Parent/Guardian Survey
Dear Parents/Guardians:
Warren Community Unit School District is committed to continuous improvement. We are constantly pursuing ways to best serve our students and community. We have a team of various stakeholders who meet on a regular basis to promote this improvement.
The 5Essentials School Survey is one the major tools we utilize to assess our district. This climate survey collects feedback from students, teachers, and parents/guardians. Our team examines the results generated from this survey to identify the strengths of our district as well as areas for improvement. Next, we create action plans to address these areas to improve as a school district. Illinois has also connected this survey directly to our school buildings’ report cards. Therefore, these results directly influence our schools’ summative designations, which rank the performance of schools across Illinois.
Our students and teachers will be completing these climate surveys this winter. However, the parent survey has opened early as it can be a challenge to meet the minimum threshold of 20% participation in each building to receive results. Therefore, if you have a child in both the elementary and junior/senior high school, you may answer this survey for each building. As parents/guardians, your voice is extremely important to us. You are a major contributor to your child’s educational team. Please take a moment to provide us with feedback. This is a great way for us to gain your insight, so we can better serve the parents/guardians of our school district.
The following is the link to the survey: https://survey.5-essentials.org/illinois/?target_name=parent
Thank you in advance for taking time out of your busy schedules to provide us with feedback. I look forward to seeing many of you at Parent/Teacher Conferences this week. We value our relationship as educators with all of you.
Thank you,
Shawn Teske
Warren CUSD 205
Superintendent / Elementary Principal
Found Some Old Slide Photos
Happy Friday! We found a couple boxes of old slides in storage when cleaning up. Here’s a small gallery of some of them. Leave a comment if you know any of the folks below.
Let us know if you’re interested in seeing more content like this in the future. 😀
Flu Warning
Influenza (flu) has been confirmed in the surrounding areas
Influenza (flu) can cause mild to severe illness, and at times can lead to death. Flu is different from a cold. Flu usually comes on suddenly. People who have the flu often feel some or all of these symptoms:
- fever* (usually high) or feeling feverish/chills
- cough
- sore throat
- runny or stuffy nose
- muscle or body aches
- headaches
- fatigue (extreme tiredness)
- some people may have vomiting and diarrhea, though this is more common in children than adults.
*It’s important to note that not everyone with flu will have a fever.
The term “stomach flu” is a misnomer that is sometimes used to describe gastrointestinal illnesses caused by organisms other than influenza viruses.
⚠️ Updated Transportation Policy
Dear Parent/Guardians:
As a school district, Warren CUSD 205, has adopted a new transportation policy effective January 6, 2020. We understand this policy may take some time and planning on your behalf to make the appropriate adjustments. We assure you that this policy is in the best interest of the students. We apologize for any burden that this change may put on you as a parent/guardian. We request and appreciate your cooperation as we make this improvement to our school district’s policy. Please read the addition to our school board policy and fill out and return the attached page for your student(s) by December 20 in order to have your student on a bus list. All students preschool through twelfth-grade were sent home with a form regarding a transportation policy change. For your convenience, the form is also available below. We appreciate your cooperation as we all comply with this policy change.
NEED GIFT CARDS?
The Athletic Boosters are continuing their project of selling gift cards. With the holidays approaching, we want to again stress this money-making project that we have. Many of you will be buying gift cards as gifts. The Athletic Boosters order gift cards from a company that allows us to keep some of the profit that the companies make when they sell you the gift cards. You receive the same gift cards that you would purchase at the stores. They cost you nothing more and you receive exactly the same value. The Athletic Boosters receive some of the profit and that profit goes towards the equipment and uniforms that we purchase for the school and our athletes.
Attached is a list of some of the gift cards that we are able to order, the denominations that they come in and the percent profit that we make. There are many others, totaling 760! If you don’t see what you want, check the scrip website online for the list. The list in available at www.glscrip.com. The link to the list is on the bottom of the opening page under quick links retailer list.
Beginning Nov.22, I will pick up orders at the school each Friday moming by 9 am. The orders usually arrive in 3 days. The last day to order is Dec.13. Use the order form below or send you order on another sheet of paper. The order and check made out to Warren Athletic Boosters can be sent to Kelly in the high school office, Sally in the elementary office or you can email me at [email protected] or call 815-745-3844 and then send your check to Kelly in the high school office. I also have quite a few gift cards on hand so call or email if you need a last minute gift. Thanks for helping the Athletic Boosters raise money for their projects!
Medication Policy Update
If you are providing Prescription and/or Non-prescription (over the counter) medications such as Tylenol, Ibuprofen, Tums, Cough Drops, etc.; they must be delivered to the school in the original, sealed and properly labeled container with the child’s name along with the appropriate signed medication authorization form by the parent/guardian and physician. All medication must be brought to the office by the parent. Students should NOT be transporting any prescription or non-prescription medications to school. No medications are to be kept in a student’s possession, desk, or locker, with the exception of authorized EpiPens or Asthma inhalers. Any questions, please contact the School Nurse.
Warren CUSD #205 Graduate Profile – Introduction
Every school system is unique, but they all are connected by a shared aspiration: that all students have an educational experience preparing them to be effective lifelong learners and contributors.
Now more than ever, that experience must not only provide for the acquisition of rigorous academic content, but it must also be more intentional about fostering critical thinking, communication, collaboration, creativity, and other 21st century skills our young people need to thrive in this complex, rapidly changing world.
Our Graduate Profile serves as a North Star for system transformation. Providing our strategic direction for the redesign of the overall educational experience for our students. This collective vision reinvigorates and re-engages students, teachers, and community stakeholders.
As part of our planning process, with the help of our area business leaders and chamber of commerce, we have identified a set of attributes and skills our students need to ensure they are future ready! We have created the graphic below as a reminder of our mission.
Stay tuned as we will explain what each set of attributes means to our students as they progress through their education.
Football State Championships
It is a great day to be a Warrior! With a 34-7 victory of Lourdes Academy last Friday, our Blackhawk/Warren Warriors have earned the right to play for the WIAA State Championship on Thursday, November 21 at 10 AM. Therefore, school will be canceled on Thursday, and will be made up at the end of the school year as indicated with our emergency days. We hope to see all of you at Camp Randall in Madison to cheer on your Warriors as we battle Edgar for the State Championship.
Parent Survey
Annually, Illinois conducts a climate survey for all public schools. This survey is called the 5Essentials Survey. We have an improvement team dedicated here at Warren Schools to review the results of the survey each year. Through this process, we reflect upon our current practices and develop action plans to better fulfill the needs of our school district team including the students, parents, staff, and community. Please take a moment of your time to take the 5Essentials Survey. If you have a student in each building, you may fill the survey out for each building. Reminder, our elementary school includes grades up through fifth-grade, while our junior/senior high school includes grades 6-12. The link to the survey will be sent out via email and text. Additionally, it can also be found on our school website or Facebook page. We thank you in advance for taking time out of your busy schedules to complete the survey.
Link to the survey: https://survey.5-
Thank you!
Parent Portal Access to Alma
If you have not received an email to setup your account in our new Student Information System, Alma. Please fill out this form to request an account: https://forms.gle/dFYxzqW4ShwDzhL9A
Alma is where you can access your student’s grades, assignments, report cards, attendance records, contact teachers, and more.
Introducing our new Student Info System – Alma
We are happy to introduce our new Student Information System (SIS), Alma! Alma will replace InformationNow (aka INOW) this school year. After 2+ years of research, we chose Alma due to their forward-thinking mission and ease of use for teachers and parents. Over the summer, we migrated our data from InformationNow to Alma and we are (almost) all set to use it.
Here’s what you can expect with Alma from the start:
- Mobile-friendly interface (so you can check grades and other info on your phone)
- Updated user-interface so the things you’re looking for are easier to find and understand
- Easier Parent-Teacher communication
- Refreshed report cards
- Behind the scenes, Alma is designed to save time, give staff instant insights, and reduce busywork
Eventually we will also include:
- Online Registration
- Online Payments
- Standards/Competency Based Grading & Report Cards
In the coming weeks, we will be sending information on how you can access the parent and student portal in Alma. Your portal account will be tied to the email address so make sure we have a current email on file during registration.
We will also be discussing the change to Alma during our State of the School event on September 11. Don’t forget to register to learn more!