Dunlap Community Unit School District

Dunlap Staff and Community,

For the second consecutive school year, Dunlap High School has earned the status of “Silver Medal” designated by US News & World Report.  In collaboration with School Evaluation Services, a K-12 education and data research and analysis business that provides parents with education data—academic and enrollment data from more than 21,000 public high schools was analyzed to find the very best across the country.  Read more about the process and the recognized schools online!

This designation reflects a highly dedicated and hard-working staff, supportive parents and motivated students.   The accomplishments of the high school are a result of a systemic effort which began in our elementary schools, continued through our middle schools and culminated at our high school.  This is a great example of teamwork, collaboration and shared leadership in our school system!

Congratulations to the Dunlap school community and staff for the efforts which contribute to the daily success of our students.

 Dr. Jay Marino

-Continuous improvement through teamwork, collaboration and shared leadership!

Keeping parents informed is a top priority at Dunlap School District.  That’s why we have implemented the AlertNow Notification System which will allow us to send a telephone message to you providing important information about school events or emergencies.  We also anticipate using AlertNow to notify you of school delays or cancellations due to inclement weather. AlertNow will leave a message on any answering machine or voicemail. Please contact your child’s school if you wish to opt out of this service. 

We will be sending a test message during the week of December 14, 2009 to all parents in the district. The District anticipates full implementation of the AlertNow system no later than December 21, 2009.  We look forward to enhancing stakeholder communication with this new technology.

Dr. Jay Marino

-Continuous improvement through teamwork, collaboration and shared leadership!

Staff & Stakeholders,

In my November 19th blog posting, all stakeholders were invited to provide input on the District strategic plan.  In order to organize and prepare the comments received for our next meeting, we’ll be closing the survey on Friday, December 4th.  This is a final reminder to submit your comments!

On December 14th, the strategic planning committee will meet again to continue the planning process.  The agenda for the team will be:

• Review of Data Analysis/ Sharing of additional input received from stakeholders
• Formation of Long-Term District Goals 
• Brainstorm ideas for MISSION 
• Conduct Values/Beliefs Activity 
• Brainstorm ideas for VALUES/COMMITMENTS
• Professional Learning Community/Classroom Learning Community Visioning Activity
• Brainstorm ideas for VISION  
• Next steps for sharing information with stakeholders 

Soon after the December 14th meeting, we’ll provide a summary to the public through our blog.  You will again be invited to participate and share your input as we continue the District strategic planning process.

-Dr. Jay Marino

Continuous improvement through teamwork, collaboration & shared leadership!

In observance of the Thanksgiving holiday, all Dunlap schools will be closed on Wednesday, November 25^th through Friday, November 27^th.  School will resume on Monday, November 30^th. 

In addition, the District Office will close at 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 25^th and will reopen on Friday, November 27^th.  Office staff and hours may vary on Friday, so please be sure to call ahead at 243-7716. 

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!

-Dr. Jay Marino

Continuous improvement through teamwork, collaboration & shared leadership!

Dunlap Community Staff and Stakeholders,

We’d like to provide an update on the District strategic planning process which was launched in October, 2009.  We’ve created an interactive video message (4 minutes) that shares our progress to date and the resources that the team is reviewing to construct the District strategic plan.

Please take a moment to review the video which provides instructions on providing input to the strategic planning team and participate in the survey to ensure that your voice is heard.  Access the strategic planning website and video for more details- http://www.dunlapcusd.net/SI/strategicplan/strategicplan.html .

Your input is appreciated and valued!

-Dr. Jay Marino

Continuous improvement through teamwork, collaboration & shared leadership!

Over 200 stakeholders provided input for consideration in the planning of the 2010-2011 school calendar.

Below are some highlights:

• 78% of the stakeholders prefer to start in mid-August and end around Memorial Day.
• 66 % of the participants prefer to celebrate Presidents Day as opposed to the traditional Lincoln’s Birthday.
• 63% of the respondents would like to have School Improvement Days on a Friday.
• 56% of the stakeholders would like to see Parent/Teacher Conference Days both semesters.

We’ve also made the complete results publicly available online .

Many thanks to the collaborative efforts of the administration and Dunlap Education Association in creating the survey and providing opportunities for stakeholder input.

Dr. Jay Marino

Continuous improvement through teamwork, collaboration & shared leadership!

Twitter is a free service that lets people keep in touch with Dunlap Community Unit School District through the exchange of quick, frequent messages (no more than 140 characters).  Join today to start receiving Dunlapschools’s tweets.

Read the Wikipedia description of what twitter is or visit Twitter.com to learn more about this web 2.0 technology.

Dr. Jay Marino

In the state of IL, November 15^th is designated as “school board members’ appreciation day”.  I’d like to recognize the Dunlap Community Unit School District #323 board of education members for their dedicated service:

Mrs. Christine Finley  (President)
Ms. Amy Doering (Vice President)
Mr. Bruce Hay  (Secretary)
Mr. Joe Eberle
Mr. Brian Meginnes
Dr. Paul Park
Mr. Steve Rieker

School board members bear an awesome responsibility.  They:

• ensure that Dunlaps’ nearly 3500 students receive a high-quality education
• hire the superintendent and administrative team to lead the district
• write and adopt sound, relevant policy
• generate strong community support for our schools

Public education is a cornerstone of our democracy.  School board members volunteer hundreds of hours of personal time and an immeasurable amount of energy to assure that our schools are providing the best education possible for the children of the Dunlap school community.  Board members sacrifice many hours of devoted service to our school and community. 

School board members are citizens whose decisions affect our children. They make decisions about the direction the school system is heading. They must also make the hard decisions about budgetary matters that also affect the community.

They set the vision for the school system and set policy that provides the framework for operations. They represent – as a board – the total community. They must attend numerous, often lengthy meetings that are sometimes fulfilling and sometimes contentious.

Too often we forget that these men and women are also parents and community members. Most school board members have full time jobs outside of being a school board member, yet make the time to provide governance to our schools.

I’d like to publicly commend our board of education for their dedication to the children enrolled in our school system and to the community as a whole.

Thank you board of education!  We appreciate your service!

Dr. Jay Marino

In order to demonstrate teamwork, collaboration and shared leadership, we are seeking stakeholder input regarding the 2010-2011 school calendar. Lisa Parker, Assistant Superintendent, in collaboration with the Dunlap Education Association, have provided a survey to determine your preferences. Please click the link below and submit your thoughts by Monday, November 16, 2009. We value and appreciate your input!

http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/survey-intro.zgi?p=WEB229UPURSQ28

Jay

-Continuous improvement through teamwork, collaboration & shared leadership!