District Updates
The 2023-24 school year was a great success, starting with a new collective bargaining agreement between the District and the Oak Brook Education Association and a collaboratively created strategic plan.
Thank You, Teachers and All Staff, For Another Fantastic Year
We can’t thank our teachers enough for their incredible work, from creating lessons, fostering a supportive learning environment, and the million other things that come with being a teacher. This appreciation extends to all staff that makes Butler D53 what it is from positions behind the classroom. From everyone in the community, the Board of Education, and District families, thank you!
Quest Food Management Services Contract Terminated
The District’s food service provider, Quest, terminated their contract in early May. The District and the Wellness Committee are excited to review incoming bids and determine the best provider. This is an exciting opportunity for the District to provide an exceptional student experience that nurtures their physical growth alongside their academic and social growth.
Bids from new food service providers will be received by June 14. After that, the Wellness Committee will review providers, menus, and aims to have a new provider secured by the end of July.
New Website In the Future
At the Special Meeting on June 4, 2024 the board approved the initiative to showcase our award winning school district by awarding RyTech, LLC as the vendor to design and develop the new district website. This huge endeavor aligns with the Strategic Plan and will take place over the summer months. The website will look different in the fall and will be more user friendly, accessible by mobile devices, and project the image of an award-winning school district among other advancements.
Retention and Onboarding Given Additional Attention
As an initiative of the new Strategic Plan, district and administrator goals, Dr. O’Malley outlined a draft and the importance of retention for cohesion as a District, given teachers enormous impact on the success of the District’s students. A comprehensive study on retention, and reasons for resignations was presented. In the last five years, retention has improved from 78% to over 90%. Additionally, in the last five years, 20% of District employees who left did so because they were retiring. As more retirements are set to impact the District’s staffing, a thorough onboarding plan is crucial to retaining new hires and ensuring they stick with the District long-term.
An onboarding plan can lead to improved employee retention, saving the district time and resources for the recruitment and hiring process. When new staff feel welcomed, supported, and equipped to succeed, they are likely to stay with the district long-term. Plus, new hires who feel supported and equipped are more likely to be productive and reach their full potential sooner, benefiting students and other staff. This collaboration can lead to sharing best practices and a more positive and productive school environment for staff and students.
Finally, as school districts become increasingly diverse with staff and students from different backgrounds and experiences, the District’s onboarding program should acknowledge and embrace that diversity. Both onboarding and professional development programs should consider offering diversity and inclusion training.
Ultimately, the District wants to become its staff’s “home away from home.” An increased focus on the processes for onboarding new staff will help make that a reality.
School and Student Services Department Updates
Brook Forest Elementary
Principal Dr. Andrea Prola thanked students, staff, and parents for another outstanding year at Brook Forest Elementary, and wished everyone well for the summer. Additional congratulations go to Mrs. Griffin as she retires from her career as an elementary teacher.
Looking forward to next school year, families will receive academic placement information on Friday, June 14th. Current Kindergarten through Second Grade students will receive Math placement information, and current Third and Fourth Grade students will receive Math and English Language Arts placement information. 2024-2025 Homeroom Teacher information will be available during the last week of August 2024.
Additionally, Dr. Prola will host a virtual meeting on July 10th at 10AM to review any new updates for the upcoming school year. This will also be a time for new families to the district to learn about Brook Forest. Families can email Andrea Prola at aprola@butler53.com for the meeting link.
Finally, students will receive their school supplies at school during their first week of school in September 2024.
Butler Junior High
John Hamilton gave his first Butler Junior High School report as the new principal. At Butler Junior High, the last week of school was full of fun, with graduates enjoying a week of special lunches, a trip to Great America, an 8th-grade breakfast, and the time-capsule opening tradition. He continued to wish students a safe, fun-filled summer.
School supplies for grades 6-8 for the 2024-25 school year can be found online here.
Student Services Department
Dr. LaTonya Wilks recapped the year. Over the 2023-24 school year, the Student Services Department has worked continuously meet department goals of:
- Continue professional development for all staff.
- Increase the School-Home connection.
- Collaborate with administration and teacher teams to improve student achievement.
- Improve academic and social-emotional learning for all students.
The Student Services Department held its fifth and final IEP Parent Bootcamp Meeting for the year on June 3. Parents came away with information on the principles of IDEA, the Extended School Year (ESY) process, end-of-the-year IEP meetings, summer activities to support Social-Emotional Learning (SEL), and the process of high school transitions. IEP Parent Bootcamp presentations are available upon request for families who were unable to attend.
Para Pathway to Employment
As part of the Strategic Plan and new goals set forth, Dr. LaTonya Wilks discussed the Student Services Department’s draft plan to meet the District goals for expediting the process for contractual paraprofessionals by removing the barriers to hiring, certification, and employment. The Para Pathway to Employment would create new pathways to becoming a full-time district employee by removing barriers to becoming a paraprofessional educator. The plan would speed up the process of becoming a paraprofessional educator while maintaining rigor and quality in hiring.
Finally, the plan would invest in our staff, students, and community by offering opportunities to paraprofessionals who already work in the district and support our students, and create a partnership between paraprofessionals and the district to increase student support and add to staff needs. Paraprofessionals would need to be eligible to apply for the Para Pathway to Employment, meeting criteria.
The Board of Education did not take any action on the Para Pathway to Employment at the June 10 meeting. Implementation of the plan presents certain benefits and drawbacks to the District. The Board and District are committed to providing the best experience for all students, and a decision on the Para Pathway to Employment program will be made at a later Board of Education meeting.
Director of Student Learning and Staff Innovation Report
Ms. Melissa Zeniewski gave her first report as Director of Student Learning and Staff Innovation. Specifically, she updated the Board on professional development in the District, as part of the Strategic Plan and goals.
Professional learning increases educator effectiveness and results for all students, and provides staff with a set of resources, tools and training sessions that help them improve their teaching effectiveness and quality. Professional development looks slightly different at each District school.
Professional Development at Butler Junior High
At Butler Junior High, professional development utilizes data from the 5Essentials Survey results (posted on the district website) and professional development surveys and includes individualized teacher coaching and co-teaching with Instructional Technology Specialists. In the 2023-24 school year, professional development at Butler Junior High also included a school-wide focus on International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Standards for Students, a school-wide focus on student writing across all content areas, as well as work in the Otus learning management system. Mr. Robbie Philipp, teacher and BJH’s Instructional Technology Specialist aided in the presentation.
Professional Development at Brook Forest Elementary
At Brook Forest Elementary, professional development similarly utilizes data from 5 Essentials Survey results (posted on the district website), professional development Surveys, and Student Data. The Brook Forest Elementary Instructional Team created a Book Study with action-based plans that were immediately implemented across grade levels, and created a train-the-trainer model for core subject area professional development sessions.
Benefits of professional development in the District include that teachers have autonomy in what activities they engage in for professional development, can showcase their specialized knowledge and skills by presenting to colleagues, build rapport with each other, and learn best current practices for their field and discuss meaningful ways to apply them.
However, Ms. Zaniewski also recognized the constraints of current professional development efforts. For example, there is a need for professional development to be more focused and aligned with District goals and priorities. Additionally, staff members feel that professional development lacks depth and that they don’t have enough time to fully engage with the material, and there’s a desire for more choice and ownership in professional development. Finally, staff members mentioned the importance of using data to inform decisions about professional development.
Professional Development in Butler School District 53 Moving Forward
Moving forward, Ms. Zaniewski will create a D53 Instructional Team aligned with the District’s Strategic Plan. The team will promote cohesive, district-wide professional development, develop program coherence across both buildings, and provide pathways for staff to grow as leaders.
Continued teacher learning and development provides teachers with a sense of purpose and ownership in the District’s Strategic Plan, allowing more teachers’ voices to be heard. Additionally, teachers who are afforded opportunities to continue to grow and challenge themselves feel a strong sense of well-being, which holds the potential to help with teacher retention.
PTO Updates
The PTO had an amazing year, beginning with its Ice Cream Social for Butler Junior High students and the Welcome Back Parent Social, continuing with with book fairs, spiritwear sales, Family Hockey night, Trunk or Treat, classroom parties, Butler Junior High sock hops, the Parent Social, Valentine's Day celebrations, parent-child socials, Butler Junior High International Lunch, Teacher Appreciation Week, Family Golf Outing, Sports/Drama/Music Boosters, BF Bike Safety Rodeo, Make a Difference Awards, and finally, graduations and special student send-offs.
Thank you to all the parents who participated and donated at the fundraising events and to all the parents who volunteered in school, after school, and at D53 events. Your volunteer time and event participation made this year a success.
An additional special thanks goes out to our wonderful Teacher Liaisons, Ms. Angelillo and Ms. McCreary for their feedback and ideas.
At the end of the summer, look out for Welcome to District 53 yard signs on new students’ lawns.
Finally, a final thanks goes out to the outgoing PTO board members:
- VPs for Butler Junior High: Shika V. and Shelly Bledsoe
- Community Liaison: Anum Javed
- Co-Treasurer: Karuna Dhar
The PTO is looking forward to welcoming its new executive board for the 2024-25 school year:
- President: Nella Sansguiri
- Co-President: Seana Scheid
- Brook Forest VP: Kaarina D’Andrea
- Treasurer: Zareena Khader
- Co-treasurer: Chen Chen Shao
- Recording Secretary: Brittany Grant
- Communications Secretary: Ashley Stout
- Community Liaison: Funke Pickering
- Website Admin: Veysel Demir
As a reminder, the Butler VP position is still open. Parents who are interested in serving on the PTO executive board can contact the PTO at butler53pto@gmail.com
Upcoming Board of Education Meetings
The Board of Education will not meet again until later this summer. Note that the August meeting is on the third Monday, rather than the typically second Monday.
August 16, 2024 at 9:00AM: Finance Committee Meeting
August 19, 2024 at 4:30PM: Education: Committee of the Whole
August 19, 2024 at 6:30PM: Regular Board of Education Meeting