Dear District 15 Families,

 

We hope you had a fantastic summer break! As folks know, tomorrow, August 14th, marks the first day of student attendance for the 2024-2025 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 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

• Important Dates
• 2024-2025 School Information
• Transportation Information
• Student and Staff Safety
• Importance of Student Attendance
• District 15 Strategic Plan
• Meet Our New Administrator
• District 15 Board of Education
• How To Stay Informed
• Contact Us

August 14, 2024 - First Day of Attendance

 

August 30, 2024 - Teacher Institute Day - NO SCHOOL

September 2, 2024 - Labor Day - NO SCHOOL

 

October 11, 2024 - Early Release Day

October 14, 2024 - Day of Non-Attendance

 

November 1, 2024 - Early Release Day / End of First Trimester

November 5, 2024 - Day of Non-Attendance

Calendario Escolar 2024-2025

At the beginning of the new school year, parents will have the option and ability to update and edit certain information in Skyward under Student Info. When logged in to your Skyward Family Access account, click on "Student Info." From here, simply click on "Request Changes for [Student Name]." You can then update your email address, emergency information and family contact information. Keeping your contact information up-to-date is very important and is the only way to guarantee you receive communication that we send regarding emergency closings, district-wide information and school specific information.

Introducing the new Curriculum Website!

 

We have revamped our curriculum website and wanted to share the news! This section of the website can be found under the Learning tab of the District website (www.d15.org). You will be able to see what your students will learn in each grade level and also get an overview of each subject focus area. We hope you check it out.

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.

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.The 2024-2025 meal application is now available in Skyward Family Access.

 

Follow the steps below to apply for Free or Reduced Meals. There is also a step-by-step video here. If you have received notification from us that you have been directly certified by the state for the 2024-2025 school, then you will not need to complete the application.

1. Log into Skyward Family Access and click Food Service on the left side.

2. Click Application in the upper right corner.

3. Click Next and follow the steps to complete the application.

Once approved for free or reduced meals, fees will also be discounted via the food application status (Free status = 100% discount; Reduced status = 50% discount).

If you have any questions, please contact the Food Service Department at 779-244-1000.

Bus routes for the 2024-2025 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 9th through August 25th, 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.

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.

• District 15 has 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.

• Over the past few year 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 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.

• District and building administrators recently completed a training on the "I Love You Guys" Standard Response Protocol that will be introduced to buildings this year.

 

We believe that a critical aspect of school security is attending to the social and emotional needs of our students. To support this, the district has 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.

The district wanted to share a reminder to all of our students and families about the importance of daily school attendance. Research asserts that regular attendance at school benefits students in multiple ways. Getting into the habit of attending school each day is more important than ever. Here are some of the many benefits:

 

• Academic Achievement: Students who attend school regularly are more likely to perform better academically.

• Social and Emotional Growth: Attending school consistently allows students to form meaningful relationships with peers and teachers, fostering a sense of community and belonging.

• Developing Good Habits: Establishing a routine of regular attendance sets the foundation for responsible behavior and work ethics that will benefit students throughout their lives.

• Avoiding Learning Gaps: Frequent absences can lead to learning gaps that make it challenging for students to catch up.

 

We understand that there are many reasons why students might miss school. Many of those reasons can be alleviated through support networks we have available at our schools. If there are supports you would like to know more about regarding how to help your child demonstrate regular attendance, please reach out to your school’s administrative or student services team.

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.

 

Safe2Help Illinois is a statewide resource that allows students to text or call a mental health professional. It also has a significant amount of resources for students and families on a variety of topics including bullying.

 

 

For more resources please visit our Student Safety and Family Supports section of our District 15 website.

The Board of Education typically meets twice a month at the McHenry School District 15 Professional Development and Administration Center. Meetings are held in-person as well as streamed on YouTube. For more information about board meeting dates and members please visit the Board of Education section of the District 15 website.

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.

District 15 Social Media

Email: info@d15.org
Website: www.d15.org
Location: 420 N. Front St., McHenry, IL 60050
Phone: 779-244-1000
Facebook: facebook.com/McHenryD15
Twitter: @School_D15