The spring K-Cart schedule will be in next week's Staff Connection as will a menu of schoolwide incentives that will be available for use prior to the K-Cart resuming operations. Some of those incentives may stay in place for the entirely of the school year. We are looking at a start of 2/9/24 for the K-Cart. 

The January grade level team meetings with Elisa will focus on looking at the academic goal data compiled during our SIP time on 1/8 as well as the equity goal data (tardiness)  as it pertains to the team/grade level. 

We're going to move the date of the winter open house back to February 21st with a start time of 6:00 pm. I apologize for the late announcement of open house and whatever angst is may have caused in feeling a need to rush in planning it. Attendance at the event is expected but, if a staff member cannot make it, I would ask that they talk with me and we will arrange what they can leave for parents in their absence. As with all after school activities, please feel free to have your children with you. We will be allowing families to bring their children as they need to. We do not want lack of childcare to be a cause of nonattendance for both staff and families. Staff will have time to prepare for the open house during institute day on February 20th. 

Many people have indicated that they would like some guidance as to what they should be presenting during the open house time. Families will be following their student's schedule, spending 8-10 minutes in each class and having 3 minutes between classes. KJHS Administration is planning on hosting some general information sessions that include things like communication, MTSS, Infinite Campus, discipline & restorative practices, etc. We recommend that teachers talk about the following items....

•  communication (what's the best way to communicate with you? what are the general communication practices? under what circumstances do you normally contact families?) 

• infraction trackers (how do these work? how will they know when their student has an infraction? how does the student know?) 

• curriculum (what are you doing now and what will you be doing for the remainder of the year?)

• grading (how long do students have for retakes? how do they arrange retakes? when should families be concerned about a grade? etc. )

Grade level teams may want to consider looking at the common, team-wide topics and dividing those up so each teacher on the team spends 3-5 minutes talking about that topic and then 3-5 minutes talking about their own classes and what is happening. 

Normal Community West agriculture teachers and students will be visiting KJHS during 8th grade lunch on 1/22/24 to preview agricultural classes available for students attending Unit 5 high schools and answer questions students may have about their course options. 

This month's Wellness Team challenge is Healthy Eating Bingo! Given that our January PBIS theme is "Participate", this is an advisory team competition where the advisory team with the highest % of participation will win a prize and the coveted "P" trophy! Don't teach an advisory? Don't worry... we've got a team for you too! Many thanks to Jennifer O'Brien & Terry Lillge for their work on this activity! 

From HR... 

District staff,

All absences beyond 3 days must be reported to Human Resources. To notify HR of an absence beyond 3 days, please email Molly Rohde, HR Coordinator. For a planned leave, please fill out the Leave of Absence Request form .

Applicable reasons to fill out the form are as follows:

• Personal illness (including surgery, maternity leave, or injury)

• Caring for an ill or injured family member

• Military caregiver leave / Qualified exigency leave related to a military family member

• Placement of a child through adoption or foster care

Human Resources will determine if the employee requesting leave is eligible under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and provide the appropriate documentation and counseling to the employee. If the employee is ineligible for FMLA leave, Human Resources will inform the employee of the applicable leaves they can use or request.

If you have any questions regarding this procedure, you may contact Molly Rohde, Human Resources Coordinator at rohdem@unit5.org or 309-557-4400 ext. 74044.

Employees requesting Emergency Leave, Family Hardship Leave, Parental Leave, Professional Leave, or any other leave outlined in their contract, must email their direct supervisor, Monica Wilks, Molly Rohde, and their union president for their leave request to be approved. 

With utmost respect,

Your Human Resources Team

From Bradley University... 

Greeting teachers and administrators!

Bradley Athletics is proud to support local teachers, administrators and their families to enjoy an afternoon of Bradley Basketball when the defending Missouri Valley Conference champion Braves take on Missouri Valley Conference opponent Belmont Jan. 20 at Carver Arena. Teachers and administrators may purchase discounted tickets throughout the upper bowl ($6) and lower bowl end zones ($10) using a dedicated purchasing portal through the link below.

We are proud to support our teachers and administrators and hope you join us on January 20th at Carver Arena!

If you have any questions regarding tickets, please contact Bradley Athletics Ticket Representative, Colten Kahler, directly via e-mail at ckahler@fsmail.bradley.edu or via phone at 309-677-2768.

Get Tickets Here!

From Candid in Payroll...

As a reminder, due to the changes this year with the current PPO Gold and PPO Silver plans, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois will issue new ID cards for all members. In saying this, there is a delay in employees receiving their new cards this year, due to the large quantity of cards being issued. 

The fastest way to get your new ID card is by utilizing the Blue Cross mobile app or by logging into Blue Access for Members to print/view a temporary card. The attached instructions will help guide you to access your BCBS member portal or the app. 

If you have any questions or need assistance obtaining a temporary card, please contact me.

KJHS students averaged more tardies per day (37.7) in December than they did all school year. In comparison, the average number of tardies per day in December 2022 was 24.9. We'll be revisiting what we can do as a staff to encourage students to be on time to class during our time on January 8th. Even with the increase in tardiness in December, we ended the first semester with 8.4% fewer tardies than in Fall 2022. 

Has a fellow Cougar gone out of their way to help you? Have you seen a staff member who goes above and beyond to make Kingsley a better place to work and learn? Reward them by nominating them for a Kingsley Kudos! It's quick, painless, and brings joy to you and the recipient. 

1. The PTO is selling Papa Murphy coupon cards for $5. If you are interested in purchasing one, please let Elisa know. 

2.  The Gobena Coffee Fundraiser is an ongoing one and an excellent opportunity to try some new, local coffee. 

3. Want to request PTO funding for a classroom project? Use this form please. 

Check out what instructional coach Jenny Snyder has been working on and is planning to do this semester! We are so proud to see that so many KJHS are taking advantage of her support to up their teaching game! 

Here are the Instructional Technology Tips for January.

We are excited to announce that Natalie Greenfield will be joining Team 8-1 as their new LBS 1 for the second semester. Natalie is a recent ISU graduate and student taught this fall in a middle school behavioral program. 

Campus Optimizer (the automation of our HVAC system) is now live at KJHS. Please complete the KJHS Building Use Request form for any KJHS space you are using after 5 pm during the week or any time on weekends. We need to indicate that the space is being used on one of our room Google calendars to ensure heating/cooling is turned on.