IPSD 204 News Feed

State Gives District Highest Financial Rating

6/23/2008 8:06:00 PM

District 204 has once again achieved the designation of "Financial Recognition" from the Illinois State Board of Education. This is the highest rating of financial strength a school district can achieve.

The Illinois State Board of Education annually reviews the finances for each school district in the state and then releases its Financial Profile rating for each district. The state's goal is to objectively assess the financial health of all districts. This is the third year that District 204 has achieved the highest financial rating.

NVHS Teacher Named Art Teacher of the Year

6/23/2008 8:02:00 PM

Neuqua Valley art teacher Kathryn Parenti has been named the 2008 Illinois Art Educator of the Year by the Illinois Art Education Association (IAEA). Kathryn will be honored this fall at the annual IAEA conference.

Kathryn is one of five District 204 art teachers who have achieved this distinction. The other teachers who have previously received this recognition are:

David Smith, McCarty Elementary
Donna Davis, Owen Elementary
Karen Popovich, Hill Middle School
Karyl Silerzio, Neuqua Valley High School

District Announces White Eagle Principal

6/19/2008 1:18:00 PM

Indian Prairie School District 204 administrators announced Jonathan Vogel will serve as principal of White Eagle Elementary School beginning July 1. Vogel has served as assistant principal at Gregory Middle School since 2004. While at Gregory, his responsibilities included overseeing special education and leading the school improvement team.

Martha Baumann, director of elementary education, said Vogel is a good fit for White Eagle, a high performing school with high expectations in the area of student achievement. "Jon brings solid leadership skills, an enthusiasm for learning, and strong student focus."

Prior to joining Indian Prairie, Vogel served as an assistant principal in Oswego District 308 and taught Language Arts at Simmons Middle School in Aurora.

Vogel is replacing Ron Zeman, who accepted a principal post in another district.

Curriculum Leader Named

6/17/2008 4:24:00 PM

Jay Strang, an educator with 20 years experience, will take over as Indian Prairie School District 204's assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction beginning July 1.

Strang began his teaching career at Johnson Elementary School in Aurora in 1988. Two years later he started teaching at District 204's Brookdale Elementary. He later served as dean of students at Gregory Middle School and assistant principal at Crone Middle School. In 1999, he was appointed principal at Still Middle School. While at Still, Strang started new programs that led to significant student academic improvements, especially in the areas of reading and math. In 2006, Strang moved to the district's central office where he serves as director of building operations.

Superintendent Stephen Daeschner said Strang's knowledge of the district and his proven instructional leadership will be invaluable to the district. "Jay is a data-driven problem solver with great motivational skills. He will capably lead our district in the important area of curriculum."

Strang is replacing Assistant Superintendent Kathy Duncan, who has accepted a position in a neighboring district.

Board Selects Name for 7th Middle School

6/9/2008 7:35:00 PM

District 204's Board of Education selected Gregory Fischer Middle School as the name for the district's seventh middle school. The school is named after an educator who spent 32 years working in Indian Prairie before retiring in 2004. He began his career as a teacher and later served as assistant principal and principal. Fischer opened the district's first middle school, Hill, in 1981. He later opened Gregory Middle School in 1987, where he served as principal for 17 years.

Colleagues fondly refer to Fischer as a dedicated leader who was instrumental in the district's transition from the traditional junior high model to the current team-oriented approach of middle school.

Under his leadership, Gregory Middle School was one of four schools in the state to be recognized as an Illinois Horizon School. The recognition honored the school's dedication to academic excellence and developmental responsiveness to students. The school was also named a Demonstration School by the Association of Illinois Middle-Level Schools (AIMS), recognizing the school as a model middle school in Illinois. In 2003, AIMS honored Fischer's dedication and commitment to middle school students and their education by presenting him with the Robert Knight Award for Distinguished Service to Middle Level Education.

Gregory Fischer Middle School will open in August 2009 and occupy the building currently used for Waubonsie Valley High School's freshman center.

On-line Algebra Offered

6/6/2008 3:22:00 PM

An on-line course is now available -- as a CREDIT RECOVERY only -- to Indian Prairie School District 204 students in need of Algebra 1 credit.

The two semester courses are self-paced and proficiency-based. This is being offered through the district’s V-Campus (Virtual Campus), a start-up program created to address on-line learning.

More information about V-Campus and the Algebra 1 course is available at http://it.ipsd.org/e-courses.html or at 630-375-3080.

Measles Info from DuPage Health Dept.

6/2/2008 2:41:00 PM

You may have read recently that seven school-aged children have been recently diagnosed with measles in DuPage County, reflecting a similar increase across the country, due largely to cases among under- or unvaccinated persons from the U.S. and abroad.

With school coming to an end, the DuPage County Health Department (DCHD) expects increased intermingling of students in summer activities. Since the current reported measles cases are not centered in one particular location, the DCHD has requested that parents become informed to help increase awareness and assist in controlling and preventing the spread of measles in the community.

Links to the DCHD letter regarding measles, including information on symptoms and reporting, are below in both English and Spanish.

The Health Department has increased its telephone answering capacity to handle questions and address concerns from parents and other residents. After reading the letter provided, if you have questions or want to report a case of measles, please contact the DuPage County
Health Department at 630-682-7400, ext. 7553.

More information on measles and measles vaccination is available at:
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/measles/default.htm

District’s Motion to Dismiss Lawsuit Granted

5/29/2008 4:32:00 PM

On May 29, 2008 Judge Kenneth Popejoy granted Indian Prairie’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit which was filed by Neighborhood Schools for Our Children. There were seven issues and questions. All seven were dismissed with prejudice.

Click the link below to read the decision.

District 204 High Schools "Top in the Nation"

5/23/2008 2:30:00 PM

Earlier this week, Newsweek magazine released its 1,300 Top U.S. High Schools list, with Waubonsie Valley High School included in the top five percent of public schools across the country. The Indian Prairie community was pleased that Waubonsie Valley made the list for the second year in a row, but was puzzled as to why Neuqua Valley was omitted. Administrators contacted Newsweek's staff, who acknowledged the oversight and agreed that Neuqua Valley should have appeared on the list too. The corrected list will be updated next week on Newsweek's website at http://www.newsweek.com/id/39380/?q=2008/rank/1/

Newsweek's list is a national ranking based on a formula that divides the number of Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) tests taken by students into the number of graduating seniors from approximately 27,000 of the nation's public high schools. The data used is from May 2007.

District 204 offers students 27 different AP courses that provide the opportunity for students to tackle college-level academics. Across the district, more than 2,350 AP tests were taken in 2007. That number is expected to grow next year as the district anticipates a 37 percent enrollment increase in AP courses.

Superintendent Stephen Daeschner said he was glad to see Newsweek recognize Neuqua Valley and Waubonsie Valley again this year. "We are very proud of both of our high schools. Having both our schools make this list is a nice affirmation of the work being done to best prepare our students for college."

Superintendent's Message on His First Year

5/23/2008 11:02:00 AM

As my first year as superintendent draws to a close, I look forward to a notable milestone taking place this weekend when we bid farewell to the largest class of graduating seniors in the history of our district. More than 1,800 students will receive their diplomas this Sunday. We extend best wishes to all our graduates as they begin a new chapter of their lives.

I also want to thank our 26 staff members who are beginning their own new chapters after they retire in June. Their service to our district has made an impact on the lives of many students and they have contributed to the success of our district.

While graduation and retirement are times of celebratory appreciation, it is important to identify other accomplishments for this year as well.

We should begin our focus on our students. The district continued to celebrate student academic success as 92 percent of our students met or exceeded standards on state tests.

Outside of the classroom, we recognized hundreds of students for competing and succeeding at the state and national levels in athletic and extracurricular activities. Our students succeeded on the playing fields, in the classrooms, as individuals and as teams. I am confident there are scores of students who enjoyed newfound personal achievement in reaching their goals and doing their very best.

While I am pleased with this year's efforts, we cannot rest. Irving Berlin once said, "The toughest thing about success is that you have to keep on being a success." I find the same commentary holds true with the field of education and our district.

This year marked the beginning of a number of new initiatives whose aim is to continue to drive achievement. Highlights include implementing an intervention system to increase the academic achievement of low-performing elementary students. The district also designed a six school pilot program to academically assist our students with special needs. At the middle school level, we set in motion plans for a middle school schedule that will provide teachers and students with more time dedicated to core classes. And finally, a large number of people collaborated on a program that will begin this fall to help our youngest learners--all-day kindergarten. With more than 1,800 children enrolled in all-day kindergarten next year, I look forward to seeing the long-range impact this program will have on our students.

In addition to our many initiatives this academic year, we moved forward with a major construction project--the construction of Metea Valley High School and the conversion of Waubonsie Valley's freshman center to our seventh middle school. Both are scheduled to open in Fall 2009. I want to thank Mayor Weisner and the City of Aurora, Reverend Jesse Hawkins and the St. John AME Church congregation, Aurora Alderman Lynda Elmore, and countless community members for their ongoing support over the past few months. Both schools will greatly assist the district in easing overcrowding and serve our students for years to come.

Lost amidst the fervor of Metea Valley are the major advances we have begun to roll out with technology. From fiber optics that will greatly enhance inter-school networking to enhancing internal and external communication to greater advances with our technology curriculum, we're enthusiastic about how these changes will help prepare our students for life after graduation.

I am grateful for all that we have accomplished this year. To Indian Prairie's students, teachers, parents, and administrators, I extend heartfelt thanks for a great first year as your superintendent. I look forward to seeing all that we can accomplish together next year.

Stephen Daeschner
Superintendent

2007 Tax Levy Recap

5/20/2008 3:43:00 PM

Dave Holm, assistant superintendent of business, recently provide the board of education with an update on monies received from the 2007 property tax levy.

Holm noted that the 2007 tax bills are based on the value of property on January 1, 2007, so the recent housing market slow down was not reflected in the taxes collected. The district anticipates seeing that change reflected with the 2008 levy.

The district's tax rate went down by 17.5 cents from the previous year, coming in at $4.49. The district anticipated a 16 cent decline, so the tax rate actually decreased more than anticipated.

The average tax payer in the district experienced an increase in the school district portion of their tax bill equal to the Consumer Price Index used for the year or 2.5 percent.

When reviewing the taxes allocated to the school district, the key word is average. The amount of taxes charged are based on a home's property assessment, which is based on the value of the house. Property values can vary throughout the district. For every tax bill that is up by more than the 2.5 percent, there are others that are below 2.5 percent. Yet, the overall average across the district is 2.5 percent.

In terms of the Bond and Interest portion of the tax levy, Holm continually tracks the district’s performance against the commitment made during the last referendum. Holm told the board that the district is more than meeting that commitment. That average house valued at $300,000 in 2004 paid $730 in Bond and Interest taxes. That home is now worth $356,000 and paid $595 in Bond and Interest, $135 less than in 2004 and a few dollars less than the $601 target set in during the referendum.

New Custodial Contract: Same Service for Less Money

5/20/2008 3:16:00 PM

Increased competition drove a highly competitive bid process to determine who would oversee custodial services in the district when the current contract with Aramark expires next month. In the end, Aramark produced the lowest bid at $9.2 million. This is a significant savings over the district's current $9.6 million contract with Aramark.

The contract calls for the company to continue providing the same services along with adding eight employees to maintain the district's 3.5 million square feet of building space.