Please have students complete the SAEBRs/mySAEBRs screening assessment in advisory on Monday, September 25 (i.e. tomorrow). 

Here is the general activity schedule for 9/29:

                      8 - 10 am: Academic Goal Work*, Intro to KJHS Trauma Responsiveness work, Proactive Circles Work, etc.

    10 - 10:45 am: Instructional Technology Sessions (sign up for one if you have not done so already).

                     11-12:30 pm: Equity Goal Work; Equity Training

                     12:30 - 2 pm: KJHS Potluck in MSR

                     2 - 3:30 pm: Department Meetings/District Trauma Informed Practice Overview

* Please bring any Root Word materials, questions you have, and/or ideas you are using and are willing to share with your peers

1. As we announced before, Joan Fee and Tim Penhollow are providing guidance support for students L-Z this school year. In addition to "in the moment" guidance support, they are also accepting requests for student check ins and have divided up the core teams to provide more direct support. Joan is supporting Teams 6-1, 7-1, & 8-2 and Tim is supporting Teams 6-2, 7-2, & 8-1. This will help streamline communications. 

2. Debbie Brown (recently retired school counselor from Parkside Junior High) will be helping our school counseling office this year by facilitating 504 meetings for students last names L-Z . She will be reaching out to families and teams to set up these meetings as they come due and will be working with everyone to get the information needed to update our 504 plans.  

Please complete the Staff Strategic Planning Survey by 9/29/23 to provide feedback to the Unit Office regarding staff's priorities for the district's future. 

We will have a potluck during institute day on 9/29. Administration is providing meat to grill as well as plates, napkins, and plastic ware. The office staff is bringing buns and condiments. Please let us know what you are contributing to the feast on the KJHS Potluck Sign Up by 9/27/23. If you are in need of veggie burgers or hot dogs or turkey hot dogs, please let Sylvester know. 

We have submitted an application for a GAP Attack grant for the 23-24 school year. If granted, we will be focusing on students who are earning less than a "2" in any of their core classes. We will be asking for referrals for the program in October. In addition, we will be accepting applications for tutors in October. The commitment is one day a week after school. 

1. Please pay dues if you have not yet.  Thanks for all that have made a dues donation. we are up to 50% of staff!

2. The Baked Potato Bar has been moved to December. 

3. "Boo" will be starting on October 2nd. 

4. Please submit pictures of yourself in 2003 for the bulletin board in MSR.

~ KJHS Social Committee

Proactive Circles in LA & Why They Work:

Since school has begun, building relationships with students has been the number one goal for us. How can we get to know the students quickly to establish expectations, routines, and trust? One easy way that doubles for our Language Arts class is to use proactive circles. The very nature of sharing in Language Arts can feel uncomfortable for some students. They may not want to share their writing, but if we start with "This or That" type questions, or "Would you Rather" type questions, we might find the transition to be easier. Recently, my class circled up for "Waffles or Pancakes?" and students came up with the funniest reasons why their answer was best and it was FUN.

Having students circle up for 5 minutes or less at the beginning of a class period helps to create a classroom environment where every student has an equal voice. They get used to sharing a little something each day before we ask them to be vulnerable with content. Establishing a culture of trust helps foster those relationships not only teacher to student but also peer to peer, which is important for peer conferencing. 

Once they are used to it, you can transition to using circles for content - to share PoP Pattern sentences they've created, a line from their writing they are especially proud of that day, a question they have for the group about how they can improve their writing, etc. 

If you'd like to learn more about proactive circles, please don't hesitate to reach out. There are so many benefits! 

Sincerely,

Janel Sebeny

Kingsley Junior High School

Team 7-2 Language Arts

Middle School LA District Chair

IRC Past President

The winning title, with 42.8% of the vote, is Kingsley Kudos! This platform will be launched in October. 

From time to time, a parent will indicated concern regarding a title in the IMC or a classroom. If this happens, please direct them to the "Request for Reconsideration of IMC Materials Form". They can complete it and submit it to Elisa.  

1. The first quarter PBIS Celebrations event will be on the early release day of Wednesday, October 18. Please plan accordingly. 

2. We will provide some guidance/activities for the "Come Back" rooms (former known as "stay back" rooms) for PBIS celebration days. Details about this will be shared in early October. 

Elisa will start having meetings with teams later this month and will be asking about teams' focused tutorial plans. Your team's focused tutorial plan should address the following things: 

1.  how the team will provide direct instruction and/or intervention to students as needed. 

2. overall structure for teachers to follow. 

If you contract COVID, the district recommends you follow the Health Department CDC recommendation of 5 days of isolation; however there is no such requirement by the district and there are no longer designated COVID sick days as that law has expired. 

Here are the Instructional Technology Tips for September.

CARES Case Manager: KJHS is in need of one additional CARES Case Manager. CARES Case Managers are paid for each CARES case they manage. Please notify Elisa if you are interested. 

Chess Coach: KJHS is in need of a chess coach. Please notify Elisa if you are interested. 

1. The PTO is selling Papa Murphy coupon cards for $5. If you are interested in purchasing one, please let Elisa know. 

2.  The Gobena Coffee Fundraiser is an ongoing one and an excellent opportunity to try some new, local coffee. 

3. Want to request PTO funding for a classroom project? Use this form please. 

We have several staff teams to serve on. Please check out the 23-24 KJHS Committee descriptions. Please note that you can be on the Wellness Team or 20th Birthday Team without joining the Building Leadership Team. 

We have not received our field trip budget numbers for the year but we want to make sure that we share bus costs with you if you are considering taking a field trip. Each bus used costs $58.93/hour and we are required to pay for a minimum of 3 hours, even if we do not use the bus for that length of time. 

If you sponsor a club or activity, please take a moment to review the RSO list and edit any information that is inaccurate.

Many of you have students who have received a pass to go to the Green Room and have asked where it is at. The Green Room is located in Harmony Highway across from Mr. Rich's room and is the primary location of Ms. Rush from CHS. 

LA Corner:

Hello! I hope your year is off to a great start with your writers! I will continue the LA Corner this year to keep all teachers who teach LA in the loop with assessments, instructional strategies, trends, and resources. Please reach out at any time if you need anything! My cell is 309-533-1574. Happy to collaborate or answer your questions! In the meantime, here are the details on all things LA Benchmark. . .

Benchmark Scoring Assistance Offering! 

Naomi Kosier and I will be available before and after school next week in order to answer questions you may have about your students' benchmarks. Please feel free to pop by if needed. If these times do not work for you, we would be happy to answer questions via email. 

KJHS 9/11: 8 am or 4 pm in Diana Vissering's room

PJHS 9/13: 8 am or 4pm n Cindy Coyle's room 

CJHS 9/14: 8 am or 4 pm in Denise Goben's room

EJHS 9/14: 8 am or 4 pm in Matt Sherill's room

Benchmark into EduClimber

Please look through the videos and helpful hints in the LA Google Classroom in order to see how to enter scores into EduClimber. All scores should be entered by 9/22. 

Writing Diagnostic

If anyone flags on your benchmark, be sure to reach out to your LBS1 in order to administer a writing diagnostic. In the same section on the LA Google Classroom there is a flow chart to guide you through this process.

Sincerely,

Janel Sebeny

Kingsley Junior High School

Team 7-2 Language Arts

Middle School LA District Chair

IRC Past President

We can now print IDs for students in the main office. Please remind students that the first replacement ID is free and each additional ID card will cost them $3. 

Your school ID will get you into most Unit 5 activities for free. Exceptions are play off events and special productions like school plays/musicals. 

Jenny Snyder has put together a menu of different things she can collaborate with you on to improve your teaching practices through instructional coaching. Please take advantage of what she has to offer! 

Here is the September KJHS Family Connection, which was sent out to our KJHS families last week. 

We have a lot of technology option available to assist students with learning. Please show your students these short videos in tutorial or advisory to help them get the most out of their technology devices. 

From Monica Wilks, Director of HR...

As you may know, Illinois and Federal law mandates that the District provide specific training to staff. This mandated staff training differs based on grade level, job function, and when they must occur. 

The District will continue to use the online web-based platform, Global Compliance Network (GCN). In the next week, you will receive an email from GCN with your login instructions. The email will come from "support@gcntraining.com." 

Unit 5's organizational ID (163053m) will be included in the email, as well as your User ID and a link to log in. If your email does not contain a User ID, you will need to select the option in red that says, “I was not given a user ID.”

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

You should have time within your work day throughout the year to complete the training. Time may also be available during School Improvement days for training. The deadline to complete all required tutorials is May 22, 2024, though you are encouraged to complete the training as soon as possible.

Please try to use Production Services for your copy needs. It costs us a lot less than running copies in the building and, with the rising cost of paper, using that district service will help our supply budget go further. Thanks!

If a class with a student who has any health condition listed above is planning a Field Trip, they MUST have a trained person attend the field trip. It is the administrator’s responsibility to ensure this is in place before approving the field trip. Nurses will not be able to attend field trips.  If a trained person is not able to go and serve as a delegated care aide, the field trip will not be able to continue. Parents can not legally waive this school responsibility. Any willing staff member (teacher, TA, EOP) is also encouraged to be trained as a delegated care aide and can do so at any point during the year by completing the online course and session with your nurse.

KJ administration is recommending that one member of every core team get trained as there is no guarantee that administrator will be available to go on trips. 

Have questions or concerns about a  student? Please contact the KJHS Guidance Counselors...

A - K:  Mrs. Kim Johnson ~ johnsonk@unit5.org 

L - Z:   Mr. Tim Penhollow ~ penholte@unit5.org

  Ms. Joan Fee ~ feej@unit5.org 

The tips below from our illustrious counselors are being sent out to Kingsley families this week... 

Teens and Sleep

Recommendations for teens

  8-10  hours of sleep

Causes of lack of sleep

After-school schedules

😴Increased school workload, clubs & sports, social responsibilities, jobs

Exposure to light

😴Electronic screens give off light that slow production of sleep hormones

Excessive caffeine usage

😴Chronic coffee, energy drinks, and caffeinated soft drinks make falling and staying asleep challenging

Anxiousness

😴Deadlines for projects, social drama, and family problems at home cause overstimulation to the brain, making sleep more difficult to attain

Hormonal changes

😴Cause teens to stay up later and sleep longer

Signs and Effect of Sleep Deprivation

• Difficulty concentrating

• Drifting off in class

• Poor decision making

• Lack of enthusiasm

• Moodiness/aggression

• Depression

• Risk-taking behavior

• Slower reflexes

• Clumsiness

• Reduced sport and academic performance

• More sick days

• Tardiness

• Truancy

Strategies to improve sleep

Create a routine

🙂It takes 4 weeks for the brain to associate a routine with falling asleep

Assess sleep hygiene

🙂Is it too noisy, cold, or hot?  Are your pillows, mattress, and blankets comfortable?

Limit screen time before bed

🙂Putting the phone away an hour before bed provides an extra 21 minutes of sleep per night

Maintain similar sleep schedule on weekends

🙂Aim to wake up no later than 2 hours after the time you would normally wake up during the week.

Avoid long naps

🙂Napping more than 30 minutes will affect sleep quality at bedtime.