The "We're Not Flocking Around!" Challenge begins on Monday, April 21, at 8:45 am and ends on Friday, May 2, 11:45 am. The challenge is a daily one, running from 8:45 am - 3:45 pm each of the full school days of attendance. The goal is to keep our professional conversations focused on problem-solving, rather than venting, so we, as the adults in the building, stay regulated throughout the day.

In your mailbox you will find a form to use to track your progress. This form is designed to be a daily record that can be glued into your PD journal. On Friday, Elisa will send out a Google form for you to provide how you did on restricting your "flocking" for the week. Please be honest as the results are going to simply be used as a collective measure and will not be used to target individuals. Our goal as a collective is to report at least 90% "no flocking" on a daily basis. Elisa is working on our collective reward and will announce it in the Staff Connection on April 25. 

We still have a substantial amount of SIP money left to spend. If you have something you would like to order, please add it to the SIP Order #3 Requests Google Sheet by 4/30. Here is the acceptable use document for you to use to determine if your request is an allowable usage of SIP funds. Furniture and technology hardware purchases are not allowed but things like flexible seating for sensory needs and online subscriptions services are allowed. We encourage you to "think big" in your requests. 

The 3rd SIP materials order is being submitted on 5/2. After that, Elisa will put out a "summer curriculum hours plan" Google form for you to indicate how many hours you plan on working, when you plan on doing that work, and what you will be doing. Those that teach both a core subject and language arts will get a double allotment of hours. 

Just a reminder that STAR assessments should be complete by 4/25. 

Just a reminder that spring writing benchmarks need to be completed by 4/25. Here are the cut scores for this session. 

The 8th Grade Dance & Activity Night is on Friday, May 2nd. If you are willing to serve as a chaperone, please indicate this on the Sign Up Genius. We will pay staff for supervising this event. 

The KJHS Spirit Wear Store is open until April 19th and orders will be delivered to KJHS by the second week of May. 

Please note that there are more openings listed online. These are internal postings that will move to external postings after 10 days.

Cross Country Coach

Golf

7th Grade Boys Basketball Coach

8th Grade Boys Basketball Coach

If you are interested in attending the conference below, please let Elisa know. We can use SIP funds to pay for the cost of the conference as well as a daily stipend for attending. You will receive 45 CPDUs for attending. 

Illinois State Writing Project Summer Institute

Monday, June 9 – Friday, June 13

8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Illinois State University Campus & Surrounding Community

Start Small, Think Big: Writing Possibilities for Consequential Futures

Join others—teachers of writing and teachers who use writing in support of their content area teaching—as together we stretch the boundaries of our thinking about writing’s role in motivating and engaging in hopeful futures—within and beyond our classrooms. Give yourself the gift of time and space for summer pause and rejuvenation. All are welcome. Come as you are. Engage. Inquire.

• Join a collaborative community of K-16 cross-disciplinary teachers.

• Practice new skills you can use with your students.

• Build your own identity as an educator and writer.

• Expand the ways you use writing in your classroom. 

• Design small-scale writing opportunities for big impact.

Congratulations to this week's Kingsley Kudos recipient: Jessie Lynch! 

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. 

Here is the PBIS Determination form. Nikki will accept names until April 30th. The winners from last month will be announced on Friday.

From the U5 Instructional Technology Coaches...

We have been piloting Hapara this semester with several of our teachers in multiple buildings.  Hapara is a classroom management software for K-12 schools, focusing on tools that enhance digital learning and student safety.  Very similar to GoGuardian, but with some different enhancements. 

The consensus is they really like it.  We would like to expand the pilot to anyone who would like to try Hapara for the rest of the school year, and to ask that you use this Getting Started, problem/Solution guide to get started.  

Join us for the 4th Annual Unit 5k presented by Commerce Bank!

When: Sunday, May 4, 2025

Where: Maxwell Park

Time: 2 pm one mile walk/run; 2:30 pm 5k

Cost: $10 per participant; If you want a race t-shirt its an additional $10

This event is open to the public. We are hoping several staff members will want to participate. Bring out the whole family!

This is also a great chance for school teams and groups to come out and show their Unit 5 pride. 

All proceeds benefit the Unit 5 Educational Foundation.

Here is a link to sign up.

Register Today!

The Illinois Retired Teachers Association is offering Excellence in Education Grants for Teachers.  Applications are due June 1, 2025. 

The window for Summer 2025 tuition waiver requests is now open and will close on April 30, 2025, at midnight. Here are the procedures outlining the distribution process for tuition waivers. 

Here are this week's instructional technology tips. 

The student support team and truancy committee are working diligently to improve student attendance. One of our Tier 1 strategies is to message KJHS families weekly with different attendance messages. Want to know what they are? Check out the KJHS Attendance Matters Calendar. Many thanks to Breanna Schwarz for creating this tool. 

Here is the April Kingsley Family Connection that was sent out to families this past week. 

Please be sure you are working on your GCN modules, which are required annually by state code. Elisa emailed those staff members who still have a large number of modules to complete. 

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.