“Promises Made, Promises Kept” Meeting Minutes posted

I asked for these meeting minutes, since they were not posted anywhere, and Mr. Gene Logas graciously agreed to put these on the Unit 4 website. 2.5 hours meetings…. wow, that just scares me.

http://www.champaignschools.org/Finance/promises031910.pdf

Forum to collect community/parent feedback for Carrie Busey

While I was over at Carrie Busey today, Zanita Williams-Gywn (did I get her new last name right?) mentioned that they just issued a press release announcing an April 1st 5th Forum; the purpose of the forum is to solict feedback from parents (and the community) that will go to Unit 4 HR in the context of selecting a new principal. However, I cannot help but to wonder that the topic of CB’s 2012 move to Prairie Fields will come up as well.

I am keeping my eyes on the News-Gazette and/or the official Unit 4 website to see if/when they mention this.

Based on what little I know of the role of “School Principal”, my initial thoughts for a candidate are:

• Have excellent people skills
• Have a seemingly bottomless loving concern for children
• Have a compassionate, yet firm, rapport with both the staff and the children
• Have the wherewithal to be the person that says “The buck stops here”
• Have a holistic goal that invites the community along a journey of excellence

Zanita did mention that it is going to be very important to somehow blend the future two communities, the old community of the original location and the new community of Savoy. I give her kudos for thinking that far out, even though she will be handing off the baton in a couple months. And I absolutely agree. A young man I am mentoring made an astute observation along the lines of “what if kids don’t want to go to the new school”? There is going to be no easy road, but I hope we work together to pave a well-worn path for those after us.

EDIT: Actually, the forum is on April 5th, at 6:30 PM in the “Community Room” at Carrie Busey – I assume the Community Room is the multipurpose lunch/theatre/gym room. Jodi Heckel mentioned that she will put something in the NG closer to April 5th, and I think Unit 4 will post something soon (I just tickled them). I have a pdf’ed version of a copy of a fax, which is not really “net friendly”.

UPDATE: http://www.champaignschools.org/News/0910/Press%20Release%20Carrie%20Busey%203-16-10.pdf

Unit 4′s website updated with better school application information

Take a look at the small blurb for School Registration on the Unit 4 website:

Kindergarten Registration – March 1st – 31st at Family Information Center

• Application Process
• Application Questions and Answers
• Controlled Choice Process
• Click here to begin registration, online

This is much better than what it was before. Big THANKS to Sandra Duckworth. Note especially the colorful pdf for Kindergarten Registration. =)

The “Application Questions and Answers” (ie, FAQ) is still quite lacking and I was hoping she would include the charts I had been helping with. But, at least a small step in this case is a step forward, so I am thankful for that. I hope that by this time next year, we will be able to flesh out this section of the website much better and have it be extremely useful for parents.

Savoy officially now has Proximity A to Carrie Busey

http://www.champaignschools.org/News/0910/News%20Release%20Proximity%20A%20to%20Carrie%20Busey%202-26-10.pdf

The address is: 304 Prairie Rose [Lane]