February 2024 Board of Education Report

  • Posted February 14, 2024
February 2024 Board of Education Report

A Board Report of the February 12, 2024 Board of Education meeting
This Board of Education meeting was held in the boardroom at 2801 York Road, Oak Brook, Illinois 60523; the regular meeting place. The public can attend Board of Education meetings in person, access an audio livestream of the meeting on the District’s website, or listen to meeting recordings that are uploaded to the District’s website within the meeting week.


Strategic Plan 2024-2029 Approved
A big thank you to all who participated in the Strategic Planning sessions and showing such dedication to setting up our district for future success. Participants, including Board of Education members, administrators, teachers, staff members, current and past parents,  gathered to outline our schools' goals for the next 5 years regarding communications, personnel development, curriculum and instruction methods, facilities improvements, and more. This plan was developed by the Core Stakeholder Team after reviewing community feedback from the survey that was administered in December 2023.

The Board of Education approved the below Strategic Plan at the meeting.

Mission
We create pathways for each student to maximize their full potential.

Vision
To promote a nationally recognized school community that is proactive in transforming the learning environment and providing an individualized world-class education.

Core Values
At Butler School District 53, we….

  • Empower student growth through academics, arts, athletics, activities, and altruism.
  • Cultivate critical thinkers and thoughtful problem solvers.
  • Facilitate and enrich personalized learning.
  • Exemplify state-of-the-art educational best practices.
  • Engage teaching professionals in collaborative practices.
  • Foster an innovative, team-based learning environment.
  • Embrace diversity.
  • Celebrate successes along the way

Goals 2024-29
Communications and Technology

  • Align instructional technology with infrastructure and staff training.
  • Effectively harness cutting-edge technological advancements to develop more learning pathways; (i.e. Artificial Intelligence, as an example).
  • Improve communication and branding among stakeholders by fostering consistent and effective messaging; (i.e. website, ParentSquare, etc.).

Personnel and Team Development

  • Recruit, develop and retain multi-talented staff.
  • Develop an onboarding process that supports all district staff. (The Butler Way!)
  • Enhance our mentoring program to strengthen our staff.
  • Expand professional development through growth plans and District initiatives.
  • Research cost benefit analysis focusing on longevity and financial enhancements.
  • Provide a pathway for support staff to become District staff members.

Curriculum and Instruction

  • Implement unified and consistent core competencies in all subject areas, including SEL, that will permeate the school community.
  • Ensure ongoing staff training to support the individualized needs of students.
  • Document student growth and mastery of standards in Otus.
  • Establish Professional Learning Communities throughout the District.

Finances and Facilities

  • Improve communication of finances and facilities through:
    • Website information regarding finances and facilities.
    • Communications from Business Office.
    • Opportunities for district stakeholders to view facility improvements.
  • Enhance community partnerships.

2024-2025 Calendar Adopted
The Board of Education approved the 2024-2025 School Calendar as presented. The first day of student attendance is Tuesday, September 3, 2024 with the last day of school scheduled for June 6, 2025. Winter Break is slated for December 23, 2024 - January 3, 2025 and Spring Break is calendared for March 31 - April 4, 2025. Click here for the entire calendar.

School and Student Services Department Updates

Brook Forest Elementary
Brook Forest Elementary’s cruise ship is traveling to France in February. Students will learn how to build famous French architectural designs from our STEAM and Science teachers. 

Todd Beyer and Andrea Prola will be promoting additional physical activity in February. The students who completed a fitness calendar in January will participate in upbeat, energizing, and team building activities in the Gym.

All grade level homeroom teachers met with the school psychologists, academic specialists, and building principal to review informal and formal assessment data. Teams discussed student progress, instructional materials, and learning goals for Trimester 3.

Other Upcoming events at Brook Forest Elementary include:

  • Thursday, February 22, 2024: All students will participate in an interactive game show experience at Brook Forest Elementary. 
  • Friday, March 22, 2024: The school is accepting donations for full size cereal boxes for a school wide domino course. Cereal boxes will be donated to local food pantries. 

Butler Junior High
Thank you to our amazing PTO for sponsoring another fantastic International Day this year! We enjoyed food from Mexico, Italy, the Mediterranean, India, and Greece and finished the afternoon with a fantastic Latin American dance performance.

Congratulations to our boys on a fantastic basketball season, culminating in a semi-finals appearance in the SDEAA Conference Tournament.

All students participated in Winter MAP this year. ELA and Math teachers are currently reviewing student performance data to make the necessary instructional adjustments so that students are on track to progress toward meeting or exceeding their growth targets. Winter NWEA scores have been uploaded to IXL. This takes subscores in math and reading to create personalized targeted practice tied to NWEA scores for each student.

Congratulations to our Math Team! The team of Adi, Aditi, Adler, Ansh, Avi, Craig, Gayatri, John C, John P, and Laureen came in FIRST place at Regionals on Saturday, with John C finishing in 1st place overall and John P in 3rd. A special shout out to Ansh, Avi, John C, John P, and Aditi who advance to the State competition in March.

Student Services Department
The Child Protection Unit is being implemented district-wide, including Oak Brook Park District. Implementing the Child Protection curriculum meets the requirements of Erin’s Law. The law requires districts to provide annual awareness, recognition, and prevention training to staff and students in all public schools.

The Brook Forest Elementary and Butler Junior High social workers will continue to provide guidance classes at the Oak Brook Park District to the three and 4-year-old classrooms. The guidance will include them receiving instruction on the Child Protection Unit. The students are working on whole-body listening and following the group plan. Brook Forest and Butler Junior High will begin the Child Protection Unit through the Second Step Program on February 19th.

Nine staff volunteered to be trained by an Elmhurst Hospital-Certified Diabetes Educator as a Delegated Care Aide for students with diabetes on February 1st

The district’s 47 identified ELL students are in the process of taking ACCESS for ELLs language proficiency assessment. According to the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), the ACCESS for ELLs is a standards-based, criterion-referenced English language proficiency test designed to measure English language learners’ social and academic proficiency in English.

The focus goals for the student services department are as follows: 

1. Continue professional development for all staff.
2. Increase family participation.
3. Collaborate with administration and teacher teams to improve student achievement.
4. Improve academic and social-emotional learning for all students.

PTO Update
Brook Forest Elementary 
The PTO has organized a variety of winter clubs for upcoming events, including Draw and Paint for Life, Chess, Improv, and Spanish sessions, catering to diverse interests within the school community. Recently, on January 19th, the PTO proudly sponsored a Reading Night aimed at fostering a love for literature among 5th graders. As Valentine's Day approaches, the PTO has been actively involved in organizing festivities. Heartfelt appreciation is extended to the Valentine’s Committee and all participants for their invaluable support. 

Butler Junior High
Butler Junior High  students recently experienced the vibrant celebration of International Day, where they delighted in sampling a diverse array of ethnic cuisines, including Indian, Greek, Italian, Mediterranean, and Mexican fare. Thanks to chairs Nadine Elzein and Elizabeth Danielides for organizing this lunch day for students and teachers.

Upcoming PTO Events

  • February 14, 2024 - The Brook Forest Elementary Valentine’s Sale will be held Tuesday, February 14th during school for students. Shopping times will be assigned to each class. Additionally, Butler Junior High will have their Valenine’s Candy Sale during lunch with all proceeds going to 8th grade graduation.
  • February 23, 2024 - Butler Junior High will be having their Special Lunch Day with Panera. Orders are due Tuesday February 20th. There will be no Quest Lunch that day.
  • 2025 Planning - Please contact PTO at butler53pto@gmail.com if you’re interested in planning and booking vendors for Carnival, a PTO hosted event filled with games, entertainment, auctions and more, with Ms. McCreary at Brook Forest Elementary.

Upcoming Board of Education Meetings

  • Board of Education: 6:30 P.M. Monday, March 11, 2024,
  • Policy Committee Meeting: 4:30 P.M. Monday, March 11, 2024