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Golf School District 67 Timeless teaching in a changing world 9401 Waukegan Rd Morton Grove IL 60053 Ph 847 966 8200 Chalkboard Golf School District 67 Newsletter In this issue Communications Rummage Sale Spotlight on the Arts Music Technology Visiting Authors PTA News from the Illinois State Board of Education Strategic Plan Happy Thanksgiving Subscribe Vol 1 2015 I continue to look for new ways to communicate with families and members of our community You can now follow District 67 on Twitter These short bursts spotlight exciting learning moments taking place in District 67 They also allow staff to join in the conversation to share grow and learn together Follow me on twitter bethflores and our information stream inspire67 Also be sure to like us on facebook The Board of Education meets once a month to conduct Board business in a public setting Please consider attending a meeting for these important conversations about our schools Opportunities for public comment are offered at the beginning and the end of every School Board meeting Dr Beth Flores Superintendent November 7 Treasures and Trinkets Rummage Sale 11 No school Veterans Day 19 Music Fest Hynes grades 1 2 21 PTA Family Dinner Night at Panera tentative 21 22 8th grade play The Living Storybook Vol 2 23 Parent Teacher Conferences 23 27 No school Thanksgiving Break Join us for the our first District 67 Foundation district wide community event a holiday rummage and vendor fair on Saturday November 7 2015 from 11 00am to 4 00pm in the Golf Middle School Gym There will be raffles vendors and a bake sale All proceeds will benefit District 67 students A PUBLICATION OF THE GOLF SCHOOL DISTRICT 67 BOARD OF EDUCATION

2 Golf School District 67 Newsletter Vol 1 2015 A strong arts education promotes the skills children need for success Exposure to the arts promotes self directed learning improves school attendance and sharpens critical and creative skills In a community as diverse as ours the arts serve as an essential bridge across language and cultural differences They become the shared link the glue that shapes our understanding of how we see ourselves and others Spotlight on THE ARTS General Music Classes Cristina Brown teaches students at Hynes Elementary the first semester and at Golf Middle School the second semester Choral Music Chorus at Hynes is taught at 3rd and 4th grades Golf Middle School offers Cadet Chorus 5th and 6th grade students focus on introductory singing skills and reading parts independently in their music Concert Chorus 7th and 8th grade students focus on fine tuning their musicianship more dynamics and intricate harmonies and putting expression into what they are singing Cadet and Concert chorus meet twice a week The GMS Chorus sang Bon Jovi s Livin on a Prayer at the opening Wolves game at Allstate Arena on October 10 Show Chorus is open to 5th 8th grade students In Show Chorus student choreographers add movement to the performances for each song Show Chorus meets once a week Some people only dream of meeting their favorite musicians I teach mine This perfectly sums up what I love about teaching music Cristina Brown Band Traci Bowering teaches 4th 8th grade band At Hynes she teaches 4th grade beginning band At Golf Middle School band groups include Cadet Band Intermediate 5th and 6th grade Concert Band Advanced 7th and 8th grade Jazz Band Classic jazz standards and pop rock hits optional for students in 6th 8th grades In the words of Louis Armstrong What we play is life The band is a family working together towards a common goal I expose my students to all types of music in the hope that they will gain an appreciation and understanding of all music as an art form The number of students participating in band has increased this year Hynes 45 Concert band 51 Cadet 48 Jazz Band 29 Traci Bowering A PUBLICATION OF THE GOLF SCHOOL DISTRICT 67 BOARD OF EDUCATION 2

3 Golf School District 67 Newsletter Vol 1 2015 Performance and Competition Schedules Hynes Elementary School Golf Middle School Hynes Music Fest 1st and 2nd grades Nov 19 Band and chorus concert at Hynes Dec 16 Hynes Spring Concert with band and chorus First band and chorus concert at GMS Dec 10 Solo and Ensemble Contest IGSMA Illinois Grade School Music Association February 20 Music in our Schools Concert March 10 Northwestern Solo and Ensemble Contest March 19 Spring Concert with Pop Music May 12 May 18 Orchestra Niles North High School Teacher Jennifer Page teaches Orchestra to Golf Middle School 6th 8th graders twice a week after school This is a wonderful opportunity for our future Niles North students We are off to a fantastic start to the year in Orchestra at Golf Middle School This is the third year of the Golf string program and the number of students involved is growing Students in grades 6 7 and 8 are learning how to play a wide variety of music on the bass cello viola and violin We are looking forward to performing at Golf on December 10 Jennifer Page Visual Arts Meggie Boyle teaches visual arts to students at Golf Middle School first semester and to students at Hynes Elementary School second semester She exposes students to various forms of art including water colors perspective art pottery pop art and painting inspired by various artists All classes participated in the Square 1 Art Fundraiser with the PTA I love my job as the art teacher in District 67 because I can help my students develop as artists from elementary school to eighth grade graduation It s a thrill to see them develop from learning shapes and drawing stick figures to painting their own Andy Warhol imitations in eighth grade Meggie Boyle A PUBLICATION OF THE GOLF SCHOOL DISTRICT 67 BOARD OF EDUCATION 3

4 Golf School District 67 Newsletter Vol 1 2015 Technology We continue moving forward implementing our technology plan Interactive projectors are installed in the Pre K 5th grade classrooms and chrome books and iPad devices will be in classrooms by mid November The district technology team continues to monitor our plan to ensure effective use of the new technology We currently have twenty four teachers enrolled in a Tech I class co taught by District 219 s Director of Instructional Technology Phil Lacey and Golf Instructional Technology Facilitator Sara Molnar In these classes teachers are exposed to a variety of technology tools and applications for the classroom Topics include blogs cloud learning social bookmarking personal learning communities podcasting and much more K 5 STEM Students in grades K 5 along with their parents attended the first of a series Kids Can Code at Hynes Elementary School This program is part of our Classrooms First Partnership with Niles Township District 219 The series of four classes will continue through January 2016 Students are learning the basics of computer coding programming logic and how to deconstruct computers To learn more about the importance of students learning to code watch this fascinating TED Talk with Mitch Resnick of the MIT Media Lab Go to Video Got the itch to code Scratch it here Kids Can Code Dates and Times Wednesdays 11 4 12 9 1 20 Times Grades K 2 at 4pm or 6pm Grades 3 5 at 5pm or 7pm A PUBLICATION OF THE GOLF SCHOOL DISTRICT 67 BOARD OF EDUCATION 4

5 Golf School District 67 Newsletter Vol 1 2015 Visiting Authors Peter Kujawinski author of NightFall joined the Golf Middle School 6th grade students in October as a visiting author Peter was an American diplomat for 18 years His assignments included Israel Haiti France and at the United Nations in New York and as US Consul General in Western Canada He also contributes to the international edition of the New York Times Peter writes for both adults and children He co authored The Dormia Trilogy with Jake Halpren He now lives in Chicago with his family This fall our PTA will host several great events to benefit our children In October 150 students attended the first ever Hynes Night Out at the Jump Zone in Niles In late November Panera will host a family dinner night that benefits District 67 We are counting on you joining us for this fun event On November 20 and 21 we look forward to the 8th grade play The Living Storybook Vol 2 at Golf Middle School Thank you to committee chair Jeanne Austria and the PTA volunteers who always pull off a great show Once upon a time there were 8 baseball playing dwarves a health food cooking stepmother and a s mores loving prince who was just trying to graduate Come and enter the topsy turvy world of talking trees and singing hags in Golf Middle School s magical production of The Living Storybook It will have you laughing and singing along in this new version of some old tales Please join us at Barnes Noble Old Orchard on Sunday December 6th from 11am 8pm Gift wrapping cookie decorating and story book readers will all be part of the festivities Golf 67 PTA will receive 10 20 back on all purchases made in the store that day and online the week of December 6 12 as long as you mention District 67 A PUBLICATION OF THE GOLF SCHOOL DISTRICT 67 BOARD OF EDUCATION 5

6 Golf School District 67 Newsletter Vol 1 Here s what s going on at the The Illinois State Board of Education is moving forward with the state developed plan to close achievement gaps provide appropriate supports to struggling districts and promote effective teaching and leadership This plan includes an improved accountability system based on multiple measures that more accurately reflect schools progress learning environments and needs for improvement The efforts to date have paved the way for this new system including a review and update of all learning standards and new state assessments aligned to these new standards and expectations Below is an overview of the current efforts shaping teaching and learning in Illinois 2015 16 State Assessments ISBE has developed a toolkit to help administrators and educators explain the results from the 2015 administration of the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers PARCC exam The PARCC exam will return for the second year in spring 2016 with a shorter easier to administer format ISBE is also developing a new assessment aligned to the new Illinois Learning Standards in science to be administered to students during the 2015 16 school year A college entrance exam for students is also planned for spring 2016 Progress and Supports Illinois now has a deeper more descriptive process to report on the progress that our schools and districts are making toward all students graduating college and career ready Foundational and other support services from general to more intensive are available to school districts to improve student achievement and implement turnaround principles and practices Teacher Evaluations Districts continue to implement or plan to implement a new comprehensive educator evaluation system that incorporates multiple measures of student growth and professional practice Learning Standards Review Illinois continues to make progress on a complete review and update of all learning standards including science physical education and health arts and social studies Illinois is also a national leader in social and emotional learning and provides technical assistance and professional development to help schools address the individual needs of students Family Engagement ISBE has developed guidance to promote the vital partnership between parents and the school community to achieve student success A PUBLICATION OF THE GOLF SCHOOL DISTRICT 67 BOARD OF EDUCATION 6 2015

7 Golf School District 67 Newsletter Vol 1 2015 Strategic Planning Discussion The Golf District 67 School Board will host a Community Discussion on Saturday February 6 2016 to learn about the educational priorities of our community The Community Discussion will be built around a structured give and take among school board members school and district staff and invited or volunteer representatives from the community at large Using this information the School Board and District Administration will formulate a system wide set of prioritized goals that can be used in our new strategic plan Volunteer participants and specific individuals will be invited by the district for two reasons First to ensure that a broad cross section of interests backgrounds and perspectives are included and second to ensure that board members are able to hear from all participants without creating a meeting of unacceptable length Any citizen wishing to attend the session or to submit written comments that will be considered as part of the process is encouraged to do so The district must receive written comments either before or at the meeting If you are interested in volunteering to serve on this strategic planning committee please send a letter of interest to Superintendent Beth Flores bflores golf67 net before December 1 2015 All of us at Golf School District 67 wish you and your family a Happy Thanksgiving Please take the coming holiday season to reflect on all that we have to be thankful for in our community From our teachers and staff who care for your children every day to those who provide for the health and safety of our families A special thank you goes out to those who put their lives at risk to provide for a safe and secure community and nation The Board and Administration wish you a happy and enjoyable Thanksgiving District 67 Board of Education Mr Richard Toth President Mr Thomas Sikoral Vice President Ms Samina Hussain Secretary Ms Nada Ardeleanu Member Mr Sam Barhoumeh Member Dr Guy Hollingsworth Member Dr Ashwini Kumar Member Administrators Dr Beth Sagett Flores Superintendent bflores golf67 net Mrs Carol Westley Principal Hynes ES cwestley golf67 net Ms Karen Chvojka Principal Golf MS kchvojka golf67 net Mrs Christine Hoffman Business Manager choffman golf67 net A PUBLICATION OF THE GOLF SCHOOL DISTRICT 67 BOARD OF EDUCATION 7