The Advisory Building Leader is a new Schedule B position for the 25-26 school year. The Advisory Building Leader is responsible for providing leadership and support to middle school teachers within the context of the advisory program. Interested individuals can click here for a full description of the position and apply via Applitrack. 

Here are helpful BRISK links, compliments of Eric Stegemann... 

Getting Started

• Basic Setup

• Getting Started from Brisk

• Getting Started from District

Tech Tuesday about Brisk from Amber

More Advanced Features

• How to: Brisk Student Extension

• Follow Brisk Bites on YouTube

• Become Brisk Certified

Still have questions? Try the Unit 5 Question and Answer forum!

• Q&A Forum

The teacher version of the 5Essentials survey is now open. There will be time given on 3/4 to complete this but you are more then welcome to do it ahead of that date. 

On Tuesday, April 1, 2025, school districts in McLean County are asking voters to consider a 1% Illinois County Schools Facility Tax. All school districts in McLean County have united to bring forward this request to voters.

If approved, the revenue would directly benefit all public school districts in McLean County, including Unit 5. 

School districts are proposing the 1 cent sales tax to address:

• Increased safety, security and student support needs

• Aging facilities in need of significant updates

• Desire to reduce the financial burden on local property owners 

In Unit 5, this money would be used for:

• Safe Schools - School Resource Officers, crisis alert tools, improved surveillance systems, and secure learning environments

• Facility Needs - Maintenance and upgrades including: roofs, HVAC systems, plumbing and electrical updates

• Mental Health Professionals - School Psychologists, School Social Workers

• Technology Infrastructure - Enhancing technological resources and infrastructure to support modern educational needs.

• Property Tax Relief - Unit 5 would offset one-third of any new one-cent tax revenue to reduce property taxes for at least five years.

It is important to remember that staff cannot advocate for or against the referendum on the district’s time and/or using district funds and resources. When acting in the capacity as a Unit 5 staff member, while you should not advocate for or against the referendum, you can provide factual information. On your own time you can advocate in any manner you wish.

To learn more about the referendum, Unit 5 is hosting several community meetings, as well as three staff-only meetings.

The community meetings are:

• Wednesday, Feb. 26, 6 pm at Parkside Elementary

• Thursday, March 13 , 6 pm at Northpoint Elementary

• Tuesday, March 18, 6 pm, Virtual

The staff-only meetings are:

• Monday, Feb. 24, 3 pm, Virtual

• Monday, Feb. 24, 4 pm, Virtual

• Tuesday, Feb. 25, 7:30 am, Virtual

Virtual links will be sent closer to the date.

As we proceed throughout this second semester, we are continuing our work on "maintaining our composure and rational detachment throughout the school year in order to handle escalations in student behavior in a healthy manner".   To date, we have utilized sessions with Abby Lyons and the district-wide de-escalation training to help support these efforts.

This week's neurosequential model video is Educator Strategies for the Classroom. Here's this week's gift card question... why do traditional behavior modification programs not work with highly dysregulated students? The first two people to email Elisa with Dr. Perry's insights on this topic will get a gift card. 

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. 

The Illinois Prairie Community Foundation will accept applications for grants in the following categories from February 1-28, 2025:

• General Grants

• Mirza/Arts & Culture Grants

• David and Kay Williams Music Education Grant

• Sol Shulman Grants

Interested applicants can find more information at

ilprairiecf.org/spring-grants/

Here is February Kingsley Family Connection, which is being sent out to families on 2/10/25. 

We are arranging for a Youth Mental Health Training for Kingsley staff in June 2025. Thanks to SIP funds, we are able to pay participants a stipend for attending. If you are interested in attending this training, please complete this brief Google form. 

We have room in our after school tutoring program "GAP Attack" to accommodate more students. If you have a student who could use tutoring or a student whose family has requested tutoring, please complete the GAP Attack Referral Form. 

Just a reminder that if you want to use rooms other than those assigned to you during the school day, you need to complete the Building Use Form or the Gym and Outdoor Space Use Form. IMC reservations during the day are managed by Courtney Knowles. Usage of common spaces (cafe, gym, etc.) outside of school hours also require a reservation. If you have any questions regarding building reservations, please talk to Kaleigh. 

Here is the tentative IAR testing schedule. We will have further details/specific assignments as we get closer to the actual testing dates. There will be IAR testing training during our early release PD time on March 4th. 

Here is the information shared on 2/18 regarding our upcoming 3rd quarter PBIS reward. 

The KJHS PTO has $1000 to spend on teacher requests. If you have a request for funds for your classroom, please complete the PTO Teacher Funding Request Form. This is due by March 7th for the March 10th meeting, which is the last meeting where funding requests will be considered. 

From Dayna Brown...

Beyond the Books Educational Foundation is now accepting applications for grants. Beyond the Books provides funding for innovative academic programs in Unit 5 and District 87.

GRANT TYPES AND FUNDING AMOUNTS:

• BEYOND THE BOX: One grant in an amount between $7500 and $10,000 will be awarded in this category for an exceptional proposal. The $7500 - $10,000 award is given by a private foundation to Beyond the Books Educational Foundation and BTBEF selects the winner.

• STANDARD: Grants awarded in this category are limited to requests for $801 to $5000. 

• MINI: Grants awarded in this category are limited to $800 or less.

The Beyond the Books bylaws require that approximately 15% of the total annual allocation be used to fund Mini Grants. Historically, this has resulted in a much higher percentage of Mini Grants being funded than Standard Grants.

To find more information, rubrics, and details CLICK HERE. To apply at CLICK HERE.  

The application deadline is 11:59 pm, March 3. We strongly recommend not waiting until the last minute.

 Want more information? Talk to our very own Jessie Lynch who is serving as the Unit 5 rep on the Beyond the Books committee.

February 28th:  Underground Teacher Spirit Day (Flannel Friday or better yet, Shacket Day) 

We currently have one Schedule B opening for the 25-26 school year:

Assistant Softball Coach (complete this form)

Here are this week's instructional technology tips. 

We are noticing that our tardy numbers, especially for advisory, are not aligning with what we see in the hallways. Please remember to mark students tardy in Infinite Campus for all classes on your roster. Tardies are to ALWAYS be marked in Infinite Campus as they are a component of attendance. 

Here is the Spring 25 K Cart Schedule: 

7 Feb - South

14 Feb - North

21 Feb - South

28 Feb - North

7 Mar - South

21 Mar - North

4 April - South

11 April - North

25 April - South

9 May - North

Just a reminder to please turn in CICO sheets to Kim Johnson by Monday after school following a week of data collection. If you are running into issues with collecting CICO data, please let Kim know. 

The Grove Elementary Staff will be hosting an upcoming event to honor and celebrate Mrs. Amy Burns Moore and her dedication to education.  The 1st Annual Amy Burns Moore Scholarship Gator Games will be held on March 2, 2025, from 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM at Bloomington Tennis & Turf.  Amy was an avid tennis player and loved all sports.  In honor of Amy’s dedication to furthering her education,  the Grove staff  would like to raise money to provide scholarships to existing Unit 5 staff members who are in the process of continuing their education. They are excited to honor her with an opportunity for members of our community to play pickleball and kickball.  For more information on how your family can be involved, please check out the information flyer. 

One of your benefits as a Unit 5 employee is access to our Employee Assistance Program. We encourage you to check out the program site to see if any of the many resources can meet your current and future needs. 

The Town of Normal allows Unit 5 schools to make park shelter and ball diamond reservations for 2025 prior to opening up reservations to the public. Reservation requests are being accepted February 10th - 28th for Unit 5 schools. For more information, including how to make a reservation, please review the Town of Normal letter.