Superintendent Update:Sept 15, 2023

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

My #WhatsYourWhy116 focus these last two weeks has been on the Power of Positive Words and finding your Passion and Purpose! We do that in USD116 by ensuring our students know and feel they matter. Educators and parents who use positive words, language, and values mattering will help our students see themselves as a valuable part of our schools and community. Hopefully, students who receive consistent positive feedback that they matter are more likely to have the resilience, self-confidence, and psychological security to thrive and be more successful academically, socially, and behaviorally. If you haven’t done so in a while, tell your child(ren) that you BELIEVE in them!

USD116 is proud to announce that the week of September 18th jumpstarts our yearly focus on school safety in our buildings. During School Safety Week, in collaboration with our local police, we review our safety plans and drill procedures while also complying with school codes for school safety. Next week, we will hold our intruder drills. The drills will be brief and align with our safety procedures and school evacuation plans. To review the full School Safety Week letter with additional details, click here: 23-24 School Safety Week Parent Letter.

We are thrilled to have Friday Night Varsity Football back in USD116. During this return to varsity football, we are wrapping around our team and asking for your support while we rebuild our program. We have an enthusiastic and energetic young squad and dedicated coaches who need our encouragement. Come out and join us this Friday night at McKinley Field for our first home varsity football game in three years. We are also looking forward to Homecoming 2023! The homecoming parade, Spirit Week, and the varsity homecoming game are next Friday, September 22. All Varsity Games start at 7:00 p.m. Support our Tigers!

This Friday, September 15, marks the beginning of Latine Heritage Month. Our celebratory activities will go through October 15th. During Latine Heritage Month, we celebrate and acknowledge our Spanish-speaking cultures, their histories, achievements, and positive contributions through this year’s theme: Prosperity, Power, and Progress. There will be district activities and events throughout the month, literally “kicking off” with a Parents vs.Teachers Soccer Game (i.e., Futbol) game at UHS on Saturday at noon.

In Urbana, one of our biggest strengths is our diversity; let’s celebrate and honor all the contributions that make us strong! #UrbanaBetterTogether2023

In solidarity,

Dr. Ivory-Tatum

September is Attendance Awareness Month. Let’s help students build a habit of good attendance early & often. Did you know:

• Missing just 2 days a school a month means your student is missing 10% of the school year? It's important to come to school every day.
• Students with a mentor are 52 percent less likely than their peers to skip a day of school. Sign to to be a mentor: https://www.cu1to1.org/

Families, we value your voice and would like your feedback. Please click on the school or schools that your child attends and fill out the survey(s) so we can create the best learning environment for students. We need your help.

• Dr. Preston L. Williams Jr Elementary
• Dr. Martin Luther King JR. Elementary
• Leal Elementary
• Thomas Paine Elementary
• Urbana Early Childhood School
• Urbana High School
• Urbana Middle School
• Yankee Ridge Elementary

Next week is Homecoming at Urbana High School! We hope you join in the festivities!

• Monday, Sept. 18: Powderpuff Football at 6 p.m.
• Friday, Sept. 22: Homecoming Parade starts at 3:30 p.m.
• Friday Night, Sept. 22: Football Game at 7 p.m.
• Saturday, Sept. 23: Homecoming Dance at 7:30 p.m.

Friday Night Lights returns to #USD116! Come support the Tigers at their home football games this season. Be sure and wear your Tiger spirit wear. All games are at 7 p.m.

• Sept 15
• Sept. 22
• Oct. 13
• Oct. 20

The 2nd annual C-U Marching Showcase is Tuesday, September 26 at Urbana High School. Come watch the Urbana Tiger Marching Band and Champaign Unit 4 Schools Central and Centennial Marching Bands perform.

This is free and open to the public, donations are welcomed. All donations will support the band programs at these schools. There will also be food trucks on-site. Hope to see U there!

The UHS Habitat for Humanity Club participated in the Raise the Woof dog house building competition last weekend.

Almost 40 students gave up time out of their weekend to build and decorate two dog houses. We are #ProudofU116 and thank you for your dedication to serving our community. We are #UrbanaBetterTogether

The dog houses were auctioned to raise money for Champaign County Habitat for Humanity.

The newly selected USD #116 Board of Education Student Ambassadors are ready to get to work, and community service is already a very familiar concept to the duo.

Senior D’meneca Turner-Winston and junior, Paulina Angrave, took their oaths of office at the August 22 Board of Education meeting.

Turner-Winston decided to serve as a student ambassador with the goal of connecting the Board to issues and concerns facing minority students. “As a minority student actively involved in a diverse group of activities in the school and community, I already receive feedback and opinions from my peers,” Turner-Winston said.

Angrave decided to apply for the student ambassador position to gain new perspectives and to help improve the school. “I want to assist other individuals in creating a safe, fair and well-disposed environment for everyone regardless of their race/ethnicity, gender identification, sexual orientation, mental/physical disabilities, socioeconomic status or religion,” Angrave said.

Read more about the Student Ambassadors here: 2023-24 BOE Student Ambassadors

Yankee Ridge Elementary held a 9/11 ceremony to pay tribute to the victims and honor the survivors. We will never forget their sacrifice.

Students at Thomas Paine Elementary celebrated the school's 60th anniversary yesterday.

Retired TP teacher Mr. Zimmerman, known for his annual rocket launches, came back for the event. He put together rockets with the 5th graders to launch and loaned the school his rocket collection to display. (Once a Tiger, Always a Tiger )

TP 5th graders are also doing an oral history project with several retired teachers and working to restore and document artifacts into a permanent display and website. #ProudofU116

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

The Champaign-Urbana Pride Fest is a program created and produced by Uniting Pride of Champaign County to celebrate LGBTQ+ pride in our local community. This year's Pride Fest is Sept. 23-Oct. 1

• The C-U Pride Fest Fair: Saturday, September 30, 2023 - 1-5 p.m. in downtown Urbana at the intersection of S Race St and W Main St
• Parade starts at 2:30 p.m.
• More info: https://www.unitingpride.org/paradefair23.html
  

Stanton bringing expertise in helping immigrants to Urbana school board The News-Gazette

• September 19: Board of Education Business Meeting | 6:30 p.m.

• September 22: UHS Homecoming | 1 p.m. Parade

• September 25: No School Grades EC-5 | EarlyDismissal: UMS at 1:15 and UHS at 12:26

• September 26: District Parent Teacher Advisory Committee | 6 p.m.

• September 26: CU Marching Showcase | 7 p.m.

• October 16-20: Fall Break: No School

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