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The13Times

Spring 2012Bloomingdale, IL

Welcome to the New World New Health

Requirements The Illinois State Board of Edu-cation, in conjunction with the Illinois Department of Public Health, has instituted new health requirement rules for fifth, sixth and seventh graders. Please see the district website at www.sd13.org for further information about these regulations that will take effect for the 2012-13 school year.

Inside This IssuePage 2 - A Farewell Letter

from Dr. PerkinsPage 3 - A Celebration of

Phonics D13 Teachers Share their

KnowledgePage 4 - Staff Spotlight - Dr.

Amanda Belanger

Westfield teacher Mark Stamatakos’ 8th grade social studies class took a personal look at immigration. Stu-dents were asked to put themselves in the shoes of an immigrant to the United States in the early 1900s. They were directed to synthesize the information they learned and put together a plan to successfully navigate the immigration system and integrate into American soci-ety.

“I went to a Problem-Based Learn-ing seminar this summer. This unit was the first time I used this method and will definitely use it as long as I’m a teacher,” said Mr. Stamatakos. “A lot of students got a chance to shine and the satisfaction from stu-dents was higher than normal.”

Students learned by asking ques-tions, doing web quests, watching YouTube clips and by conducting interviews with immigrants from that time period. Yes, his class was visited twice by Italian immigrants Antonio and Leona, played by West-field drama teacher Cyndi Bringer.

“I had tons of fun doing this! Luckily he picked Italy in 1900. I spent the summer working on dramaturgy for Pinocchio, next fall’s play, so I was well versed on the social, eco-

nomic, and political climate of Italy in that time period,” said Mrs. Bring-er. “I dressed up as these people, adapted a very bad Italian accent and then was interviewed by his so-cial studies class.”

“Cyndi did a great job,” said Mr. Sta-matakos. “The kids thought it was really cool!”

Westfield drama teacher Cyndi Bringer poses as Leona, and Ital-ian immigrant to the U.S. in 1910.

A Letter of Farewell from Dr. PerkinsDistrict 13 Community Member:

Working and leading the public sector is such a different expe-rience than that of the private sector. The key stakeholder group to please in the private sector is the share-holder. Yes, customers and employees are im-portant stakeholders, but usually the bot-

tom line is the bottom line. In the public sector, however, leadership faces the demands of three stakeholder groups and missions. We have three “bottom lines” in public education.

The first stakeholder group is the student popula-tion. Our mission with them is to enhance their learning and growth. Children are the “raw mate-rial” of our enterprise and the treasure the com-munity entrusts to our care. To that end:

• Our student pass rates on state exams in-creased from 78% in 2003 to 94% in 2011, the third highest growth rate among DuPage’s 42 school districts. That ranks District 13 as the 6th highest performing school district in the county.

• In that same time period, Westfield Middle School’s student achievement hit 96%, the 7th highest performing middle school among the county’s 53 middle schools. In 2003 it ranked 42nd with a 72% pass rate.

• We now have all three of our schools achiev-ing at the 90+% rate. Students are learning and growing in District 13.

Our second stakeholder group is the parent pop-ulation. Our mission with them is to assure that their children are safe, secure and nurtured while with us. Our parent and student survey data show us that we are accomplishing this. Plus, bullying is down. Fighting is rare. And, more importantly, parents and students give our teachers high marks for quality, responsiveness, respect, fairness and individual attention. Parents are both sharehold-ers and customers of our enterprise.

Our third stakeholder group is the community

member / taxpayer. Our mission with this group is to assure wise and effective use of limited tax dollars. Taxpayers are truly our shareholders. To that end:

• For eight consecutive years, District 13 has earned a perfect 4.00 Annual Financial Rating from the Illi-nois State Board of Education. This rating is based upon our expenditure to revenue ratio, level of debt, fund balance to revenue ratio and level of cash reserves. Our Board engages only in bal-anced budgeting.

• Because the replacement costs for our three schools is about $50 million, the board of educa-tion budgets nearly a half million dollars per year in its $16 million annual budget for preventative maintenance and building repair. Projects like 2010’s $2.6 million upgrade to the schools’ heat-ing-ventilation-air conditioning systems are aimed at increasing energy efficiency and extending sys-tem life (protecting taxpayers’ investment).

• Between 2000 and 2010, while tax rates went up 28%, home values in District 13 rose by 79% (even taking into account home values impacted by the housing crisis.) Your home is worth more due to, in part, the quality of District 13.

This school district is blessed with more than its fair share of dedicated, hard working, and talented teach-ers and staff. And they give you excellent value for your tax dollar. Moreover, they give your children a warm, nurturing and high quality education.

Our successes in District 13 have been built upon the work and successes of our predecessors. But we know that our successes are also attributable to the support-ive families we serve and the community that makes our work possible. Trust me. District 13 staff members recognize the level of support and appreciation they get in this community. That is a huge motivating fac-tor in our work.

I will retire from District 13 in June, but allow me to thank you for your support of the important work we do in Bloomingdale Schools for this community and its children. I can’t wait to read of your future successes.

Best wishes,

Kim M. Perkins, Ed.D.Superintendent

Dr. Kim Perkins

A Celebration of PhonicsJolly Phonics Night at Erickson School brought kin-dergarten students and their families to the school for a special evening of phonics activities.

The program began with a student performance of Jolly Phonics songs under the big lights of the Erickson stage. After the show, students were di-vided into 4 groups to take part in activities which included Jolly Phonics Writing, Bingo, Puzzles and Charades. “We had almost 100% turn out,” said kindergarten teacher Susie Conway. “In most cases the entire family came to support their kindergarten child

and learn more about how they use Jolly Phonics with reading and writing. We had 4 classrooms full of families and the teachers rotated around to reach each group.”

Many thanks to the teachers who ran the activities for the students and their families:Mrs. Susie ConwayMiss Nicole GuerineDr. Elizabeth NiemiecMrs. Carol OrtnerMiss Danielle YockeyMrs. Lisa CamachoMrs. Sarah SampMiss Danielle Ziganto

D13 Teachers Share Their KnowledgeErickson teachers Justine Albig and Dr. Elizabeth Niemiec recently presented a session entitled Social Studies Beyond the Textbook at the Illinois Read-ing Conference. Over 50 teachers from around the state took advantage of the knowledge they shared.

The presentation focused on the Revolutionary War unit they developed that deviated from typi-cal textbook learning. They adopted this strategy to tie the content of the unit to literacy skills, pro-vide better depth, utilize new resources available through technological sources and engage stu-dents more fully.

Additionally, staff members Stacy Johnston, Nicole Schmidt, Patti Edwards, Pam Gruzynski, Leah Mirante, Mariela Siegert, Nanci Greene, Heidi Weeks and Lau-ren McDonald presented sessions at the March 2nd county-wide institute day. The technology-based pre-sentations included information on websites, blogging, document cameras, digital Post-it notes, the Newseum interactive museum, databases, online bulletin boards, multimedia presentations and much more.

The information they provided focused on utilizing multimedia to implement the Common Core Standards, increase communication with parents and expose stu-dents to new and innovative ways to learn and assess data sources.

Bloomingdale School District 13164 S. Euclid AvenueBloomingdale, IL 60108DuJardin Elementary School630-894-9200

Erickson Elementary School630-529-2223

Westfield Middle School630-529-6211

Board of EducationMs. Tamara Peterson, PresidentMr. Terry McKeown, Vice PresidentMrs. Linda Wojcicki, SecretaryMrs. Diane BirkleyMrs. Fina KlcoMrs. Susan LancasterMr. Cary Moreth

AdministrationDr. Kim Perkins, SuperintendentDr. Amanda Belanger, Assistant Superintendent for Learning

NON-PROFIT ORG.

U.S. POSTAGE

PAID

CAROL STREAM, IL

PERMIT NO. 1152

Staff Spotlight - Dr. Amanda BelangerDr. Amanda Belanger be-came the Assistant Super-intendent for Learning in District 13 on July 1, 2011. Prior to coming to Bloom-ingdale, she has been a fifth and third grade teacher, as-sistant principal and princi-pal.

“I’ve always been passion-ate about education and helping students and teachers reach their full potential,” said Dr. Belanger. “Through various leadership roles I became aware of the possible impact I could have on the larger orga-nization. By supporting the teachers and their pro-fessional growth, I can have a positive influence on all student learning.

“In addition to my older sister and brother, my par-ents have fostered many children over the years and

adopted 9 of them. Growing up in a home environ-ment where we welcomed children of various back-grounds and special needs I learned a lot about car-ing for others and being an advocate for children. My family history had a great impact on my decision to become a teacher, especially helping students who struggle become successful and ensuring each classroom has the most effective teacher.”

When not helping students and teachers, Dr. Be-langer and her husband Mark enjoy traveling. “My favorite places are New York and Rome. The most interesting place I’ve been is Vietnam - a beautiful country,” she said. “Currently living in Chicago, my husband and I spend time exploring the neighbor-hoods, museums, attending concerts, plays, and discovering new restaurants. I also enjoy shopping and going to the movies. I love being an aunt and spending time with my nieces and nephews. Origi-nally from Wisconsin, I am a Packer fan and enjoy a good football game.”

Dr. Amanda Belanger