Superintendent Update:Aug. 11, 2023

To view past superintendent updates, please visit District Updates on our website.

We have had an amazing first few days of school. We opened the school year by focusing on our Why and celebrating our staff, our students, and the possibilities for a positive new school year. During our Opening Day Celebration, I introduced my year-long campaign to help everyone in USD116 rediscover and connect with their personal Why. I plan to set aside time to be in every school multiple times this year to hear more about the Why of our staff members. I want to hear from our first-year teachers and “newer” teachers and staff about their Why and what brought them to Urbana. From our more experienced veteran staff members, I want to learn more about their Why and what USD116 means to them. All of these conversations will help inform our future Strategic Planning efforts. Understanding our Why is so important because you will commit to it and will persevere through difficult circumstances to accomplish it.

Another way we will advance our Why this year is by focusing on our Equity needs and priorities from the Equity Audit. The audit shifted our thinking to the fact that Equity is not a destination or a place you magically reach; instead, it is a journey you are on for life. Our focus has shifted from “Equity in Action” to “Equity in Action - the Journey.” Click the link here to learn more about the Equity Action Plan (EAP) created this summer by our District Equity Leadership Team. The August 22, 2023, Board of Education Business Meeting has additional information and the full EAP presentation: Watch the Aug. 22 BOE Meeting - EAP Presentation

If you watched the Tuesday evening Board meeting, you also saw information presented by the District Facilities Committee. In March 2023, the USD116 Board of Education charged district administration with forming a District Facilities Planning Committee to advise the Board on the future programming for Wiley School; the committee was charged with reviewing the comprehensive needs of the district while also considering the financial resources expected to be available to the District for future programming at Wiley School. The committee met several times from April through August. The final recommendation following a vote of the committee was to reopen Wiley School as a 6th Grade Center. You can review more information about this work via the Co-Chairs presentation and the Board of Education discussion regarding this recommendation: Watch the Aug. 22 District Facilities Committee Presentation. You can also read about it in the BOE Update. If you would like to express your personal opinions to the Board concerning their future action, there will be three upcoming public hearings (Sept. 5, 19, and Oct. 3). A final vote from the Board is expected at the October 3rd meeting.

Although it is only the second week of school, I hope your students have had the chance to get to know their teachers, reconnect with friends and make new connections with students and other adults. The beginning of a new school year is the perfect time for students to start the year with a positive attitude and set academic and personal goals for the year (or semester). One of our goals as a District continues to be to provide a safe, inclusive, and engaging learning environment for all. While we continue to navigate challenges together, we are confident that with determination and cooperation, our students will have significant academic and personal successes this year.

After this week’s school closures, I would like to take this opportunity to encourage you to make sure your information in Skyward is correct. Depending on the situation, we will utilize any of the following modes of communication with you: email, text message, and/or phone call.

For those who do not already receive text alerts from USD116, we highly encourage you to sign up by texting “Y” to 67587. You must opt-in to receive text messages from the Urbana School District.

Thank you for helping us improve our ability to communicate with all families and for your patience and understanding this week as we educated our students during these extreme conditions.

Stay safe and stay cool,

Dr. Ivory-Tatum

Urbana School District celebrated the completion of the Thomas Paine expansion and renovation project with a ribbon cutting on August 15, 2023.

We would like to give a special thank you to those who made generous donations toward the playground, the Lui family in honor of Kay Grabow, and the Thomas Paine PTA.

Urbana School District celebrated the completion of the UHS Band Room expansion project with a ribbon cutting on August 15, 2023.

The much needed expansion includes more space for band classes and the Tiger Marching Band, an interior ramp with doors to the football field, new acoustical tiles to improve the overall sound, and increased storage space.

A special thanks to the Urbana Bands Room to Grow Committee, the CU Schools Foundation donors, and those who financially supported the Urbana Band Program. This project would not have been possible without this community support for our students.

Mark your calendars for the first Family & Community Cafe of the year! All USD #116 families are invited to attend. Childcare is available and light refreshments will be served.

• Tuesday, Sept. 12
• 5:30-7:30 p.m.
• Dr. Williams Elementary (in the gym)

The purpose of Family and Community Cafes is to create a space for families, community members, and district staff members to have collaborative conversations and give families and community members the opportunity to share their ideas to impact our students' academic and social emotional growth.

NEW THIS YEAR: You can view and download all food menus by using our new FDMealPlanner app! Simply scan the QR code and you can view your menus anywhere, anytime. Or go to the Apple App Store or Google Play Store and search "FD MealPlanner"

Don’t want to install the app? You can visit the FDMealPlanner’s website where you can look up menus:

• https://www.fdmealplanner.com/
• type your school name
• choose the menu type you wish to see

Meeting dates for the first semester: ALL MEETINGS START AT 3:30 p.m.

• August 30, 2023 | UHS menus | Meet in UHS room 2141

• September 27, 2023 | UMS menus | Meet in room 1520 at UMS
• October 25, 2023 | Elementary menus (adults encouraged to attend with their student) | Meet in the UMS library
• November 29, 2023 | UHS menus | Meet in UHS room 2141

The CU Schools Foundation, United Way, Urbana School District #116, and Champaign Unit 4 School District are launching a new campaign to help students succeed. Operation Caring Closets lets community members support area students by purchasing essential school supplies online and shipping them to the Urbana or Champaign school districts. Throughout the school year, the districts will then distribute the items to students in need, for free, at one or more “caring closets.” These closets will be stocked with essential items—such as clothing, hygiene and miscellaneous school supplies—that many students cannot access or afford.

The Urbana and Champaign school districts each determined the items most needed by their students and created separate Amazon Wish Lists. Community members can see the lists and purchase items online at www.cuschoolsfoundation.org/caring. Items on the wish list include winter gloves and jackets, soap, shoes, toothpaste, pens and pencils. The school districts hope that Operation Caring Closets will become the go-to location for generous community members who want to donate to students throughout the school year.

Read more about Caring Closets here: Caring Closets

Due to the heat, the DL picnic was rescheduled to August 31 from 4-6 p.m. at AMBUCS Park.

High school football 2023 preview: Get to know Urbana - The News-Gazette

Teacher of the Week: Madison Ross, special education, Urbana High School The News-Gazette

C-U schools seeking help stocking "caring closets" The News-Gazette

• August 29: District Parent Teacher Advisory Committee

• August 30: UHS Open House at 6 p.m.

• August 31: Dual Language Picnic

• September 4: No School/District offices closed for Labor Day

Email: contactus@usd116.org
Website: usd116.org
Location: 1101 East University Avenue, Suite B, Urbana, IL, USA
Phone: 2173843600
Facebook: facebook.com/usd116
Twitter: @urbana116