A Note From the Admin Team

The KJHS PTO is sponsoring a Dine to Donate event this Saturday (8/24) at the That Burger Joint / Oberweiss on Saturday, 8/24 from 11AM-9PM.  Just mention you're with KJHS and we'll get 20% donated back to our PTO! (Drive thru, online, DoorDash and Uber Eats orders count too!  Just put KJHS PTO in the comments of your order!) 

Just a reminder to...

1.  Turn in pink information sheets to Jennifer Peterson

2.  Dues-your donation is greatly appreciated to help us take care of staff and have some fun, too!

3. Teams/groups please pick a date for staff food days. All months are open except October.

We have an administrative update regarding a change to student re-entry after an out-of-school suspension(OSS).  We will no longer be assigning an in-school suspension(ISS) after an OSS.  Students will have a re-entry meeting upon their return to school during advisory.  Our goal with this change is to minimize the amount of time students are removed from the educational setting.  Please see an administrator if you have any questions regarding this change. 

Need some KJ wear? PTO is having a spirit wear sale from now until 8/27. Check out their online store for the latest Cougar designs. 

Mary Kate Kroesch (KJ Class of '23) is undergoing treatments for a rare and very aggressive form of sarcoma in Houston, Texas. To assist her family with the costs, the KJHS Drama Club is planning a benefit on Friday, October 25th. More details will be sent out at a later date. In the meantime, if you are looking to help support Mary Kate in her cancer battle, you can order a Team MK t-shirt. 

As you have probably already notice, Elisa sent out all of her team invites this week. The meetings are set up for September, October, and November and teams can request meetings in December if desired. 

If you come into work after hours or are at an after hours event at KJHS and the HVAC system is not operating, you have a couple of options. 

1. Check thermostat in the space and locate the home button (it has a house on it). Push down on that button until the light turns red. That means that the system knows the space is occupied and it will run for 2 hours. You can re-set it again if you need to. 

2. If you cannot find the thermostat or the home button approach isn't working, text Elisa and she will contact Alpha Control to get your space turned on. 

Picture Day: August 26, 2024

Location: Neuman Gym

Before Picture Day:

• Order packets and envelopes were mailed home to most families. Please note that new students may not have received one. We have provided extras to each team. If you have students who do not have an order form, please give them one by August 19!

  • If you need more order packets, feel free to reach out to me or Calynn.

On Picture Day:

• Pictures will be taken during PE. The PE team is willing to handle the Student Information Cards. If students have an order envelope, they should present both the envelope and the information card to the photographer.

  • If students forget their order forms, they can still order pictures online!

    • shop.hrimaging.com

Just a reminder that now that school is in session, KJHS staff are only to park in the parking lots on the north and south end of the building. Parking on the west side of the building is reserved for maintenance and the KJHS SRO. 

Hello Unit 5 Educators and Staff,

Welcome back to the 2024-25 school year. Illinois and Federal law mandate that the District provide certain training to educators and staff. The mandated staff training differs based on grade level, job function, and when they must occur (e.g. annually vs. once every couple of years). 

Unit 5 uses an online web-based platform, Global Compliance Network or "GCN", to complete most of the mandated training. To access the training modules, please click this link to be redirected to GCN’s site.

• Unit 5's organizational ID is 163053m. 

• Your User ID is your Unit 5 email address.

• After you login, you will see a list of your "required" tutorials. To start a tutorial, you will click on "Start" to the left of the title. 

This year, several mandates were updated and include requirements for certain training to be prioritized for completion by December 20, 2024.  Therefore, we ask that you complete the following tutorials first:

• Bloodborne Pathogens

• Child Abuse

• Ethics and Boundaries for School Employees

• Medical Emergency Response in Schools

• Sexual Harassment

• Title IX

Note: If you do not see one of these training modules listed in your “required” tutorials, that means the module is not a requirement for your employee group.

Time to complete most of the training will be dedicated during Early Release and Institute Days. You may also complete training during the course of your work day. The deadline to complete all required tutorials is May 21, 2025. However, as mentioned above, certain training modules must be completed no later than the end of the day on December 20, 2024.

If you have any questions or have trouble logging into GCN, please let me know. Wishing you a great start to the 2024-25 school year. Thank you for all you do!

Thank you!

Megan Peterson, SPHR

Human Resources Generalist

McLean County Unit District 5

309-557-4084

Here is the 24-25 KJ Stashboard link. We will continue to update it as new links are added. 

Here is the 24-25 Back to School KJ Family Connection that was sent out to families last week. 

The current Negotiated Contract between UFEA and the Board of Education contains a provision that allows certified staff members covered by the Agreement to voluntarily transfer one (1) day of accumulated sick leave to a Sick Leave Bank once each year.

If you wish to transfer one of your accumulated sick leave days to the Sick Leave Bank this year, please complete this form and make a copy for your records.  The original must be returned to the Payroll Department, attention Candid Omachel, at the Unit Office by 4:00 p.m., Friday, August 30, 2024, or within 10 days of your start date if your employment begins after the first day of school. 

Here is an updated 24-25 Master Schedule with individual teachers' schedules (2nd tab). Schedules may have changed based on staffing needs or enrollment changes.

Many thanks to Kaleigh Menken for her problem solving throughout the last couple of days. We are working with technology to get our remaining students working Chromebooks. We appreciate those staff members who got trained quickly on how to reset passwords so we could get students access to their accounts. 

We are still working on getting our ID printer to communicate with Infinite Campus. Once we do that, we'll be able to print IDs for new students.