District 100 Open House

All District 100 elementary schools welcome prospective parents and students to an Open House on Wednesday April 8th, 9:00-10:30. Please consider attending this important event if you have young children. A school visit is the single best way to evaluate your educational options. Each Open House includes a Question and Answer session with the principal. Here is a checklist that a reader of this blog suggested as a resource for evaluating a school.

YOUR input requested!

Morton High School District 201 Board of Education Seeks Public Input on Morton West Principal Search

Berwyn, Illinois... The Morton High School District 201 Board of Education is seeking input from the local community as the district continues its exhaustive, wide-ranging search for the right person to serve as principal of Morton West High School. read more...

District 100 Vision Statement by Bob Pauly

To those of you interested in improving our schools, and ultimately our community, I would like to extend an invitation.

First, some background: In December 2008, Dr. Stan Fields, superintendent of Berwyn South School District 100, formed a committee called "DACEE" - District Advisory Committee for Educational Excellence. This committee consists of board members, District 100 staff and teachers, community members and parents. I am a member of the DACEE committee.

The first order of business for DACEE was to develop a vision statement for the district. A vision statement outlines what an organization wants to be. It defines the desired or intended future state of an organization in terms of its fundamental objective and/or strategic direction.

The vision statement for District 100, as proposed by DACEE, is as follows:
"Berwyn South School District 100 will rank within the top 25% of schools in the State of Illinois, as evidenced by state testing."

At present, our district ranks at the 67th percentile, meaning that 67% of Illinois elementary and high schools rank higher than District 100 in terms of testing. This ranking, relative to DACEE's vision for the district, presents a big challenge for our community. On Wednesday night at Piper School, Dr. Fields will present this vision statement to the school board for approval. I plan on attending this meeting to offer support to Dr. Fields and the vision statement. I invite you to do the same - northsiders and southsiders alike - whether you are a parent like me, or someone who is just interested in building a better Berwyn. The school board meeting begins at 7:00 pm, and Piper School is located at 2435 Kenilworth Avenue. I hope to see you there.

A Last Chance: The Final Candidates' Forum

The Morton PTO is sponsoring a candidates' forum this Wednesday, April 25th at Morton West at 7pm for those running for the Morton High School District 201 School Board. This will be the last chance to see and hear the candidates in person answering questions about their vision for the district. You can view candidate profiles on our website, www.berwyncares.org. Hope to see some of you there!

How Long is Recess in Your School?

I listened with interest to this NPR news report featuring an Oakland school that re-prioritized recess. Click "listen now" to hear the story about what kids learn during recess and why it matters. Two statements that are probably as true here in Berwyn as in Oakland:

"Some (kids) don't know what to do with themselves at recess."

"During recess...students wandered aimlessly or thrashed about...they returned to the classroom "keyed up".

Sound familiar to you teachers out there?

Yoga in Berwyn Schools

Check out this article from the online U.S. News and World Report about the benefits of practicing yoga and other relaxation techniques in schools. The article mentions Jefferson School in Berwyn! There are a few other schools in Berwyn with formal yoga programs and this article seems to validate the idea. This year, BerwynCARES awarded a mini-grant to a Berwyn school for yoga mats and we're proud to be a part of some progressive programming to help Berwyn children. Click here to read the thank you letter from the classroom teacher.

25,000 Chances to Show Who We Are

School Board Elections are April 7th. There are about 25,000 registered voters in Berwyn, yet sadly very few of those voters are engaged in the lively public debate about education in our town. Indeed, voting for School Board may have a much more direct impact on the quality of life in Berwyn than a vote for president, yet statistics show that our residents are extremely apathetic when it comes to getting minimally involved by voting on education issues. According to Voterinfonet.com:

*over 17,000 Berwynites voted in the last Presidential election!
*over 10,000 Berwynites voted for mayor in April 2005.
*about 3,000 Berwynites cast a ballot for school board in 2007.

What is worse is that many voters who show up to vote in School Board elections are frustratingly uninformed about the candidates running.

In an effort to get information out to the residents, BerwynCARES sent a questionairre to candidates in the District 98, 100 and 201 School Board elections. You can read the profiles of those candidates that responded here.

We MUST change Berwyn from a culture of apathy to a culture of civic involvement when it comes to education. Are we a community that values education? Let's show our committment to excellence in education at the polls. Please be an informed voter on April 7th!

Why Vote for School Board Elections

Your local school board makes the decisions that determine how your community's children are educated and how your tax dollars are spent. What could be more important??

Over 50% of your local property tax bill goes to YOUR public school system!

Voting for school board members is a simple but powerful way to support student success and strengthen your community. The overall quality of your local schools, both now and in the future, rests with decisions made by the board of education.

So what decisions rest with your local school board?:

From the Center for Public Education website:
*The school board hires the superintendent, the "chief education officer" responsible for managing district staff and operations.
*The school board sets the priorities and adopts the budget that determine how millions in federal, state, and local tax dollars are spent.
*The school board sets goals for student achievement and evaluates progress toward those goals.
*The school board decides how school boundaries are drawn and whether schools are constructed or closed.
*The school board sets the policies that determine which courses and programs are offered and what texts, tools, and technology are purchased.

And what are the results when the right decisions are made?:

*Good schools are good business. They attract employers, strengthen the local economy, and enhance property values.
*Good schools ensure our students will be prepared to keep our nation competitive in a global economy.
*Good schools keep the American Dream alive with an opportunity for every child to receive a world-class education.
*Good schools keep the quality of life in a community high by producing citizens who pay taxes and obey the law.
*Good schools teach students from all backgrounds how to live and participate in our democracy.

Please get informed about the upcoming April 7th school board elections. There are 2 candidate forums listed at the right. Find out about the candidates and VOTE ON APRIL 7th!!

GO MUSTANGS!!

Morton Mustangs win! The league champions beat York last night 61-52 and will play Whitney Young this Tuesday night at Morton East in a rematch from last year's playoff loss. These kids are really fun to watch!

As one fan said, "Might you meet MJ in line for some loaded nachos?" Michael Jordan's son plays for Whitney Young. GO MUSTANGS!

If you are really into high-school basketball, join these super fans in an ongoing discussion.

If you want to go to the Tuesday night game, it will be a packed house. Get tickets in advance at the East or West ticket office starting Monday at 9:00am.