Superintendent Update:Nov. 12, 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

As we move through November, it is essential to remember the importance of the weeks to come. This is the time of year when we should all place gratitude front and center. Gratitude offers us a direct connection to one another and our entire community. Today, let us remember that no matter how turbulent and difficult our lives may feel, we can always find something to be thankful for. In Urbana, we are grateful for all of our youth doing great things. Shout out to Urbana High School Drama Club for a fantastic performance of the play Heathers. We also want to recognize our Girls Swimming and Diving Team for their 8th place finish out of 29 teams at last week’s Sectionals. Go Tigers!

In USD116, we take our responsibility to keep our children and youth safe from threats and hazards very seriously. In collaboration with our local police and community partners, we continually review our safety plans and procedures and take the necessary steps to plan for potential emergencies. As part of our drill and practice planning, the District will hold evacuation drills next week on November 17 and 18. Urbana Police, in conjunction with USD116 administration, will make planned visits to every school campus. The drills will be brief and result in little loss of instructional time.

Another critical area of safety that I would like to address is our mask-wearing COVID protocols. USD families, we need your help! We have seen an increase in positive cases across the District during these past two weeks, as evidenced in the COVID data dashboard. I would like to appeal to our parents, guardians, and caregivers to reiterate our expectations for proper mask-wearing to your child(ren). This is especially needed in grades 6-12. While we will continue to enforce our masking policy, at the secondary level, we will be intensifying disciplinary consequences for those students who are regularly non-compliant with following the expectation to have their masks “up and over the nose.” We appreciate any help you can provide in this effort to help us continue to provide in-person instruction.

Our District COVID testing initiative and Test-to Stay testing protocols are critical as we enter the holiday travel season. We are happy to announce that we have hired additional staff to join our testing team! With the hiring of these new testers, we have added King Elementary to the weekly testing surveillance schedule. King families, I encourage you to give consent and take advantage of this convenient opportunity to have your child(ren) tested weekly while they are at school.

We are excited to announce that we are in the final stages of announcing the inaugural group of Board of Education Student Ambassadors. Tune in to the Board of Education Business Meeting on Tuesday, November 16th at 7:30 to see our students take their official oath of office.

This week on Veterans Day, USD116 found unique ways to remember those who have faithfully served our country. While we missed our traditional assemblies and special programs, we could not overlook an opportunity to show our Veterans our gratitude for their service and sacrifices for our country. We look forward to a time when we can honor you again in person. Please continue reading the full update for examples of these Veterans Day tributes.

Wishing you all the best,

Dr. Ivory-Tatum,

Superintendent

"There is a calmness to a life lived in gratitude, a quiet joy."

~ Ralph H. Blum

Second Dose Vaccine Clinic for ages 5-11

Last week we vaccinated roughly 400 of our students ages 5-11 at our vaccine clinic! Thank you for doing your part to keep our school community healthy!

We plan to hold a second dose clinic the first week of December. You will receive an email soon with a link to schedule an appointment. Please be on the lookout for it!

Mask wearing

Families, we need your help reminding students to keep their masks on, over their nose and mouth, while at school. This helps keep our school community safe and helps keep us IN-PERSON! We appreciate your continued support!

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

November SEL Newsletter

Highlights include:

*Videos for the Nov. Character Trait and Competency

*Creating Calm Spaces in the classroom and at home

*Articles on several topics related to SEL

*AND our NEW recognition feature: SEL Superstar Spotlight!

USD Honors Veterans

Urbana Schools were in session on Veterans Day and each building honored the day with activities, ceremonies and more.

UHS Presentation

UMS Presentation

Early childhood at King honored one of their own team members who served. Students also engaged in story time and discussion around what it means to serve and be a veteran.

At UECS, some students discussed what it means to be a veteran and created an American Flag picture out of their handprints.

Heathers

Last weekend, the UHS drama club put on a fantastic performance of Heathers. Congrats to the amazing cast and crew!

These civic-minded students chose this play because they are seeing first-hand a lot of their peers struggling with the return to in-person learning following 15 months of remote learning, community violence and other issues. They wanted students to know they are not alone and give them a path to reach out for help.

Girls Swimming and Diving

Let's give a big Tiger shout out to the girls swimming and diving team. They placed 8th overall out of 29 teams at last week’s Sectional meet.

Senior Captain Honora Hoey took 6th in the 200 free and 6th in the 500 free.
In Diving, Sophomore Avalon Ogolsky placed 5th with a new lifetime best score of 259.95.
The 200 free relay placed 9th with Elena Poulosky, Celia Barkley, Kathryn Tessene and Honora Hoey.

The girls swam with 100% effort and achieved multiple season PRs. Way to go girls!

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!

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.