Thanks to Drake Orthodontics, we have new chairs in Main Street Retreat! We'll be working on getting new tables in that space as well. 

Here are the PBIS Q2 Celebrations slides. Please find time during Advisory this coming week to share these with your students. There will not be any kind of alternative schedule or designated location for teams. As we did last year, teams will determine the movies they'd like to offer students and how they'd like to run restore rooms. PBIS will provide the doughnuts in the morning for each grade level. Please talk to Nikki Brienen if you have any questions. 

Katie Winchester will be on maternity leave during the 3rd quarter and we are looking for another teacher to take her place in the before school supervision cycle. This supervision is from 7:25 - 8:25 am and is shared in a rotation with Jessie Lynch and Anita Holland. They are flexible as to who supervises on what days. Please email Jessie and Anita if you are interested in this paid supervision opportunity. 

Congratulations to this week's Kingsley Kudos recipients: 

Deanna Quick

Anita Holland

Jen Ritchason

Abby Highland

Eric Stegemann

Sylvester Davis

Amanda Seibert

Erin Dobson

Annie Fisher

Tiffany Borne

Caryn Birchler

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. 

If you are writing a referral to document an issue you or your team is addressing, please submit it as a minor referral. Major referrals should only be used for issues that the administrative team needs to address. We have 4 gift cards to the Yoga Lab. If you are reading this and would like one, email Elisa. The first 4 people to contact her will receive a gift card. 

Unless the student is on a behavior contract or plan that dictates to do so, please do not send students to the office for non-disruptive behavior. For example, if a student is 15 minutes late to class, simply write an "out of area" referral. The office will take are of it in a timely manner. 

The window for ISU Spring 2025 tuition waiver requests is now open. The window to apply for waivers will remain open until November 30th. 

Please review the procedures carefully and complete the request for waivers by filling out this form. Requests will not be accepted outside the window.

  You should have received an email from Employee Navigator on Monday (10/28) to enroll for benefit coverage that will go into effect January 1, 2025.  There were no benefit coverage changes, but we did experience a rate increase. Rates and plan information can be found here at the District payroll website. During this open enrollment period, enrollment is recommended to ensure you select the best plan for your benefit needs. If you do not engage during open enrollment, your current plan will remain in place. Plan elections and rate changes go into effect January 1, 2025.

There is a Q&A session for staff : November 8 : 11am - 1:00pm : Click to Join

 Open Enrollment Highlights

• The open enrollment period is October 28 through November 15.

• There were no benefit coverage changes, but we did experience a rate increase.

• This is not a "passive" enrollment. If no action is taken by the employee during the enrollment period, current coverage will remain in place with the new rate starting January 1.

KJHS Administration has started using social probation as a consequence for students who are struggling to meet behavior expectations during the school day. If placed on social probation, a student will not be able to attend any extracurricular events at KJHS. The administrative team will be educating students on this policy via KJ News and lunch discussions and will notify families via the KJ Family Connection. 

Mark your calendars now for a meet and greet with Dr. Weikle on November 14 at 8 am in the KJHS IMC. 

Girls Basketball

We are in need of a few folks to work the Inter-city girls basketball tournament in November. Please e-mail Kaleigh if one or more of the open games works for you and you want to take advantage of this opportunity to earn a little extra money while watching our student athletes in action.  

Boys Basketball

We have a couple of duty positions still open for boys basketball games.  Please e-mail Kaleigh if one or more of the open games works for you and you want to take advantage of this opportunity to earn a little extra money while watching our student athletes in action. 

Here are this week's instructional technology tips. 

Unit 5 is providing two Youth Mental Health First Aid training options for staff at the Unit Office this fall. This is a great opportunity for staff to learn about mental health challenges common among their students, how to respond to students experiencing them, and how to connect them to support. Please see the attached flyer and pass it along to staff within your building. The flyer includes a link to the form for you to sign up. 

The training will be broken into 2 sessions. Option 1: Oct 17th & 18th 3:30-4:30. Option 2: Nov 6 & Nov 15th 4:30-7:30. 

The October sessions will be more focused on the elementary level, while the November sessions will be more focused on secondary level. Anyone is welcome to attend either option and will receive training applicable to all levels.

Molly Yerke in HR has created a Retirement Quick Reference Guide, which addresses retirement in all the different organizations that Unit 5 employees may belong to.