Superintendent Update: Nov. 4, 2021

from USD116 Superintendent Dr. Ivory-Tatum

To view past superintendent updates, please click here. To view weekly updates online, please visit our District Updates archive on our website.

Greetings Urbana Family and Friends,

It was a great week to be an Urbana Tiger! I want to send a few shout-outs to our terrific Tiger athletes. Here’s a Tiger cheer to the Boys Cross Country Team for placing 4th overall in their sectional final meet. The team’s finish solidified a space in the state meet for the first time in 50 years! We also want to congratulate Celia Barbieri, who advanced to the state finals for the third time in her high school career. Congrats, Celia! UHS will be sending our state finalists off to the finals with a special celebration on Friday. Let’s Go, Tigers!

We want to give a huge shout-out to our Boys Soccer Team who played their hearts out during their Super-Sectional match on Tuesday evening against Troy (Triad). This game marked the second sectional game in a row where the final score ended 0-0 and the teams played through two overtime periods. Unfortunately for the Tigers, the shootout did not go in our favor this time, but our boys have no reason to hang their heads! We are so proud of their phenomenal regular season, regional, and sectional play finishing the year with a record of 19-1-2. Congrats to our Big 12 Sectional Champs! We are Proud of U.

If you have not had an opportunity to watch Tuesday evening’s Board of Education Study Session, please follow the link to the 11/2/21 BOE Update for more details. This was an information-packed meeting! The BOE Update provides video clips and copies of the presentations, including an Equity Audit Overview, a demo of the Evolve Door Detection system, info on USD116’s school report card, and a demonstration on how Urbana citizens can participate in the process to draw maps for the new Board sub-districts. We look forward to engaging our community in all of these continued discussions during future Board meetings. We are also looking forward to seating our two new Student Ambassadors on Tuesday, November 16th. The application and selection process is underway. Students have until Friday, November 5th at noon to submit their final application!

We are looking forward to our vaccine clinic for 5-11-year-olds on Friday, November 5th, from 1:00-6:00 p.m. We expect to vaccinate over 450 students. That is incredible! We are thankful for our partnership with Champaign-Urbana Public Health District (C-UPHD), which allows us to offer this service to USD116 families. For those unable to attend on Friday, you can also visit any of the other C-UPHD locations providing the vaccine for younger-aged students: Pfizer 5-11-year-old vaccination locations.

Families, next week, Tuesday, November 9, from 6:00-7:30 p.m., is the first Parent Academy Session. The Parent Academies are designed to provide families with information to support themselves, their children and to strengthen family engagement to enhance our student’s success. We are pleased to offer families the flexibility to attend in-person sessions at Urbana Middle School or zoom sessions. The zoom sessions will be recorded and can be viewed at your convenience. Please visit the Parent Academy Website to choose the sessions that best meet your family’s needs.

As always, thank you for your continued support,

Dr. Ivory-Tatum,
Superintendent

Internet Accessibility

As we prepare for winter weather and the possibility of E-Learning Days, we want to ensure every student has access to internet at home. If you or someone you know in the District needs internet access, please contact the District's Help Desk so we can help them get set up.

Help Desk Email: helpdesk@usd116.org | Phone: 217-384-3526

We Need U!

Urbana Families, what better way to get involved in your student’s school than coming to work for us! We have multiple positions available, including substitutes, teacher aides, hall monitors, lunchroom supervisors and custodial staff. Come earn extra income while your child’s in school. Depending on the position, you can work full-time or part-time and the schedule is flexible! Please share the attached flyer with anyone you think may be interested. We love getting referrals from our Urbana Families!

Board of Education Student Ambassadors: Last call for applications!

Applications for the Board of Education Student Ambassador positions are due by noon tomorrow (Nov. 5)!

BOE Student Ambassador Application

The plan is to conduct interviews next week and seat the selected Student Ambassadors at the November 16 BOE meeting.

The student ambassadors will be responsible for the following:

Attending all regular meetings of the Board of Education
Meeting with a variety of students and student groups in order to gain a broad understanding of student interests, concerns, and needs.
Share information received from the Board of Education meetings with the student body.
Representing all students.
Communicating student viewpoints on issues before the Board
Answering Board questions and concerns from a student perspective.
Reviewing the Board meeting packet and student-generated discussion items with their Principal prior to each Board meeting.

The Student Ambassadors will attend Board meetings, but will not have voting privileges and may not participate in closed executive sessions of the Board.

Parent Academy

Urbana School District’s Parent Academy is Tuesday, November 9 from 6-7:30 p.m. You can view the Parent Academy sessions here.

Parent Academies are designed to provide families with information to support themselves, their children and to strengthen family engagement to enhance our students' success.

The Parent Academy Sessions are available in three formats:

1. In-person sessions at Urbana Middle School

2. Zoom sessions

3. Recorded sessions that can be watched at your convenience.

More info: https://usd116.org/parent-academy-november-2021/

Equity Audit

At Tuesday's meeting, the Board of Education heard from the equity consulting firm Systemic Educational Equity, LLC. This is the consultant firm recommended by the Equity Task Force to lead the District through the Equity Audit and Equity Implementation Planning Phases. There are 5 phases to the Equity Audit and it is usually a 9-12 month process.

Read the full Equity Audit Overview

Watch the Equity Audit Overview

Calendar Change

As a reminder, November 22 and 23 will be E-Learning days with asynchronous work provided.

Early childhood through 7th grade students will receive asynchronous assignments from their teachers in advance.
Students in grades 8-12 will be instructed to bring their district-assigned device home on Friday, November 19th, so that they can access their asynchronous assignments through Google Classroom(s).

Students can use these days to redo or complete missing assignments, work ahead on upcoming projects and set goals for the remainder of their semester.

Redistricting

The 2020 Census data indicates that School Board Member Districts have grown disproportionately over the past decade, thereby requiring redistricting in 2021 to achieve greater equality between Districts.

The new apportionment map will be bound by specific Board established criteria. Based on the Board’s discussion at the last Board meeting, that criteria is as follows:

Sub-districts that are substantially equal in population based on the 2020 US Census
Sub-districts that are contiguous in territory
Sub-districts that are compact
Sub-districts maintain proper minority balance in compliance with voter’s rights act
Sub-districts that exhibit equitable distribution of University of Illinois students
Sub-districts where at least 2 BOE representatives are attached to an existing elementary school attendance area

Board Member Redistricting does not in any way impact School Attendance Zones.

Coming soon: We are working on a web page that will have everything you need to know about the redistricting process.

UHS Drama Club Presents: Heathers the musical

Support the UHS Drama Club and check out the production of the musical Heathers this weekend. There are multiple opportunities with shows Thursday-Saturday (Nov. 4-6) at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.

PLEASE NOTE: The musical is recommended for mature audiences only and is based on the film. Student tickets are $7 and general admission is $10. Tickets are available at the door.

Cross Country Headed to State

The boys cross country team placed fourth overall at the sectional meet last weekend....qualifying them for the state meet this Saturday in Peoria!!! This is the first time in 50 years the team has qualified for the state meet.

From the girls team, Celia Barbieri is also headed to state, for the third time in her high school career!

Good luck to all! Bring it home!

UHS Boys Soccer

UHS soccer finished out their season Tuesday night at the IHSA Super-Sectional. The score was 0-0 through regulation and two 10 minute overtime periods. The match then went to a shootout. This loss was the Tigers first loss of the year...as they finished their season with an amazing record of 19-1-2. They gave it their all and we couldn't be prouder!