Past News & Presentations
Clicking on the links below will take you to the GoogleDocs site. You may need to log on with your email account the first time you go to this site. If you cannot view the document properly, select "Download" in the upper left-hand corner. Posted February 6, 2012 Bullying and the Gifted — Presentation by Dr. Craig Gaska Posted September 20, 2011 STAGE Parent Coffee – Overview of Gifted Programs On September 7 and 8, STAGE President Sonia Harmon presented an overview of District 203's gifted programs, standardized tests and qualification criteria. This presentation pulled from a variety of materials previously given by district administrators. View the coffee presentation here. All the original presentation material can be found elsewhere on this page. Posted April 26, 2011 News from District 203’s School Board – Common Core Standards At the April 18 School Board meeting, Kathy Duncan, Chief Academic Officer, and David Chiszar, Director of Research and Assessments, presented “New Illinois Learning Standards Incorporating the Common Core”. Illinois is one of 41 states who have formally adopted the Common Core Standards. These new Math and English/Language Arts standards for K-12 education were developed to better prepare Illinois students for success in college and the workforce in a competitive global economy. View their presentation here. Posted April 12, 2011 District 203 Assessments: What They Are and How They Are Used
On April 7, David Chiszar presented an overview of standardized tests used in K-8, showed parents how to read the standardized test results that come home, discussed the matrix review process and previewed some changes that might be occurring. Included in his presentation are links to sites with additional information. Posted March 9, 2011 Tools to Nurture the Gifted Child With their signature style role-playing, Karen Jacobson and Lauren Bondy of Parenting Perspectives addressed the well-being, happiness and success of gifted children, and offered parents practical tools to help meet their gifted child’s complex social-emotional needs. View handout. Posted March 8, 2011 Posted February 22, 2011
D203 School Board Candidate Q&A
Learn about District 203's school board candidates' views on gifted education in our Q&A with them.
Posted November 9, 2010
Gifted Learners: Strategies to Improve Learning and Emotional Well-Being
Kim Corless spoke to STAGE on November 9 about the unique and complicating factors that are commonly present amongst gifted people. View her presentation.
Posted November 9, 2010
K-5 Math Curriculum Overview
On October 7, District 203 staff and members of the K-12 Mathematics Steering Comittee presented an overview of the district's curriculum cycle process as well as grade-level breakouts to discuss specific grade-level changes to the K-5 math curriculum. See list of presenters, and view all presentation materials.
Posted June 11, 2010
Gifted Presentation at June 7 Board Meeting
An overview of District 203’s gifted and enrichment programs was presented to the Board of Education at its June 7 board meeting. Tim Wierenga (Assistant Superintendent for Instruction, K-12) and Kathy Klees (Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Staff Development) presented. A copy of the presentation is available here. The purpose of the presentation was to educate board members about the district’s gifted offerings. No proposals for changing any element of the gifted program were presented.
Posted April 28, 2010
District 203's Goals and Initiatives
Superintendent Mark Mitrovich presented an update of his 2009-2010 Goals and Initiatives at the April 19 School Board Meeting.
Posted April 15, 2010
K-5 Elementary Differentiation and Enrichment
View the presentation from the K-5 Elementary Differentiation and Enrichment meeting held on April 14. Look at the new Classroom Observation Form that will assist all teachers in identifying students who will benefit from enrichment. Our thanks to Kathy Klees, Bev Johnson, Julie Beehler, Chuck Freundt and Meredith Kline for sharing the results of the Enrichment Committee with us.
Posted February 6, 2010
First LEGO League Night Useful email and web addresses from this evening are posted on First Lego League Family Night.
Posted January 26, 2010
Family Game Night Our Family Games Night was a big success. Thanks to all the families who came out and played! Thanks as well to Marbles: The Brain Store for teaching us new games and supplying gift bags for all the kids. Also view more pictures! Posted November 11, 2009
Elementary Gifted Program Overview On November 4, 2009, Kathy Klees, District 203 Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Staff Development and Bev Johnson, Gifted Coordinator discussed the District’s mission and the gifted opportunities in District 203. They also presented an overview of District 203’s identification process for the gifted.Mary Kienstra, PI and Honors Math teacher at Beebe Elementary School and Melissa Heitz, PI and Honors Math teacher at Naper School discussed Project Idea (PI), the curriculum model, units of study and how it is different from the general education classroom at the elementary level. Similar information was also provided on the elementary grades’ Honors Math programs. View the presentation materials here. Posted June 2, 2009
Enrichment Aides Reinstated!
See article in Daily Herald: http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=297821&src=76
Posted May 20, 2009
Proposal to Recall Enrichment Aides Rejected
At the May 18th Board Meeting, Dr. Leis asked the Board to recall the Art, Music, PE (AMPE) teachers and enrichment assistants. He proposed Option C which would maintain current staffing. It additionally would assign the AMPE teachers to provide enrichment to grade-level classrooms while allowing grade-level teams time for collaborative planning on a regular basis. However in a 4-3 vote the Board REJECTED this proposal with Susan Crotty, Jim Dennison, Mike Jaensch and Dave Weeks voting against the proposal while Terry Fielden, Suzyn Price and Jackie Romberg voted for the proposal.
The Board of Education is meeting on Monday, June 1 at 7:30 pm. Included on their agenda are two items: rehiring elementary enrichment assistants and rehiring elementary Art, Music and PE teachers. The following recommendation will be proposed for enrichment:
"Rehire seven elementary enrichment assistants, allowing the current elementary enrichment program to continue next year."
STAGE fully supports this recommendation.
However, the Board of Education members need to hear from you! After the May 18th vote, Dr. Leis revealed that he had received a tremendous amount of emails and calls from parents providing feedback on this issue while board member Susan Crotty said that she had received only a small number of emails. Your voice can make a difference by letting the Board know your concerns and wishes. Please follow this link and go to the District 203 website. You will find an easy way to send an email to all of the Board members at once. http://www.naperville203.org/board/Members.asp
Also consider attending the Board of Education Meeting on June 1st at 7:30 pm. The Board meets at the District 203 Administrative Center at 203 W. Hillside Road.
Only one more vote is needed to approve the re-hiring of our teachers.
Our children need our voices to be heard!
Board Members Who Voted AGAINST the proposal to keep Enrichment Aides:
Jim Dennison jdennison@naperville203.org
Mike Jaensch mjaensch@naperville203.org
Dave Weeks dweeks@naperville203.org
Board Members Who Voted FOR the proposal tokeep Enrichment Aides:
Terry Fielden tfielden@naperville203.org
Jackie Romberg jromberg@naperville203.org
District 203 Enrichment Aide Cutbacks: Q&A 1. How many enrichment aides have been cut?
.5 at each elementary school, or 7 out of 14 aides.
2. Why are the aides being cut?
This is a financial decision. It is also possibly a teacher utilization issue.
3. When will this take effect?
2009-10 school year, if the enrichment aides "stay" released.
4. How will this affect delivery of services in terms of # of students served and hours of service students receive?
That is not clear yet, but the major changes will be who delivers enrichment and in what subject areas. Enrichment may be delivered by art, music, and PE teachers. Enrichment, per se, will not be eliminated.
5. What other cutbacks were considered, curricular or extra curricular?
A long list of cutbacks is being considered, including next year's planned implementation of a Chinese immersion program.
6. What is the potential for future or additional cutbacks in gifted education?
The core of gifted education is PI, Honors Math, and PI plus programs. Currently these are not expected to change.
7. What is the possibility of having these aides restored?
It is possible.
8. How will parents and students be notified of the changes?
Through the District 203 web site.
9. What training will the new enrichment teachers receive?
That has not been determined yet, but there will be some training.
10. What do we do next?
THURSDAY, MAY 21st at 7:00 pm at Steeple Run in the LRC to address the proposal to re-hire the specials and enrichment teachers. Dr. Alan Leis, Superintendent, Kitty Ryan, Assistant Superintendent and Susan Crotty, Board of Education member will be present at the meeting to address our concerns and questions.
NOTE:STAGE has made every effort to collect accurate factual information about this issue. We have communicated with several administrators, including Dr. Leis, and with several enrichment aides. Their answers are above.
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Past News & Presentations |