Superintendent's End of Year Message

June 8, 2023 Highland Park & Highwood, IL Dear North Shore School District 112 Staff, Parents & Guardians, & Members of the Community, Congratulations to each of you for completing the school year 2022-2023! This was a year that we will not soon forget. It was a year that changed our community. It was a year that showed us we can do anything and we can unite as a community. It was another very challenging year. And we finished strong! This past year, as in past years, we focused on our three main guiding principles: safety, learning, and communication. We aim to get better every day through a process of continuous improvement. This year we increased our security focus, trauma awareness, informed practices, counseling, and overall approaches to safety. We focused on strengthening early literacy through in-depth professional development for K-5 staff on the foundations of literacy. We opened the newly modernized Edgewood Middle School on April 3, 2023; this marked the successful completion of “phase 1” of the District 112 Long-Range Facilities Plans (on time and within budget). We will break ground this summer and upcoming winter at Indian Trail and Ravinia Schools, thanks to your support as we begin “phase 2.”  We have already made some “phase 3” decisions that will allow us to save taxpayer dollars and operate more efficiently with nine schools instead of ten, for example, by moving our early childhood program to Oak Terrace to create a pre-K-5 school and eliminate a stand-alone facility for preschool. The community offered the Board of Education a mandate with a 72% “yes vote” on the facilities referendum and plans. We take the voice of the community very seriously, with pride and humility, to steward the public trust as we make investments that will impact generations with an eye on a legacy of excellence and success. Members of the Leadership Team (administration) made local, regional, statewide, and national presentations sharing the stories of District 112 teachers, staff, students, and the community. We continued training on positive psychology (Orange Frog), the science of reading (LETRS training), engagement for students (KAGAN training), and reporting of danger (Safe2Help Illinois). We’re proud of the Illinois and Lake County Assistant Principal of the Year at Wayne Thomas School, Colleen Goodrich. Since 2019 our “big 3” have been closing achievement (opportunity) gaps for students, facilities modernization, and the portrait of a graduate, the aspirational vision for each child. This coming year we will again recommit to the portrait of a graduate (approved by the Board in August 2019).  We also recently approved a new, 5-year bargaining agreement beginning on July 1, 2023, with the North Shore Support Staff Association after four positive and productive negotiation sessions. This year we offered a fond farewell to retiring board member Adam Kornblatt, and we offered a hearty welcome to new Board member Jenny Butler. We offer gratitude beyond words to our teachers, support staff, administrators, board members, parents, and students. We thank you for enduring change and uncertainty with confidence, faith, support, courage, and a can-do attitude. Thanks to you, our School District is on a positive trajectory financially, academically, and organizationally. Many of our schools have achieved High-Reliability Schools Level One certification, and Wayne Thomas has achieved Level Two. At the start of the year, staff reported in our annual HumanEx culture survey that 80% were highly engaged and highly satisfied; this past May, 72% reported similar sentiments, which were all-time high data points for both reporting windows. Our journey is for continuous improvement and excellence. Thank you for giving us your feedback on the multiple surveys we share -- your voices help inform our improvement. Step by step, plan by plan, together, in unity for the community, we innovate, inspire, and engage! Thank you for allowing me to serve as your superintendent for the past five years (this marks my 18th year of total service to the Board). I cannot wait to see what we can do together during the next three years as we position the District for its future!  My wish for you is a peaceful summer break. The District is open all year, so please reach out if you have any questions. Be sure to download the Parent Square App if you still need to do so to receive the most timely information from our school district. With regards, gratitude, appreciation, and pride, Mike Michael Lubelfeld, Ed.D. Superintendent of Schools

Thursday, Jun 08 2023

What's Going on Today in D112?

Even though it's near the end of the school year, we're finishing strong! A lot is happening at our schools - today, we're sharing some highlights from around the District! Oak Terrace School is starting to remodel the first floor so we can integrate the early childhood education programs from Green Bay to Oak Terrace this fall! We will be making a new main entrance as well! The four-year-olds are "graduating" from PK to kindergarten at Green Bay! Next year Oak Terrace will be a PK-5 school! Across the District, we have many end-of-year traditions, field days, celebrations, milestones, etc.!  At Ravinia School, This year, 20 of the fifth graders volunteered to join a Student Leadership group. They dedicated their recess time each week to discussing ways to promote inclusivity and kindness. They signed a pledge to treat everyone fairly and say something if they saw bullying or unkind behavior, and they agreed to promote these ideas in our school community. They worked hard on projects that would stop bias behavior and bullying.  In collaboration with the Anti-Defamation League, ADL, and Chicago Bulls, today we recognized those student leaders and our entire community for promoting kindness and inclusion. We were recognized as a No Place For Hate school in an assembly before Field Day. Today, everyone at Ravinia will be signing the No Place for Hate pledge, and we will expand these ideas to a club for younger students next school year. We are so proud of our student leaders and the community for supporting our mission to be positive, inclusive, and kind! We will continue to focus on being a good friend, including others, and on kindness and continuing to be a place where everyone is accepted and feels part of our community.  In addition to Ravinia School, Red Oak, Braeside, Sherwood, and Wayne Thomas Schools are No Place for Hate - Anti-Defamation League (ADL) Schools. The other schools are considering signing on in the future! We're proud of our schools, administrators, teachers, staff members, students, and parents! We are excited to have another week to make elementary school a magical time and space for each child daily! We look forward to the 8th-grade promotion/graduation celebrations and ceremonies next week. Inspire - Innovate - Engage Visit #112Leads on Twitter  any time to see a collection of D112 celebrations daily!

Friday, Jun 02 2023

Lake County K-5 Virtual Summer Program

Please see the link below if you are interested in Lake County Regional Office of Education's free virtual summer program for K-5 students in Lake County. Students can sign up until June 12th. The program will run from June 19th through July 28th. There will be live instruction, and students will also be able to work asynchronously.  More information can be found on their website. https://www.lake.k12.il.us/about-1

Thursday, Jun 01 2023