We are well aware that many students were a little um, salty, this past week and may be so this coming week as well. So, to help you deal with the salty, you will find the freezers in MSR stocked with sweet frozen treats for your enjoyment. 

Here is the March KJ Family Connection for your reading pleasure. 

If you are in need of a few gift cards to assist students with the cost of the 3rd Quarter PBIS restaurant reward, please let Elisa know what restaurant(s) you need them to. We have the capacity to purchase a few $5 gift cards for each team. 

Here are updated summer school recommendations. Due to limited spaces, we did move some students from the regular summer school list to the Freedom Summer School list. Both tabs are on the Google sheet. The Unit Office has asked that we notify families that their child is being recommended for summer school. Elisa will be dividing that work up among the grade level teams, guidance, and administration. She will send out lists along with language by March 18 so e-mails can be sent prior to spring break. Dividing up the work should make the process quick for everyone. 

Here are the profiles of the 24-25 ISU middle level students. Please contact Dr. Steve Mertens if you are interested in any of the student teachers. 

The 8th grade students will be doing their ISA on April 2-4 in their science classes. 

While it is hard to believe, it is time to develop the school supply lists for the 24-25 school year. Below are the 23-24 lists. Please submit your updated lists to Elisa by 3/22/24. 

23-24 6th Grade School Supply List

23-24 7th Grade School Supply List

23-24 8th Grade School Supply List

Congratulations to this week's Kingsley Kudos recipients! 

• Kim Johnson

• Eric Stegemann

• Bubby Dow

• Elisa Palmer

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 district has secured sponsorship from Rivian and Halo Solar to provide solar glasses for Unit 5 for the eclipse on April 8th. We have submitted a request for all students and staff to receive a pair. 

March Events

14: 6th Grade Food Day (Pi Day:  Pizza and Pie) 

15: Happy Hour at the Pub

18:  NCAA Bracket Draw Down

April Events

4: 7th Grade Food Day (Breakfast) 

12: Faculty Meeting (we will take care of the drawing)

15-19: Celebrate the Play with a Disney Themed dress up week 

If  you feel that you want administration to be aware of communication with a student's family, please feel free to cc that student's AP when you email them. 

Due to the large number of students in the hallways at the beginning and end of the class periods, we are recommending that teachers institute a "no pass" rule for the first 5 and last 5 minutes of class. We are considering making this a whole school policy.

The January tardy data is now updated. You may notice that there is now a new tab: 1st hour tardies. Administration will be looking at this data over the next few weeks and developing a plan to address tardies to 1st hour. 

Congratulations to Tayler Musselman and Eric Stegemann on being named by the ISBE as recipients of the Award for Meritous Service! These awards are part of the ISBE Those Who Excel& Teacher of the Year program and recognize those educators who have shaped their school community for the better. Tayler and Eric will be recognized by ISBE at the Those Who Excel/Teacher of the Year banquet on May 18th. 

Dr. Weikle will be doing a staff meet & greet on Monday, April 5th, at 8:00 am in MSR. 

New Staff

We are excited to announce that Breanna Schwarz will be joining the KJHS staff as the guidance counselor for students with the last names L-Z for the 24 -25 school year. Breanna comes to us from Monmouth-Roseville High School, where she has served as a guidance counselor for 5 years. Prior to being a guidance counselor, Breanna was a high school Spanish teacher. She and her family are relocating to the Bloomington Normal area this summer. Breanna's email address is breannaschwarz87@gmail.com if you would like to reach to her. 

Current Staff

To continue the great news, Mr. Larson will be with KJHS full time next year as assistant principal. 

Just a reminder that teachers and staff should not be using crowdfunding sites, such as GoFundMe.com and Classful.com, to collect funds for field trips, school clubs, school events, etc.  Use of these sites compromises the district’s internal controls of handling funds and usually requires funds to be funneled through a personal account before ending up in the school’s account.  The district has the ability to accept electronic payments through the Infinite Campus school stores.  If you would like to utilize the Infinite Campus school store, please contact Elisa and she will help you get it set up. 

Here are the Instructional Technology Tips for February.

Need ideas for providing supports and accommodations? Check out these resources! Thank you to Tayler Musselman for compiling this collection and to all of you who contributed to it! 

The PBIS Celebrations Team has 2 all school raffles planned for the month of February. Many thanks to the KJHS StuCo for assisting with the lunch time logistics! 

Congratulations to Team 6-1 for winning the Healthy Eating Challenge! 

From Dan Lamboley...

Thank you for taking the time to complete the Advisory survey as part of the January 8th Institute.  The results of the survey indicate that over 70% of staff prefer Advisory a move to a daily schedule with over half preferring 20 minutes at the beginning of each day.  A majority of staff also indicated a preference to move Advisory to a daily schedule starting with the 24-25 school year knowing there are other changes to the middle school schedule being considered.  With this in mind, middle schools will implement a daily 20 minute Advisory schedule that takes place at the beginning of the day with the start of the 24-25 school year. The Advisory planning group will begin to work on updating the Advisory lessons so staff can implement them daily, and will take into consideration feedback received from the survey. 

With regards to the other changes to the middle school schedule (bringing Foreign Language back to the middle school and removing the Language Arts period and making Lit./Comp. into an English/Language Arts period) they are still being considered and discussed, but implementation would not occur until the 25-26 school year.

If you have any questions about the changes to the middle school schedule, please contact Dan Lamboley.

I hope this semester is off to a great start for you and your writers! I have attached the testing window dates, prompts, and scores HERE as the next date is approaching. 

If you are a team that switches sections of students, you may want to meet as a team to score together so you can discuss student progress and recommendations. This will be helpful as you move forward in deciding if a student who flags on the benchmark should move on to the diagnostic to dig further.

All resources are located in our LA Google Classroom (code: hv3buze). In fact, if you have not checked that out lately, I would encourage you to utilize the dashboard for all things LA. 

Please reach out if you have any questions and stay warm! 

Sincerely, 

Janel Sebeny

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