Dear Kingsley staff,
It's May and we are in the home stretch! Only 13 more wake ups left in this school year. This time of year is extremely hectic. Please be sure you are taking care of yourselves and taking time to enjoy the small victories every day. You've done great work this year and that is reflected in the growth of our students. Let's finish strong!
Elisa, Sylvester, Dennis & Cory
If you need something done in your room (painting, furniture change, movement of wall fixtures, etc.), please document it on the Summer 25 Room Needs sheet.
The Music Department is showcasing the 8th graders in the 8th Grade Fine Arts Night on Wednesday, May 7 at 5:30 pm in Neuman Gym. Join us for this final performance of the KJHS Class of 2025!
The KJHS PBIS committee is looking for your feedback as part of our efforts to continuously improve the PBIS program at KJHS. Thank you in advance for completing the PBIS Feedback Form.
If you participated in the "We're Not Flocking Around" Challenge this past week, please complete the Google form. Prizes for participants will be handed out next week.
Our last Data Day is May 15th and we will be discussing students who we are looking to place in intervention in Fall 2025. Please complete the Data Day Discussion List for your team by Monday, May 12th.
Update: If you would like copies of the flyer to give to students or post in your classroom, please let Elisa know.
KJHS Night at Busch Stadium (Cubs vs Cardinals) is on Saturday, August 9, at 6:15 pm. Tickets are $50 and can be purchased online through the KJHS Infinite Campus School Store. All proceeds go to support the KJHS and the last day to purchase tickets through KJHS is July 15th. We hope you can join us for this exciting launch to the 25-26 school year!
We are proud to inform you that referral numbers for the 4th quarter are down 34% as compared to the same time period last year. Thank you for all you are doing to address student behavior with a calm and rational detachment. It's not easy and you are doing a great job!
Staff Appreciation Week is May 5-9 and the KJHS PTO has some great treats in store for you! Here is the tentative schedule...
Saturday, May 3rd: Be one of the first 2 staff members to email Elisa for a gift card
Monday, May 5th: Lunch from DP Dough
Tuesday, May 6th: Bagels & Gift Cards
Wednesday, May 7th: Lunch from Biaggi's
Thursday, May 8th: Treats from KJ Admin
Friday, May 9th: Lunch from Jimmy Johns'
The KJHS PTO is seeking nominations for the KJHS PTO Staff Member of the Year. This is your chance to nominate a colleague you believe has gone above and beyond in service to KJHS this year. The deadline to submit your nomination is May 9th.
Congratulations to this week's Kingsley Kudos recipient:
Brittany Libernini
Rachel Pett
Carl Torbeck
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 Countdown to Summer Break begins on May 1st!
The window for ISU Fall 2025 tuition waiver requests is now open. The window to apply for waivers will remain open until May 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.
The Eugene Field House Plant Sale is on Wednesday May 14th from 9 am - 2pm.
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 Learning Technology Center has a plethora of resources for educators regarding technology in education. Want to more about AI? Check out LTC's free online "Artificial Intelligence 101" course.
Please complete the DELT Interest Survey if you are interested in serving on DELT for the 25-26 school year.
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.
Please note that there are more openings listed online. These are internal postings that will move to external postings after 10 days.
Here is the PBIS Determination form. Nikki will accept names until April 30th. The winners from last month will be announced on Friday.
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 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.
UPCOMING DATES...
May
7: Underground Dress Up Day: Little White Lies
7: 8th Grade Fine Arts Night (5:30 pm)
8: 6th Grade Welcome Night (5:30 - 7 pm)
9: PTO KJHS Staff Member of the Year Nominations Due
14: Eugene Field House Plant Sale
15: Data Day
19: 6th Grade Field Trip (all day)
20: 8th Grade Closing Ceremonies (8th hour)
21: Field Day
21: Early Release
21: Last Day of School
The Illinois Retired Teachers Association is offering Excellence in Education Grants for Teachers. Applications are due June 1, 2025.
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.
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.
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.