Chromebook initiatives

Article on the DCUSD Chromebook initiative


http://www.journalstandard.com/article/20150202/NEWS/150209865

Sales tax interview

Below is a link of interview with Mr. Schiffman and Channel 13 news regarding the 1% sales tax.

http://www.wrex.com/category/133164/video-landing-page?clipId=9931388&topVideoCatNo=123713&autoStart=true

1% sales tax

Dakota will hold an informative meeting on the 1% sales tax on March 11th at 6:00pm in the Elementary Media Center. Below is a youtube video showing more information on what a County Sales tax can do for the school districts in Stephenson county.

http://youtu.be/BLN9yacb4dE

Radio interview for Sales Tax

There is an informative on 1570am Talk of the Town radio program at 12:30 today regarding the 1% Stephenson County Sales Tax. Superintendents Mike Schiffman (Dakota), Ton Chiles (Lena) and Patrick McDermott (Freeport) discussed the sales tax.

Stephenson County Sales Tax

Go to the link below to find out more about the Stephenson County Sales tax. 

http://www.dakota201.com/documents/Newsletter%202014.pdf

January 30 2014 Community Financial Meeting

The Community Financial Presentation from January 30th 2014 can be found in the link below. There is also information on the one percent Stephenson County Sales Tax in the presentation. More information will be forthcoming on the importance of the sales tax to the Dakota Schools. By voting yes for the 1% County sales tax you could be helping the district receive an additional $400,000/year, while possibly lowering your property taxes. Please read for more information and be watching for more information. To rotate the slides: Right click with your mouse and select rotate clockwise.

http://www.dakota201.com/documents/financialmtg%20jan302014.pdf

Feb. blog

On January 30^th I will hold my annual financial forum at the elementary media center.  At the forum I will discuss the financial status of the district the impacts of reductions and the benefits of a county wide 1% sales tax.  Below I have listed the reductions of the district the past three years and also the ways the reductions have impacted the district.

 Reduction of Expenses since 2010-2011

• Reduction of 7 support staff
• Reduced 1.5 Administrators
• Reduction of 19 certified staff
• $400,000 reduction in supplies/materials
• Reduced one bus route and bus
• Outsourced the Driver’s Education Program
• Contractual Salary Negotiations with DEA
• No Salary increase 2011-2012
• Soft freeze 2012-2013- No increase to base salary
• Reduction in contract salary 2013-2014

Elementary Impact

• Higher class sizes in the lower elementary
• Less Pre-K sections
• Removed the Reading Recovery program
• Less special education classes
• Reduction in Summer School staff
• Less extra academic support
• Teachers spending more of their own money on books and supplies
• Special programs effected
• One PE teacher with aide
• Part time Art teacher with aide
• Share service with Music/Band

Jr./Sr. High Impact

• Moved to traditional schedule
• 20 less electives
• 37 less sections
• Little or no electives in core courses (Science, Math, English, Social Science)
• Reduced Voc. Ed
• Reduced Special Education Teacher
• Less Administration
• Teachers spending more of their own money on books and supplies

District Impact

• Reduction in Transportation personnel and route
• Contractual Salary Negotiations with DEA
• Drop in Library programming due to reduction in faculty
• Future Reductions
• Cut programs, raise class size, reduce extra-curricular activities (sports and organizations)

 

The Dakota School District is no different than other small town school districts in the area.  The district continues to have to reduce our educational offerings, transportation, and other expenses that have an impact on student achievement.  Even though the district continues to currently excel the long range educational impacts are not known.  The District now has to start looking at ways to increase the revenue of the district.  One way to increase this revenue is through the passing of the 1% county wide sales tax.  What sets Dakota apart from other districts is the pride and dedication that the school board, administration, faculty, staff, students, parents and community have for the school district.  With the support of all of these individuals the district still remains one of the elite in Northwestern Illinois.  Below are some ways that the Dakota School District has weathered and beaten the storm to this point.

Dakota Pride

Still Elite in the Northwest

• Excelling in the classrooms
• Adding to Professional Development for the teachers
• Maintaining and increasing test scores
• 2011 and 2012 Academic State recognition in the elementary
• Dakota schools ranked 19^th and 20^th overall among the Rock Valley Schools (115 schools).
• Dakota Elementary ranked 7^th among Rock Valley Elementary schools
• Dakota Jr./Sr. High ranked 8^th among Jr./Sr. High Schools in the Rock River valley. 
• Doing more with less
• Less failing grades at Jr./Sr. High
• College Now program through HCC
• Technology enhancements for tomorrow’s leaders

 

The District has in the past and will continue in the future to provide superior student services.  In order to be successful the district needs to adapt to the students’ needs and ability levels.  The Dakota School District is driven by a high standard of excellence.  The district continues to prepare students to make positive contributions in an ever changing world.  The District’s overall goal is to continue to build positive relationships with parents, families and community members in order to provide a strong support structure.  If you have any questions please feel free to contact any of the offices in the district. 

 

 

Mike Schiffman, Superintendent

No School

No School January 28th due to the extreme cold weather temperatures. Daycare will also be closed.

Educational Forum on Finance

On January 30th from 6:00pm to 7:00pm Mr. Schiffman will hold an Educational Forum.  The topic will be school finance and will be held in the Elementary Media Center.  Mr. Schiffman will discuss the current state of the school district, reductions made the last four years and the impacts of these reductions.  Mr. Schiffman will also discuss a way for the district to increase it's revenue through a county wide sales tax.

No School

The Dakota School District will be closed Thursday, January 23rd due to the extreme cold and windy conditions. The Daycare will also be closed.

Shared Service of Transportation

The Dakota School Board is looking to share services with Freeport School District on transportation. Dakota understands that with change comes concern. To help clarify some of the questions we have listed most of the frequently asked questions in an attempt to answer them the best we can, as of right now. The questions can also be found on the Dakota website. 

http://www.dakota201.com/documents/Comm.to%20parents%20on%20transportation.pdf

Dec. posting

Dear Parents and Guardians and Community Members,

 I wanted to share some additional thoughts on the Common Core standards.  The implementation of Common Core is in full swing in Dakota.  As we work toward implementation there have been many thoughtful conversations between engaged administrators and teachers plotting the course for how best to reflect the new standards in the classroom.  Common Core implementation in Illinois hasn't been without resistance in some corners, but thoughtful communication and presentations about these new expectations goes far to increase understanding. As a district we continue to place information on our website, in our newsletters, on the district facebook page and blog.  These sites can be found at www.dakota201.com.

A recent survey by Scholastic shows that the awareness and support for Common Core among Illinois educators is very strong. The third edition of Primary Sources surveyed more than 20,000 teachers nationwide this summer and the full report is not yet complete, but a preview with some state specific  information is available now at http://www.scholastic.com/primarysources/2013preview/index.htm.

These preliminary results show strong support for and confidence in the Common Core among educators, but also concerns about implementation. Some of the findings include:

·         76 percent of surveyed teachers are enthusiastic about implementing the Common Core.

·         79 percent of surveyed teachers believe the new standards will have a positive impact on student reasoning and critical thinking skills.

·         76 percent believe implementation will be a challenge.

The survey showed teachers are concerned about the availability of high quality instructional materials and also how to best assist students currently working below grade level as well as students with disabilities. 

Please continue to view our website for additional information on the Common Core Standards.  Or you can view more information at the sites listed below:

 

  Illinois State Board of Education:

http://www.isbe.net/common_core/default.htm

Common Core IL, a project of the Core Coalition:

http://commoncoreil.org/real-learning/

Common Core State Standards Initiative:

http://www.corestandards.org/

On Wednesday night Mr. Schiffman will hold an Educational discussion at the Elementary Media Center from 6:00-7:00pm.  His topic for discussion is titled “The increasing Burden on America’s Public School and what is a solution.”  This discussion will be based on the book Schools Can Not Do It Alone by Jamie Vollmer.  On Thursday, the Elementary school will have their Duck Dynasty family reading night event.  You should have registered for this event through the elementary school.  The event will start at 5:45 and go to 7:00pm.  Thank you and we hope that you can join us. 

CONGRATULATIONS to the Dakota High School Pep Band!!! They have been chosen to be the "official pep band" for Friday, November 15th at the IHSA State Volleyball Tournament at Red Bird Arena in Normal, IL!! Congratulations to the Band!!

November blog

Dear Parents/Guardians and Community Members,

It is hard to believe that we are at the second quarter of the school year.  The beginning of the school year always brings with it excitement.  This school year as we had hoped began very smoothly.  The smooth beginning is the outcome of significant time spent planning and preparing on the part the teachers, support staff, and building principals.  I would like to thank everyone for their commitment to educating the youth of our community.

 

DCUSD 201 has been making great strides in the area of curriculum.  The vision of the district is to prepare students to make positive contributions in an ever-changing world.  The DCUSD does this in all aspects.  The district prides itself of teaching the whole child.  We focus on the skills that students will need to succeed in college and the work force and also the soft skills (citizenship) they will need to survive in society. 

 

This year we started the school year off with a program called “Rachel’s Challenge.”

Rachel's Challenge is an organization that was started by the family of Rachel Joy Scott. Rachel was the first student killed at the school shooting at Columbine High School in April 1999. Rachel left a legacy of reaching out to those who were different, who were picked on by others, or who were new at her school. Shortly before her death she wrote, "I have this theory that if one person can go out of their way to show compassion, then it will start a chain reaction of the same. People will never know how far a little kindness can go." At Dakota, we would like to carry on Rachel's legacy. There were two assemblies (K-6 and 7-12), as well as training for 100 randomly selected 7-12th graders. This training offered specific ways we can create that positive change at Dakota. There was a community event for all parents and community members to hear about Rachel's Challenge on September 19th, in the high school gym. This challenges students to be kind to each other and to pay it forward.  

 

The DCUSD takes pride in the curriculum that is designed and delivered to each and every student on a daily basis throughout the course of the school year.  The curriculum has been aligned to the Illinois State Standards for Learning; however, as the district continues to move forward on challenging every student to reach an even higher level of learning, there has been an even greater emphasis placed on the National standards.  The new Common Core Standards for learning that were developed are currently being infused into the DCUSD K-12 curriculum. Keep in mind these are just standards, the school district continues to determine the curriculum.  These new standards are raising the bar for our students and educators. Students are having to think more critically and are responsible for coming up with the solutions.  In the past there has been more rote learning (memorization) and teachers providing the answers.   Right now we are aligning our curriculum in the areas of English, Math and Science.  As a Professional Learning Community (PLC), the staff continues to monitor student progress in each curricular area.  Moreover, Grade levels, School Improvement teams, and District –wide curriculum teams have been meeting on a regular basis to redesign each subject are in preparation for the new PARCC assessment that will be required by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE).  Please visit the following sites for more information:

  Illinois State Board of Education:

http://www.isbe.net/common_core/default.htm

Common Core IL, a project of the Core Coalition:

http://commoncoreil.org/real-learning/

Common Core State Standards Initiative:

http://www.corestandards.org/

 

The DCUSD utilizes a three step process to measure the learning of the students.  Grant Wiggins and Richard Stiggins are two educators that have summarized this process in the following way.  Essentially, the three step process is simply asking the following questions:  1) What is it that we want our students to know and be able to do?  2) How are we going to know if they are learning what we want them to learn? 3) What are we going to do if they are not learning?  The first step begins with clear measurable targets.  We set a clear challenge for where the students should be in May.  The second step revolves around the assessments.  Our students have taken local benchmarks and also a MAP assessment that measures a student’s progress in the beginning of the school year, the middle of the school year, and the end of the school year.  The teachers will be reviewing student data with the parents at the Nov. Parent/Teacher conferences.  All of this leads to the third and final step where the teachers will either reteach a concept, and/or redesign the question if results indicate that the students didn’t understand a particular standard.  It is not about a grade, it is about what the student has and/or has not learned.

 

The DCUSD 201 continues to educate our student by providing quality and diverse learning opportunities.  I am excited to see the progress that the students continue to make throughout the school year.  Communication is important to the success of our children.  If you have any questions please contact your child’s teacher or building administrator if you have further questions about your child’s education. Please continue to follow our website www.dakota201.com you will also see a link to our facebook page. 

Common Core video

Attached is link to a three minute video discussing the Common core Standards.
http://www.commoncoreworks.org/Page/378

Illinois State report card

The new state school report card has been released today.  If you would like to see the report card go to

http://illinoisreportcard.com/

Common Core Top Ten

Create top ten of Common Core

http://www.pasco.k12.fl.us/library/ccss/top_10_poster.pdf

New ISAT Cut Scores

The higher performance levels for the ISAT will result in a sharp drop in the number of students whose 2013 ISAT scores meet or exceed standards. Remember that this decline in performance does not mean that our students know less or are less capable than they were in previous years. It also is not a reflection on teacher performance. Instead, ISBE simply raised the bar to give a better indication of how well students are prepared to meet college and career readiness benchmarks. Learn more about the cuts scores at http://www.isbe.net/hot-topics.htm#cut.

Common Core Information

Did you know that fewer than 40% of Illinois students earn degrees from either a two- or four-year postsecondary institution (http://commoncoreil.org/faq/)? Our schools can and need to do better! Under the new Common Core standards, our students will gain skills, knowledge and the ability to apply that knowledge to the challenges facing them after graduation. All students deserve to succeed in co...llege and the work force.

The Common Core standards are all about depth over breadth to ensure that our students really know their stuff! With fewer topics to learn in math and English language arts, students will become real pros in the material they do cover.

For relevant resources and stories about how lessons and assignments might look under the new standards, please visit Commmon Core IL at http://commoncoreil.org/resources/