Superintendent Update: Feb 26, 2021

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

As February comes to a close, I would like to thank the USD school community for your efforts to celebrate African Americans’ past, present, and future experiences during this Black History Month. I participated in many virtual events and programs that honored history and supported the educational, social, and cultural aspects of Black Americans. As we move beyond the month of February, I look forward to our future equity and diversity conversations through the Equity Task Force’s work, starting soon.

As Spring Break is quickly approaching, we want you to be aware of recent developments. The CDC and IDPH recently updated their travel guidance and shared recommendations. This week, after multiple conversations with the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District (C-UPHD), the District was informed of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Illinois Department of Public Health’s (IDPH) requirements for people returning from domestic or international air travel or participating in high-risk activities. The CDC has provided considerations for activities and interactions that may increase your risk; click here for more information regarding your travel risk. Individuals should use their best judgment to determine whether they participated in high-risk activities based on the CDC’s guidance. Please be aware of the current actions to take after domestic and international air travel and high-risk travel activities:

• Get tested 3-5 days after travel AND stay home for 7 days after travel

• Even if you test negative, stay home for the full 7 days

• If your test is positive, isolate yourself to protect others from getting infected

• If you choose not to get tested, then you must quarantine for 10 days

In an effort to reduce the further spread of multiple variant strains in the United States, the IDPH and C-UPHD testing and isolation precautions following Spring Break travel will apply to everyone - even those who have been fully vaccinated. This does not mean that you cannot travel during Spring Break. However, it does mean that you will need to get tested when you return and stay home following your trip if you want to take advantage of the shorter seven-day quarantine period. We will be sure to keep you posted if these recommendations or the guidance changes.

Read Across America is coming soon! USD116 has been a long-standing supporter and participant in this event, and we are excited for that to continue. Event organizers have planned a two-part event. On Saturday, March 6th, from 9 am to 2 pm at Lincoln Square Mall; families can drive-through or walk-through to pick-up a free book, bag, mask, community resources, and activities. There is also an online portion of the event where families can access stories read by local organizations and performances by professional storytellers.

Our school district has created a Read Across America Day digital frame (see the image below) since we will not be able to have our popular in-person photo booth this year. We ask families to use this link to download the frame and place their children's pictures in the frame. If families are comfortable having their children's photos posted on our school district's social media pages, they can email photos directly to Dionne Webster, Director of Family and Student Supports, at dwebster@usd116.org. If you would like to share pictures of the exceptional children in your life, please use the frame and send in your photos. Your pics will be posted on the Urbana Family Engagement Page and on the Read Across America Day page on the Urbana Family Resource Google Site.

I’m looking forward to seeing the photos of all of the wonderful smiles and USD116 children reading their books!

Be safe and stay well,

Dr. Ivory-Tatum,
Superintendent

Congratulations to Meagan Stenzel, English Language Arts teacher from Urbana Middle School, for being named News-Gazette’s Teacher of the Week. Click here to learn more about Ms. Stenzel’s personal journey, and why she is described as “fun and caring, a teacher leader and students find a love of reading while in her class.”

This week, Dionne Webster, Director of Family Engagement and Student Supports, hosted a Family Forum Event. There were outstanding conversations around the theme: Strengthening Family Engagement in Urbana School District #116. Participants participated virtually in large groups and smaller breakout groups by level: elementary, middle, and high school. You will not want to miss the next event. Download the “Save the Date” and mark your calendars now for April 27 from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. You won’t want to miss it!

Our Student Services Administrators hosted a remote Special Education Parent Advisory meeting this week. One of the topics discussed was the updated Illinois State Board of Education Parent Guide. This is an excellent parent/guardian-friendly resource regarding special education and section 504 plan ideas and processes.

Once again, your child(ren) will share their progress and discuss educational goals with you. During 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.

Students will lead the discussion with you about their schoolwork, while teachers will help direct conversation and answer questions you may have. We have several goals for holding conferences using this format:

• For parents – we hope that you will get to see rather than simply hear about your child’s progress.

• For students – we hope students will take more responsibility for their learning.

• For teachers – we want teachers to have meaningful and impactful conferences with you.

• For all – we want to maximize our time together and create ways to partner with one another to support student success.

We are excited to share with you and appreciate your support.

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