Superintendent Update: Mar. 5, 2021

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

March is Women’s History Month. The month of March is set aside to honor women’s contributions to American History. The month’s celebratory roots trace back to 1980 and started as National Women’s History Week. This month is an opportunity to celebrate the women who have impacted our history, culture, and society. This is your opportunity to reflect on women’s progress in the past, recognize women’s efforts in the present, and be inspired by these women for a brighter future. Take time this month to consider the impact of women who live out their dreams every day by being the change-makers, game-changers, and the dream keepers, that our young girls and young women can look up to today.

Next week, we are looking forward to parent-teacher conferences. Our students will again lead conferences. This will be their chance to share their progress and share their learning goals for the remainder of the school year. Student-Led Parent-Teacher Conferences will be held March 11 from 4:00-7:30 p.m. and on March 12 from 8:00-11:30 a.m. Spring conferences are typically less attended; however, I encourage families to take advantage of the opportunity to support our students as they take responsibility for their learning. There is NO SCHOOL on Friday, March 12th, due to conferences. There will be no synchronous or asynchronous activities provided on Friday, March 12th.

The week of March 15th - March 19th is designated as Spring Break. School will resume on Monday, March 22. Last week I shared updated national, state, and local health district travel guidance. Champaign-Urbana Public Health District (C-UPHD), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) recommend that Champaign County residents follow the requirements for people returning from domestic or international air travel or know your travel risk while traveling during Spring Break. Click here for more information regarding your travel risk from the CDC. C-UPHD revised their previous guidance and informed us this week that fully vaccinated people will be exempt from quarantining as long as they are asymptomatic. We expect staff and families to adhere to these same guidelines following Spring Break. In an effort to reduce the further spread of multiple variant strains in the United States and our community, we will be expecting students and staff who fall within the above-linked categories for high-risk travel to get tested when they return and stay home following your trip to help keep us all safe.

We are so excited to welcome more students back to the buildings for in-person learning after Spring Break. Some of the new students attending have not physically been in our schools for over a year. We cannot wait to see you!

Be safe and stay well,

Dr. Ivory-Tatum,
Superintendent

There is No School next Friday, March 12. Spring Break is the week of March 15-19. To accommodate these days off of school, we are adjusting our meals to make up for these missed school days. There will be NO meal distribution during Spring Break week (i.e., March 17).

On Wednesday, March 10th, we will be providing two (2) weeks, fourteen (14) days of meals at our drive-up meal distribution sites. Yes, that is fourteen (14) breakfasts and fourteen (14) lunches! These boxes will cover meals for March 10th-16th and for March 17th-23rd. Families can pick up meal boxes by driving thru any elementary school or Urbana Middle School.

On Thursday, March 11th, students attending in-person will take home their Thursday AND Friday meals since there is no school on Friday. Students will also take home their regular weekend meals as well.

Urbana Theatre is holding a virtual Trivia Night Friday, March 5th. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for high school and middle school students, and with Mr. Pavlakis as your host, you know it'll be a great time! We will have bidding on some fantastic silent auction items between the rounds, but THE BIDDING IS ALREADY LIVE! Go bid today! The winning team will take home a $50 gift certificate to CU Time and Space! (They have virtual escape rooms!)

Find tickets for the trivia Here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/uhs-drama-trivia-tickets-142518612005

Silent Auction Bidding here: https://www.accelevents.com/e/UHStheatre2020#auction

Dr. Gene Amberg began his career in public education in 1972 as an elementary school teacher in St. Louis, Missouri. He served as superintendent of Urbana School District #116 from 1992 until his retirement in 2007. In 2003, the Champaign Urbana Schools Foundation (CUSF) Gene Amberg Excellence in Teaching Endowed Chair was established to honor Dr. Amberg’s leadership and dedication to children and educators throughout his career. Every three years, an Urbana School District #116 teacher is chosen to receive the Gene Amberg Excellence in Teaching Endowed Chair. This recognition comes with a monetary award from the Endowment held by the CUSF.

Nominations may be submitted by: 1) self 2) peer 3) student 4) former student 5) parent 6) supervisor 7) administrator.

There are many deserving USD teachers who could be nominated. The nominations require a letter of support from an administrator, and I hope you will have time between now and the end of April to make a nomination. The deadline is Friday, April 30, 2021, 4:00 pm. Please see the attached information linked here for more details.

Email: contactus@usd116.org
Website: usd116.org
Location: 205 North Race Street, Urbana, IL, USA
Phone: 2173843600
Facebook: facebook.com/usd116
Twitter: @urbana116