February 2023

5 ESSENTIALS SURVEY

Every year, teachers, parents, and students across Illinois have an opportunity to participate in the Illinois 5Essentials Survey. This survey is designed to generate a detailed picture of the inner workings of KJHS. Your participation in the parent portion of the survey will help us understand your view of the environment at KJHS. Your identity and survey responses will be kept completely confidential and will never be connected to you or your child. 

 The window for the The Illinois 5Essentials Survey is now open and will close on  Friday, March 31, 2023.  KJHS Administration is offering a bonus of $5 in K Cash to students of families who complete the 5Essential Survey by March 3, 2023. In order to redeem this reward, please complete the KJHS 5Essentials Bonus Claim form after you have completed the survey. We thank you in advance for taking your time to complete this survey!

To take the survey:

1.     Visit https://survey.5-essentials.org/Illinois/

2.     Click on "Start here" under the Parent category

3.     You may enter your email address but that is not required. It is completely optional.

4.     Enter "McLean" for the County

5.     Begin typing your child's school name and you should see it pop up. Click on the appropriate school.

Please take a separate survey for each school where you have a child enrolled. 

The Illinois 5Essentials gathers data related to five indicators that can predict important student outcomes. These five indicators that affect and predict school success are...

• Effective Leaders

• Collaborative Teachers

• Involved Families

• Supportive Environments

• Ambitious Instruction

Why these factors? Research in more than 400 schools has shown that schools strong on at least three of these indicators were 10 times more likely to improve student learning gains in math and reading than those that were weak on three or more Essentials.

KJHS students will be completing the 5 Essentials Survey on Monday, February 13th, during their advisory class.  If you do not want your child to take the survey, please contact Ms. Palmer by Friday, February 10th. 

Please be aware that under the Protection of Pupil Rights Act. 20 U.S.C. Section 1232(c) (1) (A), you have the right to review a copy of the questions asked of your student(s). Survey questions can be found on the Illinois 5Essentials Support Center ( Illinois 5Essentials Survey Questions).

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact 5Essentials Client Services at 1-866-440-1874 or impact-surveys@uchicago.edu. 

It's not too late to order something off of the our KJHS Staff Wish List. These are items requested by teachers that we would normally purchase through school improvement grant funds. However, our school improvement grant for the 2022-23 school year was about 60% less than last year and came with a high number of restrictions so we are asking for assistance in purchasing these items. Anything you can provide would be greatly appreciated. All of these materials are used directly by students in the classroom. Not sure what to order? Feel free to order an Amazon gift card instead and our staff can shop for themselves. Thanks to all of you who have already donated! Your generosity really brightened the end of the semester for our staff! 

As you are most likely aware, McLean County Unit 5 has experienced an ongoing deficit in its educational fund for several years. In order to address this deficit, the district needs to either raise revenue, cut expenses, or both. With the failure of the fall referendum, the board has announced that the following reductions will be made if the April referendum does not pass:

2023-2024 REDUCTIONS = $1.8M-$2.2M

• Annual adjustments based on enrollment

• Reduce administration

• Reduce budgets by 10% - schools, curriculum, technology, extracurricular and cocurricular, Unit Office, etc. (supplies, materials, and travel)

• Remove funding for field trips

•  Remove 5th grade band/orchestra

• Remove schedule B at the junior highs - sports, clubs, etc

• Remove freshman teams

•  Limit # of students who travel to out-of-town competitions (JV/Varsity)

•  Reduce # of job sites for students with disabilities

The district will also pursue the avenues of additional revenue: 

2023-2024 REVENUE = $600K +

• Increase registration, activity, and gate fees (charge for all sporting events)

• Increase facility rental fees

• Implement National School Breakfast & Lunch Program at the high schools 

• Remove funding for Schedule B Illuminate coaches (MTSS collaboration, screening and progress monitoring)

Want more information? 

Families interested in more information about the district's financial situation and the upcoming April referendum can visit the Unit 5 Referendum Information page. The KJHS PTO is hosting a Referendum Information Night on Tuesday, February 28th, at 5:30 pm in the KJHS IMC. Dr. Weikle will be there to present information and answer families' questions. 

Going to NCHS next year? Considering taking French? Check out the NCHS French Department website  for more information. 

Referendum Information Meeting

The KJHS PTO is hosting a Referendum Information Night on Tuesday, February 28th, at 5:30 pm in the KJHS IMC. Dr. Weikle will be there to present information and answer families' questions. 

Next Meeting

The next PTO meeting is Monday, March 20th at 6:30 pm in the KJHS IMC. You can also join us virtually via the Zoom link on the KJHS PTO Web Site. Candidates for the McLean County Unit 5 School Board have been invited to speak at 7 pm. 

22-23 No Hassle Fundraiser

The KJHS PTO needs your financial help in order to keep supporting the activities we provide KJHS students and staff! For more information, check out the "No Hassle Fundraiser" flyer. 

Want more information on the KJHS PTO? 

Visit the KJHS PTO Web Site

Student Council is putting on a dance from 3:45 - 5:30 in the KJHS cafeteria. The theme is "Winter Glow" and tickets are on sale now. Attendance is limited to 250 students and students with a 2nd quarter ISS or OSS will not be allowed to attend the event.