Libertyville D70

🏫 D70’s campaign, “Showing Up Together,” continues with these top facts about school attendance:

✔️ Chronic absence affects almost one out of three students
✔️ Absenteeism and its ill effects start early. Set a good example right away and attend school.
✔️ Poor attendance can influence whether children read proficiently by the end of third grade or be held back.
✔️ Research shows that missing 10 percent of the school, or about 18 days in most school districts, negatively affects a student’s academic performance. That’s just two days a month.
✔️ When students improve their attendance rates, they improve their academic prospects and chances of graduating.
✔️ Our schools want to keep students engaged and are tracking how many are missing so many days in excused and unexcused absences so that they can prevent these students from heading off track academically.

Let’s work together to make sure our students are in school!

👋 Say HELLO to our new Adler Park first-grade teacher, Kristen Norwood!

Kristen is no stranger to D70—she’s been a long-term substitute teacher and summer school teacher with us for the last three years. 👩‍🏫

🏫 Before joining Adler Park, Kristen was a fourth-grade teacher in Northfield and Grayslake, and a third-grade teacher in Chicago. She holds a master’s degree from National Louis University and a bachelor’s degree from Columbia College in Chicago.

Let’s give Kristen a warm welcome as she starts her new journey with us! 👏

🧠 💖 Butterfield social worker Alexis Edelstein got creative with students by using Play-Doh® to explore emotions and how they work. Through hands-on activities, our students learn to express their feelings in fun and colorful ways while making it a playful and educational experience!

Each day this week, D70 will feature facts and helpful tips regarding the importance of student attendance in school as part of our “Showing Up Together” campaign.

🏫 Why Chronic Absence Matters

In the 2020-21 school year, at least 10.1 million students nationwide were chronically absent. Chronic absence is missing 10 percent or more of school days due to absence for any reason and can translate into students having difficulty learning to read by third grade, achieving in middle school, and graduating from high school.

Chronic absence presents academic challenges for students in class. Also, when it reaches high levels in a classroom or school, all students may suffer because the resulting classroom churn affects teachers’ ability to engage all students and meet their learning needs.

🙌 This is a solvable problem! We're starting by engaging students and families to help us prevent absences from adding up before students fall behind academically.

❗REMEMBER:❗Attending school is important!

📚 In only the second week of school, Dr. Erin Wyatt, our Highland Middle School Learning Center director, reported that students have already checked out nearly 1,000 books! 🤯 One thousand books—WOW! Talk about a school full of amazing readers! 📖

Keep those pages turning, Hornets! Let’s see how many more books we can check out this year! 💪

🙌 We are excited to introduce Jennifer Tarello, the new friendly face and voice of Highland Middle School Student Services! Jennifer plays a crucial role in keeping our school running smoothly.

✅ Parents and guardians, you’ll hear from Jennifer if your student is absent or needs to leave early.

✅ Students, she’s the go-to person for checking in if you arrive late or need to check out early!

Jennifer is here to ensure everything is in order and that communication flows seamlessly between home and school. We’re thrilled to have her on board—she’s already making a big difference! 🌟 Say hello next time you call or visit!

🏫 👏 Join us in giving a huge congratulations to Kristi Martin, who has been promoted from dean of students to assistant principal at Highland Middle School! We’re so excited to see Kristi continue to make a positive impact on our school community in her new role!

👏 Introducing Annika McKnight, our new special education teacher at Rockland! Annika was hired by the Board of Education in April and brings a wealth of experience to her new role.

For the past three years, Annika has been a dedicated teacher assistant and substitute teacher in D70. She has also worked as a special education itinerant teacher for a hearing and speech center. 🏫

Annika holds a master’s degree in special education from Mercyhurst University and an undergraduate degree from North Park University. 🙌 We are excited to have her on our team!

🤩 There were smiles all around as Tracy Aleckson, our teacher for deaf and hard-of-hearing students, caught up with some of our D70 students before school. We are so grateful to have dedicated teachers like Tracy, who always go the extra mile to connect with our students… and for our students who brighten our days! ❤️

📚 ⭐ We had a fantastic time at Curriculum Night for Little Sprouts Preschool! It was wonderful to see so many families come together to learn about the exciting year ahead. THANK YOU for letting us help your child grow!

🍌 🍓 🍩 THANK YOU to Stephanie Weatherly, Rockland's amazing administrative assistant, for putting together a wonderful spread in the teacher's lounge before the start of the school year! Your thoughtfulness is much appreciated, and you made everyone’s day a little brighter! ❤️

👋 Please join us in giving a warm welcome to Christina McCarthy, our new board-certified behavioral analyst, who is working with students districtwide this fall! Christina was hired by the Board of Education in April and brings a wealth of experience to our community.

Over the past two years, Christina has served as a behavior specialist with TrueNorth
Educational Cooperative 804 in Highland Park, IL. She has also taught primary and junior high grades at Arbor Academy, worked as a behavior coach in Gurnee School District 56, and served as an early childhood inclusion teacher. 🏫

Christina is currently pursuing her Doctor of Philosophy degree at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology. 🎓 She also holds a master’s degree from National Louis University and an undergraduate degree from Illinois State University. 🙌 We are thrilled to have her on board!

🫶 Ms. Kristi Patterson's second graders at Butterfield dug right into their learning, getting to know one another and building friendships. There's no better way to start the day than with smiles, laughter, and new friends!

🙌 We’re thrilled to welcome Michelle Lee as our newest Little Sprouts Preschool teacher this year! She was hired by the Board of Education in April and brings a wealth of experience and passion to D70.

Before joining us, Michelle was an early childhood special education teacher in Glenview, IL, for three years and an early childhood blended classroom teacher for two years. She also taught early childhood special education in Buffalo Grove for a year. 🏫

Michelle holds a master’s degree in early childhood education from DePaul University and completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Illinois. 🌟 We’re so excited to have her on board!

🚴‍♀️ Get ready to ride, Libertyville! Join us for the 2024 Community Bike Ride on Sunday, September 8, at Adler Park! 🌞 Whether you're cruising the 2.5-mile loop or taking on the 5-mile loop, it’s going to be a fun, family-friendly event. Plus, enjoy giveaways, meet local vendors, get your bike checked, and even train with Smart Cycle Youth Skills. 🚲

📲 Scan the QR code in the image for more details and registration forms!

🗣️ ✨ Our amazing speech pathologist at Highland Middle School, Michelle Smith, is ready to shine bright with her students this year! She’s committed to making sure every student’s voice is heard and celebrated. 🙌

🇺🇸 We hope our D70 community has a great !

📅 As a reminder, Libertyville D70 schools will be closed on Monday, September 2, for Labor Day. We look forward to seeing everyone back in our buildings on Tuesday, September 3!

😁 👋 This fall, Rockland students and families are greeted by a familiar face in the front office of the red-door school. Stephanie Weatherly, our former Learning Center clerk, stepped into her new role as the administrative assistant at Rockland School, and we are so happy to see her smile there!

📷 😁 These Copeland Manor students were all smiles for their class photo, capturing the joy and excitement of a new school year. Their enthusiasm shines through, reminding us how wonderful it is to be part of such a vibrant school community!

🏫 👋 On August 26, the D70 Board of Education introduced some of our fantastic new staff members with a brief reception. It was a wonderful opportunity to meet and welcome them to our community!

✏️ 📚 Mrs. Castaneda's fourth-grade class at Adler Park was off to a fantastic start, looking sharp and ready to learn during their first week of school! We’re so excited for all the fun and learning ahead this year!

🧑‍⚕️ 🩺 On Wednesday, August 14, during our Teacher Work Day, our amazing nurses were led to review a vital training session on Stop the Bleed®. This national campaign empowers individuals to be trained, equipped, and ready to respond in a bleeding emergency before professional help arrives. 🏥

Thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor, every learning space in our schools is now equipped with a Stop the Bleed® kit. Last year, these kits were provided to ensure the safety and preparedness of our entire school community.

D70 is committed to keeping our schools safe and prepared, and we’re grateful to everyone who contributes to that effort! 🙌

🍪 Our amazing teacher for deaf and hard-of-hearing students, Tracy Aleckson, is once again sharing her kindness and positivity with everyone this school year. ❤️ We’re so lucky to have such wonderful staff in D70!

🧪 🫧 Lisa Piskule's fifth-grade class at Adler Park had a lot of fun with bouncing bubbles experiments! Hands-on science makes learning so exciting!

🙌 We are thrilled to announce that Shannon Herrick, who joined the Butterfield staff as a Learning Behavior Specialist (LBS1) last March, will continue her role this school year!

Originally planning to stay just until the end of the year, Shannon’s impact has been so positive that we couldn’t let her go. Before joining D70, Shannon brought her expertise from the Northwest Special Recreation Association. She spent two years as a special education teacher in Beach Park and even filled in as a fifth-grade teacher in Iowa.

👏 Welcome back, Shannon—we’re excited to see the continued positive impact you’ll make this year!

❤️ Copeland students joined together to show their love and support for their late friend, Kyra. Kyra’s Crew: Always and forever!

🗣️ 📝 One of our HR Generalists, Dayna Pratt, did an amazing job presenting Red Rover tips and tricks at our Substitute Teacher Institute Day! Her insights help our substitute teachers stay ahead of the game and ensure a smooth experience in the classroom.

Thank you, Dayna, for sharing your expertise! 🙌