at 779-244-1090 or email troffice@d15.org.
As District 15 welcomes back students to school, we would like to remind families whose children ride the bus to please be patient as bus delays will more than likely occur during the beginning weeks. The safety of our students is of paramount importance. As our students, drivers, and school buildings get used to the routes for the new school year, we will be taking all the necessary precautions to ensure students are getting on the correct buses. Due to these reasons, the bus routes are likely to experience delays of a half hour or more. We understand that delays can be inconvenient for families, however, the necessity for every student to get on the correct bus, and getting off at the correct stop is our number one priority. District 15 encourages you to track your student’s bus with the VersaTrans My Stop Bus App. The app will show buses once school starts and will allow you to track where your student’s bus is, if it is not on time. Below is the information for the app:
VERSATRANS MY STOP BUS APP
Download app: Versatrans My Stop
Allow app to access location
App will offer to find local school districts
Choose McHenry Community Consolidated School District #15 & HSD #156 (IL) (PLEASE SELECT CAREFULLY)
Enter login and password (your student’s OTHER/STUDENT ID# for both)
Map of your child's bus route should appear
CHECKING YOUR STUDENTS ROUTING INFORMATION IN ELINK
Go to ELink https://versatransweb06.tylertech.com/mchenrysd15/elinkrp/login.aspx
Enter USERNAME and PASSWORD.
Click on Work with Students
Click on View My Students
Click on Student Name
Your student’s OTHER ID/STUDENT ID# has been setup as your USER ID and PASSWORD for the My Stop App and viewing your Bus Route information.
PLEASE NOTE: For instructions on how to locate the OTHER ID/STUDENT ID number and view the bus pass in Skyward please click here.
Student and Staff Safety
The safety and well-being of our students and staff is the top priority in District 15 and one that warrants our most resolute commitment. At District 15 we believe all children and adults deserve to attend safe and nurturing schools that provide them with security, services, and support which allow them to thrive and flourish.
District 15 takes many steps to provide the safest environment possible for our staff and students. Much of those efforts involve our commitment to ongoing training and education, collaborating with community partners and agencies, emphasizing social-emotional systems of support for students and staff, and continuously attending to building infrastructure and security. To note:
We have quarterly Joint Safety Committee meetings with the McHenry Police Department, Fire Department, first responders, members from the city, District 156, and Montini administration for the purpose of maintaining an ongoing dialogue that prioritizes school safety. Over the years this group has organized tabletop drills for administrators and staff, brought in nationally renowned speakers on school safety, and organized first responder activities that involve school personnel.
We have annual meetings where we review our threat assessment/emergency protocols with first responders and district/building administrators. District 15 has an emergency response plan and threat assessment procedure that is filed annually with the McHenry Police Department and McHenry County Regional Office of Education. These plans are reviewed annually with staff and updated as necessary.
Each school conducts shelter in place/lockdown drills with the McHenry Police Department.
Leaders of District 15’s Emergency Team participated in a three day National Incident Management Training Program through the federal Department of Homeland Security. They were also trained in “School Safety and Violent Event Incident Management (Reunification) through the Illinois Fire Service Institute.
Leaders of District 15’s Emergency Response Team were recently certified by the Illinois Fire Service Institute on Reunification procedures.
Each school has a day shift officer assigned to them who serves as a liaison for the principal and staff. This officer provides quick accessibility to schools should they need support for any reason.
For the 2023-2024 school year, District 15 will have two official School Resource Officers (SRO’s) on staff (one at McHenry Middle School and one at Parkland School).
Our student services department regularly conducts threat assessment trainings with staff on how to identify, assess, diffuse, and report student behaviors.
We utilize the Raptor Management System to screen and track visitors to our schools.
We have made several significant improvements to the infrastructures of our buildings to make them safer. Some of those improvements include:
Affixing protective film on exterior doors and windows of buildings.
Installing new fiberglass composite exterior doors on three of our elementary buildings (Hilltop, Valley View, and Edgebrook) to reinforce our building envelopes.
Building vestibules at the entrances of our buildings (Hilltop and Valley View) to provide an extra layer before entry to our buildings.
Installing 211 high definition security cameras on our campuses (78 exterior/131 interior) that provide 360 degree surveillance for each of our schools.
Conducting a district-wide phone refresh and improving aging intercom systems in our buildings to ensure communication channels are sound.
We have recently invested in a program called CrisisGo, which is sponsored by the IASA, that we believe will help enhance our existing safety protocols and procedures.
We created the position of a Social Emotional Learning Coordinator which is a district level administrative position that leads the efforts on support systems for students, families and staff in a proactive manner on issues related to student/staff well-being.
We created eight social emotional team leader stipend positions (one per building) that serve as leaders on multi-tiered systems of support for students and staff.
Annually we certify approximately 150 staff members (administrators, teachers, support staff, and paraprofessionals) in CPI (Crisis Prevention Institute) in de-escalation strategies and safe physical management of student behaviors.
We administer a strengths based social emotional learning screener annually to students in grades Kindergarten through 8th grade. Results from the screeners are used by staff to help us attend to student needs and implement support and enrichment structures for them.
We recently added two Board Certified Behavioral Analysts (BCBA) to our district staff to assist with student behavior and student safety and well-being.
We piloted, along with District 156, the Handle With Care Program which is a partnership between the McHenry Police, the Regional Office of Education and the Mental Health Board in which district staff are alerted by the police each time calls are made to homes of D15/156 students.
We recently made enhancements to our resources that aid in helping our students stay secure online and in everyday life. The two resources are GoGuardian Beacon and Bark Plus. These resources continually screen student web browsing activity, emails, and Google Workspace to ensure internet and web safety for students, and alerts district administrators of any potential time-sensitive issues.
We believe that a critical aspect of school security is attending to the social and emotional needs of our students. One year ago, District 15 created the position of Social Emotional Learning Coordinator, who helps lead on this front. We have also expanded our Second Step programming, which focuses on the social-emotional well-being of our students. We believe these efforts are key to school safety and of primary importance to the overall welfare of our students, making them feel happier, more confident and more supported.
Finally, we believe the job of keeping our children and adults safe and meeting their needs most effectively is done best when done together. In that regard, we are fortunate to have built strong relationships and partnerships throughout the McHenry community, especially our police and fire departments, who are tremendous resources and measures of support. As we work together collectively, we believe we will ensure, to the best of our ability, that our students are safe, healthy, and successful.
To learn more about the various supports and plans we have in place, please visit our Student Safety and Well Being/Family Supports section of our website.
Central Office Has Moved!
District 15 Strategic Plan
As referenced earlier in this update, District 15 has a formally adopted Strategic Plan. To learn more about this plan please review the video and digital pamphlet below.
Support Networks
Additional resources and information can be accessed by visiting the Student Safety and Well Being/Family Supports section of our website.
Meet Our New Administrators
English Learning Coordinator - Edgar De La Mora
Assistant Principal at MMS - Ryan Dixon
School Resource Officer - Megan Carey
Officer Megan Carey has been selected as the MMS School Resource Officer position. She has been with the McHenry Police Department since 2018. Officer Carey’s current specialties include being a member of the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT), Evidence Technician Team, and McHenry County Major Investigations Assistance Team (MIAT). She has completed training to become a Juvenile Officer, as well as a School Resource Officer. Officer Carey attended college at Southern Illinois University Carbondale and Eastern Illinois University where she obtained a Master’s Degree in science.
School Resource Officer - Jim Harris
District 15 Board of Education
Meet the Board
Board of Education President Mr. Chad Mihevc
Board of Education Vice President - Mrs. Lindsay Turner
Board of Education Secretary - Mrs. Rachel McDonnell
Board Member - Mrs. Emily Jay
Board Member - Mr. Matthew Stauner
Board Member - Mrs. Jennifer Synek
Board Member - Mr. Patrick DeGeorge
We're Hiring
How To Stay Informed
District 15 and our schools are active on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. These social media pages inform parents, staff, and community members about our achievements, events, and activities.
To access all of our District 15 social media accounts, please click the link below.
Download our District App
Contact Us!!!
Good News!!!
2023 National School Public Relations Association Awards!!!
Award of Excellence - Video Produced In-House
Award of Merit - Marketing Publication
Award of Excellence - Marketing Brochure
#d15rocks
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