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DATE	HEADLINE
11/20/2009	Fire at Scott School: students and staff safe As a result of this morning’s fire, portions of Scott School have smoke and water damage. Consequently, Scott School students will not be allowed to return to the building today to retrieve coats and backpacks. The building and its contents will be professionally cleaned over the weekend, including the children’s belongings. Any families who have students involved in the YMCA Naperville Family Resource Center and Safe ‘N Sound after-school program should plan to pick up their children at Madison Junior High today. There is every indication that school will resume normally on Monday. We will keep families updated via Talk203. Updated information will also be posted on the Scott School and District 203 websites. More...
11/19/2009	New ECC to be named in honor of the late Ann Reid On Monday, November 16, the Board of Education discussed and decided the name of District 203’s new Early Childhood Center (ECC), which will open in August of 2010. The 22nd school will be the first to bear the name of a woman, Early Childhood educator Ann Reid. Following the collection of suggestions from parents, staff and community members – 69 in all – a focus group was held to bring three recommendations to the Board. The finalists included Veterans ECC, Naperville ECC and the Ann Reid Early Childhood Center. Ann Reid began her career with District 203 in 1979, serving as a speech-language pathologist and administrator; a coordinator for Project Choice and Project Springboard; coordinator for Elementary Special Education; coordinator for Junior High Special Education; Assistant Principal at Steeple Run Elementary and Madison Junior High; and Assistant Director of Special Education. Ann retired in 1994, after almost three decades in education, but was still advocating for a consolidated Early Childhood Center in 2007, the year she was diagnosed with cancer. In 2008, at the age of 72, Ann lost her battle. In discussing naming the $11 million center, Board member Jim Dennison noted “I like that Mrs. Reid gave so much to this District and there is a certain personalization to that I think is admirable, and I think that is part of our District's brand." More...
11/15/2009	School Board Member Appreciation Day, November 15 The Illinois General Assembly adopted a resolution naming November 15 of each year as School Board Member Day in Illinois. The action was taken "as a way to honor those citizens who devote so much of their time and energy for the education of our children." Nearly 6,000 men and women serve on local school boards in Illinois, according to information from the Illinois Association of School Boards. All school board members serve as volunteers. Many thanks to the members of our Board of Education for their dedication to District 203. They are ordinary people who are extraordinarily dedicated to our public schools. Serving on the District 203 School Board are Mike Jaensch, president, Jackie Romberg, vice president, and members Terry Fielden, Suzyn Price, Susan Crotty, Dave Weeks and Jim Dennison. The Board of Education works closely with parents, education professionals and other community members to create the educational vision we want for our students. It then formulates goals, defines results and sets the course for an equitable educational program for all students. This week, join with others from throughout our District and State to salute the men and women who provide the grassroots governance of public schools. Make a special effort to tell each member of the Board of Education that his or her hard work has been noticed and is very much appreciated. To contact members of the Naperville District 203 Board of Education, click here.  More...
11/10/2009	Healing Field of Honor now on display at Rotary Hill If you haven't yet seen the Healing Fields display of 2,009 American flags on Rotary Hill in Naperville, sponsored by Exchange Club and the Park District, make a point to do so. Parking at Rotary Hill/Veterans' Day, Nov. 11, to Nov. 14 Beginning Veterans' Day, extended hourly parking and student parking will be restricted at the top of Rotary Hill. During the exhibit from Nov. 11-14, the Rotary Hill parking lot and drive off Aurora Avenue will be marked with signs to designate only 30- and 60-minute limited parking. Parking places along the drive toward the Moser Tower will be designated and exclusively for buses and ADA accessibility. Parking at Rotary Hill/through Nov. 14 The Rotary Hill parking lot and driveway off Aurora Ave. will be marked with signs to designate a limited number of 30-minute and 60-minute parking spaces as well as parking exclusively for buses and ADA accessibility along the drive toward the Moser Tower (Carillon). Additional Parking/Centennial Beach Parking Lot Centennial Beach parking is located at 500 W. Jackson, across the Riverwalk foot bridge. Weekend parking will be available at Naperville Central High School, across the street from Rotary Hill, and at the Naperville Municipal Center, 400 S. Eagle Street at Aurora Ave. More...
11/3/2009	Operation Support Our Troops collection in progress To coincide with Veterans’ Day 2009, students, staff and the community are invited to participate in the annual Operation Support Our Troops collection. Begun in 2003 by District 203 mom Debi Rickert to send supplies to our soldiers overseas, Operation Support Our Troops has grown from the basement of her Naperville home to a multimillion dollar initiative occupying two warehouses. Donations are being accepted at all District 203 schools and the Administrative Center through Friday, November 13. To view the Top 10 list of items being sought, see the Support Our Troops flyer posted on the District 203 virtual backpack page, known as vB203. More...
10/30/2009	Soft lockdown now going on at Naperville Central H.S. An anonymous note was found near a Naperville Central classroom at about 1:30 PM today. The note described a threat with enough detail and specifics that the police believed it warranted immediate response. Taking our lead from the Naperville Police Department, the school went into soft lockdown for the remainder of the school day. Students were not allowed to leave their classrooms and the building was secured by police. There is no entry to the school at this time and all exit is completely controlled.  At this point, all classrooms in the 3-story portion of the building were finished with searches around 3:30 pm. Students are currently being released from the 3-story to go home. This release is being conducted like a fire drill, with teachers escorting their entire class to the exits. Students are NOT being allowed to go to their lockers, or anywhere within the flat wing. It appears that the flat wing will be released around 4:15 PM. Students are being encouraged to text or telephone parents to tell them they are safe. Bus riders will be taken home as usual. The bus drivers will return for a second run for the flat wing kids. More...
10/30/2009	Naperville Central has been declared secure by police An anonymous note was found near a Naperville Central High School classroom at about 1:30 PM today. The note described a threat with enough detail and specifics that the police believed it warranted immediate response. Taking our lead from the Naperville Police Department, the building went into soft lockdown for the remainder of the school day. Teachers and staff were instructed to check their computers for information updates. Instruction continued in the classrooms. Students were not allowed to leave their classrooms and the building was completely secured. The Naperville Police conducted a thorough, room by room search. The building was found to be clear of any danger, and students were dismissed in a staggered, controlled fashion. This allowed for heightened supervision of students and control of the situation. Students were not allowed to return to their lockers. They were encouraged to text or telephone parents to tell them they were safe. At about 6:30 PM, Naperville Police finished with their second sweep of Naperville Central High School, using canine units from various agencies, and have released the building. Principal Bill Wiesbrook announced at a press conference held late Friday afternoon that he is confident the school is secure and that classes will resume normally on Monday. He also noted that Naperville Central’s entrance by the greenhouse will be open from 9 to 11 AM on Saturday, October 31. Any student wishing to retrieve items from their locker may do so during that time. Tonight’s NCHS football game against Lockport will proceed with a 30-minute delayed start of 7:30 PM. The police will continue to investigate this incident. Anyone with relevant information is encouraged to call the Naperville Police Crime Stoppers number at 630-420-6006. All callers may remain anonymous. More...
10/29/2009	District 203 2009 State Report Cards available here Each year, the State of Illinois prepares district-wide and school-specific report cards. These reports contain student achievement scores and other relevant information. A majority of the data in these documents comes from the standardized testing administered in the spring of the previous school year. Following final verification of the data, the reports are released to the various school districts across the state. The District 203 Illinois State Report Cards are now available on this website. A report card featuring data from each of our 21 schools is available through the above link. The District report card, featuring overall District 203 statistics (including financial information) as compared with state averages, is also displayed there. As of October 31, the State report cards may also be viewed on the Illinois State Board of Education’s web site: www.isbe.state.il.us. A printed copy of the card(s), including individual school improvement plans, may soon be obtained from any of our individual schools or from the District 203 Administrative Center, 203W. Hillside Road, Naperville. To have a paper copy of the district-wide report card sent to you, please contact the Community Relations Office at (630) 420-7011 and provide your name, phone number and mailing address. To request a printed copy of your school report card (report cards of individual students are NOT available), please contact the school directly. For a listing of school phone numbers, please click here. More...
10/26/2009	GOOD NEWS: THERE WILL BE NO STRIKE! First Group America has informed District 203 officials that this afternoon they reached a tentative agreement with First Student Drivers and their union, with full committee support. A ratification vote is expected in the next couple of weeks. With the threat of a strike gone, transportation will continue to operate as normally scheduled. "We are obviously relieved to receive this good news. We're thankful to our parents for their patience and to our educational partners who stepped forward to pledge their support, should this situation have ended differently," noted Superintendent Mark Mitrovich. More...
10/25/2009	First Student Update: Monday bus schedule is normal Maureen Richmond, Director of Media Relations for First Group America (the parent company of First Student, Inc.), has assured District 203 administrators that Union representatives have advised they will not move to strike prior to a 10 AM meeting on October 26. "All routes will be running as normal on Monday," she said.  Richmond also told the Naperville Sun that bus service will be provided both in the morning and afternoon, no matter what the result is of the morning negotiation meeting. "That would be unfair to have no notice...," Brian Rainville, Executive Director of Teamsters Joint Council 25, the umbrella organization for the 22 locals in the greater Chicago area, is quoted as saying. "We have kids. We understand that." Based on these assurances, District 203 officials believe there will be no job action taken on Monday and are, therefore, planning to operate transportation as normally scheduled. If that situation changes later in the week, parents will be notified via Talk203, the District’s email and telephone notification system, as well as by a posting on this website, along with an updated message on the recorded hotline set up for that purpose. Call 630-420-3254. More...
10/22/2009	Looking for H1N1 Information from Will County? Will County has issued a letter of recommendations to schools and parents this week which is very similar to information released by DuPage County. To access the letter, click here. More information can be found on the Will County website at www.willcountyhealth.org. More...
10/19/2009	Novel H1N1 Update for Schools from DuPage County District 203 continues to receive reports that students and staff have been identified by their physicians as having probable H1N1 illness. We also have a few cases of H1N1 that have been recently confirmed by the Health Department, based on testing when students have been hospitalized. At this point, Influenza Like Illness (ILI) has been reported in every building and in most grade levels in both students and staff. Officially, only hospitalized patients will receive the blood test for this virus, although some physicians may send a blood sample to a private lab for confirmation. Most are diagnosing based on symptoms, a positive nasal swab for Influenza A and the fact that, up to now, it has been considered too early for the seasonal flu. To view the memorandum issued to school officials October 14 by the DuPage County Health Department, click here. Currently, there are no plans for dissemination of the H1N1 vaccine in District 203 schools. Please click here for more information on vaccine availability and the DCHD priority list. More...
10/13/2009	District 203 continues to follow DCHD guidelines for flu In response to parent inquiries regarding District 203’s on-going plan for implementing the DuPage County Health Department (DCHD) and Center for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines relative to Novel H1N1, please read the updated letter from Superintendent Mark Mitrovich (the original letter sent via Talk203 on August 28) which outlines the precautions that are being taken to prevent the spread of flu. We have also added new resources to the long list posted on our Pandemic Influenza web page. In addition, it should be noted that the DuPage County Coroner’s Office has now determined that a serious, and previously undiagnosed, progressive heart defect strongly contributed to the death of our Naperville North High School student last week. To read the updated statement, please visit the DuPage County Coroner’s website. More...
10/9/2009	Update on Naperville North High School Student For the last two hours, media outlets have been reporting that Michelle Fahle's death involved H1N1. At 1:15 PM, we received information from the DuPage County Health Department that Michelle's death was related to Novel H1N1, with further testing in progress to confirm a possible underlying condition. In short, the Coroner and Health Department have not concluded that H1N1 is the primary cause of Michelle's death. We continue to take direction in responding to this situation from the DuPage County Health Department. The Health Department has pledged to provide us with direction and a letter to parents, students, and staff as soon as possible. The DuPage County Health Department has established a hotline for residents who wish more information about H1N1 - 630-221-7600 or visit their website at www.protectdupage.org Mark A. Mitrovich, Superintendent of Schools More...
10/8/2009	Statement from Mark Mitrovich, Superintendent of Schools At this very sad time, the entire District 203 community extends our deepest sympathy to the Fahle family on the death of their daughter, Michelle. As Superintendent, I know that the tragic loss of one of our students is something that affects all of us deeply. The Naperville North High School community is working to support the Fahle family. They will also be providing counseling services for students and staff as needed. The DuPage County Health Department, with whom we have been working closely all day, has issued a letter to the District 203 community that addresses novel  H1N1 influenza. For further information and updates on novel H1N1 influenza from the DuPage County Health Department, please visit www.protectdupage.org, www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/, or www.flu.gov. For general information, call the H1N1 Hotline at 630-221-7600. Additional information can be found on our District 203 website Pandemic Influenza page. On the strong recommendation of the DuPage County Health Department, all District 203 schools will be open on Tuesday, October 13, as scheduled. Mark A. Mitrovich Superintendent of Schools More...
10/5/2009	College Board announces AP Scholars In May of 2009, 1,115 District 203 students took a total of 2,055 Advanced Placement (AP) tests, with 89% of those tests resulting in a score of 3 or above (on a 5-point scale). About 18 percent of the nearly 1.7 million students worldwide who took AP exams last spring performed at a sufficiently high level to earn an AP Scholar Award by completing 3 or more exams and earning grades of 3 or higher. Of the 1,115 individual District 203 students who took an AP exam in 2009, 336 were so honored. More...
10/1/2009	NMSC names 54 District 203 Commended Students Fifty-three District 203 seniors were named Commended Students in the 2010 National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC). About 34,000 Commended Students throughout the nation were recognized for their exceptional academic promise. Although they will not continue in the competition for National Merit Scholarships, Commended Students placed among the top five percent of more than 1.5 million students who entered the 2010 competition by taking the 2008 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. Naperville Central High School Commended Students are: Ayesha Badar, Julie Brdicka, Victor Chen, Mitchell Dreiske, Terrence Hector, Jeffry Huang, David Ilavsky, Rachel Irion, Jeffrey Jin, Emily Larkin, Andrew Miltonberger, Avani Miriyala, Joseph O’Brien, Nathan Reinke, Emily Van Etten, Michelle Wang and Cory Young. Naperville North High School Commended Students are: Surbhi Agarwal, Ryan Asensio, Mohammed Askari, Kelley Berdelle, Benjamin Broad, Maureen Connelly, Marc Deetjen, Samuel Enright, Seema Ghelani, Meraaj Haleem, Neil Jerome, Melanie Keating, Kristine Kerns, Kathleen Khau, Andrew Koh, Daniel Kumor, Simeon Lee, Justina Lin, Wesley Liou, James Maclean, Conor McCarthy, Matthew McGrail, Walker Miner, Laura Mumford, Aniket Patil, Jasmine Peterson, Matthew Shanahan, Neal Sheehan, Bret Sherred, Johanna Tang, Eric TerMaat, Alexander Wang, Elizabeth Weiner, Joe Williams, Christopher Woodward, Diana Xu and Yingying Zhou. More...
9/28/2009	Absenteeism rate low as District monitors flu conditions District 203 is working closely with the DuPage County Health Department to help reduce the spread of influenza in students and staff in our schools. As the school year progresses, we anticipate more illness from the H1N1 flu this fall compared to this past spring and that absenteeism rates due to Influenza-Like-Illness will likely fluctuate. As you may know, the reason is that influenza is spread easily from person to person and is typically transmitted more easily in fall and winter when children congregate indoors. At this time no schools in District 203 have greater than 2% absenteeism due to Influenza-Like-Illness; we will continue to track the situation closely. We are taking all of the recommended steps to both prevent and monitor flu conditions and will use that data to make the best decisions concerning the health of our school community. More...
9/28/2009	Seven seniors receive top scores on ACT and SAT The following six members of the District 203 Class of 2010 received the top possible score of 36 on the ACT last spring: from Naperville North - Nikhil Bommankanti, Timothy Clark and James MacLean; from Naperville Central - Taisia Karaseva, Katherine (Kate) Rudolph and William Sterrett. The ACT tests academic performance in the areas of English, mathematics reading and science. Each test is scored on a scale of 1 to 36, with the composite score representing the average of these 4 tests. The average ACT composite score in Illinois is 20.8, while the average composite score for District 203 students is 25.0. In addition, Naperville Central senior Jacob Bumpus received the top score of 2400 on the SAT. He is among only 250 students from across the nation to do so. The SAT is a standardized assessment of the critical reading, mathematical reasoning and writing skills that are deemed necessary for students to be successful in college. More than two million U.S. high school students take the SAT annually. More...
9/9/2009	Safety letter urges both parent & student responsibility Naperville School District 203 understands that there is nothing more precious than our children and, as such, take our responsibility for the safety of all of our students very seriously. As part of this commitment, we are posting a joint letter from Superintendent Mark Mitrovich and Naperville Police Chief David Dial asking for the support of parents and guardians. Please take a moment to review the information posted on our School Safety page (in both English and Spanish) with your student, and, in particular, ensure that he/she understands the serious consequences associated with making threats and/or bringing weapons, or look-alike weapons, to school. We promise to do the same at school. More...
9/3/2009	President Obama addresses students on September 8 President Barack Obama addressed school children across the country on Tuesday, September 8. The President challenged students to work hard, set educational goals and take responsibility for their learning. He will also call for a shared responsibility and commitment on the part of students, parents and educators to ensure that every child in every school receives the best education possible, so they can compete in the global economy for good jobs and live rewarding and productive lives as American citizens. The address was live-streamed at noon Eastern time (11 AM, Central) on the White House website. In Naperville School District 203, teachers are being encouraged to make age-appropriate use of the President’s speech. Schools that are planning to show the live event to students will send a Talk203 message informing their families. All of our schools will be provided with copies of the address, once it has aired, so that it may be shared as and when our educators deem appropriate (such as in social studies classes, for example). More...
8/28/2009	District 203 Takes Steps to Deal With Fall Flu Season With Novel H1N1, formerly referred to as swine flu, expected to make a comeback in the United States this fall, Naperville School District 203 is taking steps to reduce the spread of influenza. Our goal is to keep schools open and functioning in a normal manner during this flu season. We are working closely with the DuPage County Health Department and the DuPage Regional Office of Education to monitor flu conditions and make decisions about the best steps to follow. We are also asking for help from our District 203 staff and families in following the three Cs recommended by the Center for Disease Control: clean, cover and contain. Please wash your hands frequently or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer when soap and water are not available. Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue or use your sleeve, rather than your hands. Stay home if you are sick to contain germs and protect others from becoming ill. To read the letter from Superintendent Mark Mitrovich, click here. To view a variety of resources in English and Español, please visit the Pandemic Influenza page of this website. More...
8/21/2009	Board approves $33 M bond issuance/applauds savings The Board of Education, as well as District 203 taxpayers, received good news at the August 17 business meeting. Assistant Superintendent for Finance Dave Zager announced that, thanks to favorable bond ratings and interest rates, issuance of the remaining $33 million in bonds for facilities improvements resulted in a savings of about $300,000 per year over the next 19 years compared to what was expected when the referendum passed in 2008. MORE More...
8/11/2009	Back to School information for parents and students From reviewing safe walking routes, to school physicals and meal plans (including reduced or free lunch forms), Back to School information and related helpful links are posted on this website to assist District 203 families. Please click here. More...
7/31/2009	Bridge Program Provides Alternative Learning Options In a special meeting held on Thursday, July 30, the District 203 Board of Education voted to approve an alternative education program proposed by Abraxas Youth & Family Services, created in conjunction with District 203 staff. The Bridge program will provide both special education services and an Alternative Learning Opportunity Program (ALOP). This is an off-campus, day-school setting for general ALOP and special education high school students who need an alternative environment to succeed. Housed in a separate wing at Woodridge Interventions, this individualized, instructional setting will also provide social emotional and therapeutic support, assisting students to more quickly transition back to a regular school setting. More...
7/23/2009	State Board of Education cuts budget by $146 million On July 21, the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), acting in an emergency session, approved a $7.26 billion budget, which reflected a $146 million (or two percent) reduction in spending from the previous year. These cuts eliminate funding for after-school programs, as well as cutting monies for early childhood, foreign language instruction and reading. In addition, the ISBE established categorical grant funding, based on the State of Illinois budget for 2009-10. As anticipated by Naperville School District 203 Assistant Superintendent for Finance Dave Zager, the funding for General State Aid, most special education and transportation matched the original budget which was proposed to the District 203 Board of Education this spring and is consistent with our recently adopted budget. Click here for details. More...
7/14/2009	New Student Registration Information for Summer '09 During the summer, enrollment of a new elementary student must begin at the District 203 Administrative Center, 203 W. Hillside Rd. It is required that elementary registration be completed at the school of attendance. Enrollment of a new junior high or high school student must take place at the school of attendance. Details, including maps, required documentation and residency policy, are available on the New Student Registration page of this website. More...
7/6/2009	Report to the Community 2008-09 has been mailed District 203's Report to the Community was recently mailed to all households within our attendance area. To access the online version, which contains many helpful links to further information on various topics of interest, please click here. Also linked within this document are the Highlights of the 2008-09 school year, featuring academic and athletic champions, as well as family/community learning events. More...
7/1/2009	No Ribfest Shuttle Buses from Naperville North H.S. Shuttle buses to Ribfest will NOT be available from Naperville North High School this year, due to major renovation going on in the NNHS parking lots. Shuttles serving Ribfest will run to and from the Burlington commuter parking lot, located at the southeast corner of 5th Avenue and Washington Street; North Central College, 30 N. Brainard Street; and Neuqua Valley High School, 2360 95th Street. Shuttles will run continuously throughout the festival from 11:30 AM to 10:30 PM. The exception is Thursday, July 2, when shuttle service from the Burlington commuter parking lot begins at 6 PM. More...
6/16/2009	Naperville Central and North Named Top High Schools Naperville Central and Naperville North High Schools were included in Newsweek magazine's 1,500 Top U.S. High Schools in the Nation for 2009, which was recently announced. Newsweek's list is a national ranking based on a formula that divides the number of Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate tests taken by students into the number of graduating seniors from approximately 27,000 of the nation's public high schools. According to Newsweek, this measurement places NCHS and NNHS in the top 6 percent of schools in the county. This is the fourth time that North has made the list and the second year in a row for Central. Advanced Placement (AP) courses provide the opportunity for students to tackle college-level academics. Across the District, a total of 1,764 AP tests were taken in May of 2008, with 86% of those tests resulting in a score of 3 or better (on a 5-point scale), making students eligible to receive the equivalent of college credits. More...

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