I am thrilled to have the opportunity to share positive news regarding a new initiative for USD116 students. In a collaborative joint effort with the City of Champaign, Champaign County Community Coalition, Parkland College, and Champaign Unit 4 Schools, USD116 was invited to participate in a community event called “Rising Stars.” A Rising Star is a 5th or 8th-grade African American student with a 90% or higher attendance rate and who meets or exceeds academic expectations. We invited over 150 students to participate in this inaugural Rising Stars community event. The program was hosted by Parkland College, and about 100 USD116 students participated and received a certificate and a special stole. The program's purpose is to acknowledge African American students in 5th and 8th grades but also to encourage College and Career paths, participation in advanced placement, honors, and acceleration classes, and the Advancement Via Individual Determination program at UMS (AVID). Congratulations to all of our students for reaching this milestone! We look forward to all of them continuing to grow and rise into superstar students. I cannot wait to see all 150+ of them at a UHS graduation ceremony in the future.
This week we closed out the final Meet and Greet sessions for our transitioning Wiley students, staff, and families. We appreciate the administrators and staff from our other elementary schools who have openly welcomed the Wiley community into their families these past two weeks. The PTAs and school staff are planning additional events and opportunities to include Wiley students, staff, and families in their end-of-the-year family events.
As we prepare for the upcoming Facilities Planning Committee that will study future programming for Wiley, we want to share an interest survey link here: Wiley Study Interest Survey. While we would like to include everyone interested in participating in the meeting sessions, we recognize that is not practical or possible. However, as the committee makes decisions or needs additional information or input from a larger group of stakeholders, we are committed to reaching out to those who indicated that they would like to participate in any upcoming engagements, as noted in the interest survey.
As we end our week, it is important to remember the six lives lost far too soon in Nashville. Every school shooting leaves me at a loss and asking why? While we can never fully understand or begin to explain why those who take the lives of children or adults in school shootings commit these horrific acts, one thing we can do is keep the families devastated by these events in our thoughts and prayers. In Urbana School District, we have invested considerable resources and time to strengthen safety at our schools. We will continue reinforcing our safety protocols by monitoring and following our practices to keep our students and staff safe. Please take care of one another and keep the families from the Covenant School and the City of Nashville in your thoughts and prayers.
Respectfully,
Dr. Ivory-Tatum
