IgKnight Conference 2025 Call for Proposals

We will once again be hosting our own internal professional development conference on November 24, 2025! We will continue to offer a variety of sessions to meet the diverse needs of Kaneland staff. We are seeking internal staff who are interested in sharing their knowledge, experiences and resources with colleagues by hosting a session. If you would like to host a session, please complete this FORM. If you have a session topic request but do not want to personally facilitate the session, please still submit a proposal and we will try to find a presenter knowledgeable on the topic of interest. Proposals are due by September 26, 2025. Sessions will be approved, and presenters will be notified if their session is running, by October 3, 2025. 

For your reference, the negotiated in-district presentation rates are below. 

• Initial Lead (# of presentation hours x 2 plan hours x $40) *a maximum of 2 initial lead presenters will be considered per session 
• Subsequent Lead (# of presentation hours x 0.5 plan hours x $40) 
• Initial Support (# of presentation hours x 0.5 plan hours x $40) 
• Subsequent Support (# of presentation hours x 0.25 plan hours x $40)

MTSS Coordinator Meeting (K-5)

 The MTSS Coordinators met today for the final meeting.  The following was discussed:

1. KIPLA structures update and planning for next year

2.  Handbook revision process for next year, along with MTSS structure updates.  Some changes include:  Coordinators with students interaction, flexibility in groups, simplified request for assistance, huddles will be required monthly, and buildings can determine the assignment of the MTSS Co-Teachers. 

3. Other in general topics were covered during the meeting on the sport as well.  It is a reminder that MTSS will not be having radios next year unless they are the acting AP interim while the Principal is out.  The Coordinators will have a daily interaction with students next year.

4. Spring data collection and presentation of the final data for the BOE.  The K-5 final data for the school year will be presented in end of August.  

5. The discussion of Kindergarten at KME and KBK using Early Bird as a grade level screening for students was held with the Department of Educational Service as well.  

6. The team also discussed the process of vetting online assessments for future years. 

Thank you to Shaun, Chris, Kristi, and Catherine for all of their hard work and dedication this year!  Truly amazing work in MTSS!

Math Summer PD (K-5)

 Please remember if you signed up for June 10th of July 29th math PD the session is held at KMAC from 9:00-12:00.  Please be prepared to engage and enjoy learning about the great new tool!  Please bring your IEIN number for sign in and sign out.  

Thank You! (EC-12)

 I wanted to share with all of the Kaneland Community a thank you for my experiences for the past 21 years.  I have enjoyed being part of the Kaneland community and learning along with many of you.  I truly wish you well and look forward to following the Kaneland journey from afar!  Thank you for all the hard work and dedication for our students.  Please take time to enjoy your summer! 

-Dr. Sarah Mumm 

Puzzle Connection Winner (EC-12)

 Here we are at the end of the year, our final drawing for the all the 28 puzzle connection submissions for the second semester was done today.  The winner is..... Samantha Maurer!  Congratulations!!!!!  

MTSS Committee Meeting: Joint Statement (K-12)

 Joint Statement

The first meeting of the district-wide MTSS committee took place on Thursday, May 8th. Committee members include:

K-5	6-8	9-12
Kindra Schumacher (KST)	Kerri Jass	Becky Rothecker
Kathy Ronzio (KME)	Jess Ahlman	Kylene Bratner
Nicole Full (All)	Sarah Linden	Jessica Cielak
Stephanie Ortegel (KSS)	Laurie Villalobos	Jen Larcher
Kelli Scardamaglia (KSS)		Erin Shore
Kristi Purnell (KBK)
Stacie Salzman (KME)
Stacey Gacek (KST)

The team worked to establish member norms and responsibilities, discussed the purpose of the committee, and reviewed foundational MTSS information from the IL MTSS Network including, the history of MTSS, as well as core principles and essential components of MTSS frameworks. While this information outlined a unit district perspective in regard to MTSS, the team acknowledged the importance of ensuring that structures meet the unique needs of each grade span. 

In grade span teams, members conducted an in-depth review of the district-wide MTSS survey. From the data, each grade span identified strengths they wanted to maintain, as well as opportunities for growth and improvement. Needs were prioritized in order of importance, with the most pressing issues to be addressed first and remaining topics to be addressed into the 25-26 school year. Key information from each grade span’s work is included below:

K-5: 

• Simplified Request for Assistance Form

• Increased flexibility for buildings regarding Push in/ Pull out Interventions

• MTSS Co-Teachers assigned based on student needs- increased building autonomy

• Grade Level Huddle Meetings- approx. 1x/month: PD, data review, tier 1 trends, etc.   

• MTSS Coordinator will have direct, daily student contact time 

• Future Topics- progress monitoring and intervention resources, PD needs, parent communication, enrichment services, clarification of tier 1 level of support

6-8: 

• Establish communication structures between MTSS and classroom teachers

• Identification of Students- streamlining process, i-Ready data

• Scheduling- determined each grade level will be assigned a consistent interventionist with 1 serving as a floater based on student needs

• MTSS Coordinator will have direct, daily student contact time 

• Future Topics- Balancing skill gaps and homework support, progress monitoring tools, system for tracking student data

9-12:

• Scheduling for 25-26 school year- discussed how we might service more students

• Assignment of interventionists- final decisions pending

• Investigating how to best support students with IEP and ELL needs

• Discussed what constitutes tier 1 level of MTSS support

• MTSS Coordinator will have direct, daily student contact time 

• Future Topics- Supporting tier 1 needs, building positive culture around MTSS, additional tools and resources to support intervention

Any questions regarding the committee work can be directed to Laura Garland at 10166@kaneland.org or any committee member. 

NIU Cooperating Teacher Symposium (ec - 12)

Please see the following from our partners at NIU: Hello District Partners: I hope this message finds you well! I wanted to share an exciting professional development opportunity for your teachers. The Fourth Annual Cooperating Teacher Symposium, hosted by Northern Illinois University, will be held on July 30, 2025, from 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM at the Barsema Alumni and Visitor Center in DeKalb, IL. This free event offers educators the chance to: Engage in breakout sessions led by fellow Cooperating Teachers and NIU Faculty Earn Professional Development Hours (PDHs) Receive a Digital Micro-Credential Connect and collaborate with other educators We would be grateful if you could pass this information along to your teachers who have served as or are interested in becoming Cooperating Teachers for our teacher candidates. It’s a great way for them to connect, learn, and grow in their mentoring role. The following is a Promo Video for the event: YouTube - NIU CT Symposium Promo Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_UQTKbx6RM&t=3s The NIU Cooperating Teacher Symposium video highlights the event's focus on supporting and celebrating Cooperating Teachers. It offers professional developme... www.youtube.com Here’s the link to register: NIU CT Symposium 2025 Registration Link https://forms.gle/A6eFgWQM7BLzQDz59 Please let me know if you have any questions, and thank you in advance for sharing this opportunity with your team! Best, Dr. Rachel Warren, EdD, NBCT, ACUE Director of Teacher Preparation and Development | Pronouns: she, her, hers Office of School Partnerships and Clinical Experiences | CLAS Zulauf 626 | DeKalb, Illinois 60115 815-753-0325 | rwarren1@niu.edu http://niu.edu/clas-educator-licensure/

Coordinator of Curriculum Development

Starting with the 2025 - 2026 school year, the department of Educational Services will be renamed the department of Teaching and Learning. As part of this redesign, we have a new member joining the team. Lauren Vaclavik will be joining us as the Coordinator of Curriculum Development. Lauren currently serves the 6-8 Grade ELA and LIS Department at West Aurora School District 129. Previously, she worked at Kaneland as an Instructional Coach at the high school as well as elementary level. Please join me in welcoming back Lauren to the Kaneland community!

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!

 

Thank you to all of our fabulous Kaneland teachers. We appreciate all you do!

Math Must Do and May Do (K-5)

 During the math curriculum review cycle, the full committee drafted the Must Do and May Do list for 2025-2026.  Please be sure to review this as a team and prepare for next year.  Please reach out to any math committee member with questions. 

Must Do and May Do Link

K-5 Crosswalks

 Over the past month we have had a very small, but dedicated team, working on developing the ELA and Math crosswalks that were requested through the Curriculum Survey and forums.  The team is still in the drafting process, but wanted to share with staff the drafts for initial sharing.  The purpose of the crosswalks is to assist staff in making connections among all the curriculum tools we have, our PBP tables, and the I can statements.  This tool also will share when teaching the PBP table is required.  Eventually, anchor lessons that are required to be taught will be in bold.  Please access the drafts at this time using the link below.  

In this folder you will find the ELA drafts to review and give feedback on as well as the math that show the timeframe to teach the program scope and sequence.  Please note on the math crosswalks to review the multiple tabs to see the program scope and sequence next to the table connection.

While both of the crosswalk sets are still in the drafting phase, we are excited to hear any feedback from staff.  

If you have any thoughts or questions, please reach out Dr. James Horne or Dr. Sarah Mumm.      

K-5 Crosswalk Link

Congratulations to Ms. Stark and Mr. Zerfas! (EC-12)

Congratulations to Sadie Stark on being selected as the Illinois Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance 2025 Elementary Physical Education Teacher of the Year award!  Sadie will be celebrated for this honor at the annual conference in December. If you see Sadie over the next few weeks be sure to celebrate her and this great accomplishment, it is well deserved! 

Congratulations to Brian Zerfas at KME on being names the Illinois Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance (IAHPERD) Administrator of the Year.  Kudos for all the support of Physical Education at McDole and Kaneland.  Very well deserved!  

Kudos to our team at KME!  Be sure to celebrate them as you see them the next few weeks!

Word Study Updates (K-5)

 This past week the Word Study revision teams met to revise our assessment processes based on feedback from teams and EAC.  Thank you to the dedicated staff coming together to review the suggestion and making the necessary changes for next year.  Please see the revisions below for next Fall.

3-5 Updates

K-2 Updates:

The K-2 Word Study Committee met to discuss the 2024-2025 implementation of word study assessments. They began by reviewing the feedback provided by EAC and worked together to address concerns and make improvements for the upcoming school year. Below is a summary of updates. Please reach out to a committee member if you have any questions about the updates. 

For all grade levels, if a student knows 100% of the assessed grade level sight words on the pre, they do not have to take the post in the spring.

Kindergarten: 

The committee agreed to keep the current 60 kindergarten sight words. However, the sight words may be taught in any order throughout the school year. 

A new ESGI assessment with all 60 words was created. (The five separate lists were eliminated.) The new ESGI assessment is called Kaneland Kindergarten 60 Sight Words. 

Fundations Unit 2 should be started by all schools no later than the Monday after Thanksgiving week. (This aligns with the agreed upon 14 week window to teach Jolly Phonics alongside the Fundations key concepts and letter formation being taught in Fundations Unit 1). 

Beginning in the fall of 2025, the word study assessment data will now note the breakdown of beginning, middle, and ending sound along with the total score. 

A set of cut scores was also created to help align assessment scores across the district. The new assessment document has been formatted to reflect the following cut scores. 

CVC Cut Scores

Fall	Spring
0-5 Red	0-12 Red
6-9 Yellow	13-16 Yellow
10-20 Green	17-20 Green

A “notes” column was also added to the cvc kindergarten document.

First and Second Grade:

The committee confirmed that all students should have scores for marking up words on the data sheet. Just like this past year, the score does not count towards proficiency, but the expectation is that the score is recorded. The committee agreed that this data is very valuable in determining student knowledge and gaps. Additionally, there is a notes column added to the Fundations tracking document so teachers can capture any student trends as needed.

Fundations data is to be collected throughout the full school year, even after the EOY data window is closed. (This was discussed because data was collected in early May this year and instruction should continue beyond that date).

No sight word changes were made to first and second grade.

The coaches will be discussing with Dr. Mumm and the coordinators what will be on the data wall and/or data hub for the upcoming school year.

EC - 12 Curriculum Review of Writing

During the 2025 - 2026 school year, we are engaging in an ec - 12 curriculum review of writing. All interested parties need to email James Horne by May 5, 2025. Due to budget constraints, we do have a limited amount of availability for membership on this committee; however, having a diverse representation from the schools within the district is important. If you are interested in participating in this review but have not emailed James, please do so by 5/5.

Educator Advisory Seats Open for 2025-2026 (K-5)

 At the last EAC meeting, the members voted for a 14 member structure that included the following:

3 KST (1 seat filled)

3 KBK (2 seats filled)

3-KSS (2 seats filled)

3-KME (3 seats filled)

2 Teacher Leaders (0 seats filled)

2 Ed Service (1 seat filled)

At this time we are looking for staff interested in serving next year on Educator Advisory Council.  Please review the open seats by school or share your interest in the Teacher Leader seats (co-facilitating the meetings).  Let Sarah Mumm know if you are interested in any of the open seats.     

Imagine Learning Math Overview (K-5)

 On Monday night the BOE approved the adoption of Imagine Learning for K-5 Math for next year.  Here are a few videos that share a tour and an overview from the company for any staff that would like to get started.  We will also share these during norming meetings and share tips regarding the tools. We are working with the company to get the Teacher kits sent early for any staff member who may want to check them out for the summer.  Thank you again for all staff who took part in the review process.   

Program walkthrough: https://tours.imaginelearning.com/imagine-im-k-5/#/

Illustrative/Imagine IM Partnership: Engaging Students in Math

Educator Advisory Council (EC-5)

 The team took time in pairs to brainstorm potential goals for next year’s committee and whether they are K-5 or K-12 conversations. The team also voted on the structure for EAC in regard to having 1 versus 2 teacher leader positions. The results showed a preference for 2 Teacher Leaders.

A committee will be meeting on May 1st to revisit the Word Study assessment. To help guide this meeting, the team voted on whether to keep Words their Way or revise to match F&P. Some members voted, while others are going back to get clarification and feedback from their teams and will send their vote to Dr. Mumm by this Friday (4/25). The vote so far is for switching to F&P, however this could change with additional votes sent in. 

The team took time to reflect on the survey results regarding homework practices. Questions and conversations about what we would prioritize or what we need to focus on were documented. This will carry over into a homework goal for next year’s EAC committee. 

Finally, the team took time in small groups to brainstorm questions and ideas to increase handwriting proficiency, lessons learned from giving the trial handwriting screener, and proposed edits to the screener process. This feedback will be taken back to the handwriting subcommittee.

No Place Like Gnome (EC-12)

 A few more gnomes made it home to my Ed Service Department this week.  Here are even more reasons we love Kaneland...

-Proud to call KHMS my gnome because of the fine people I work with, the supportive administrators I collaborate with, and the wonderful facility I work in each day.

-Love calling Kaneland my gnome because of all the great smiles I see every day! 

K-5 Math Materials Return Process (K-5)

 Thank you to all that took time to pilot math programs this past year.  In order to wrap up the school year we are asking staff that have math pilot materials to do the following:

1.  Send Imagine Learning pilot materials that you have to Instructional Coaches in your school.  You will be getting new full kits.  

2. Please send any other math pilot materials home with students or they may be given to student teachers or summer school teachers.  Otherwise they may be discarded.  

Thank you again for all you do!

MTSS Coordinator Meeting (K-5)

 Today the MTSS Coordinators met for their monthly meeting.  The following was covered:

-MTSS Co-Teachers will be part of the core adopted materials check out this Spring.  We are asking with the reconfiguration of the MTSS teams, that all MTSS Co-Teachers please place all core adopted materials for teaching place items in one location for check out with the Coaches and Coordinators.  At your upcoming huddles, further details will be shared.

-MTSS and Coaches are collaborating on editing the writing assessment guidelines for next school year. 

-Please be sure to give the 3-5 word study assessment and sight word in order to share feedback for the May 1st revision meeting.  All scores are due this week.  Check with your MTSS Coordinator if you need any help at all.   

-Updates to the data wall math and writing columns were changed as needed to best meet the needs of staff and district data needs.

-Norming meetings for math were discussed and the planning is underway. We hope to be able to norm domains and share tips for getting started with Imagine Learning math. 

-MTSS began to set the guidelines for the dates of when writing scores will be due next school year.

-The team discussed the huddle meeting agenda ideas for next year and how to capture key discussions in this precious time.

-The team took time to begin to discuss the small group start dates for reading next year and when to collect data.  

-The team took time to discuss the common practices of classroom staff updating parents on student progress and working towards clarity among the schools. It is essential to share the connection to MTSS practices and the comparison of student progress to common benchmarks.  

-The team took time to discuss the process of Rigby and updates to the process.  

-We made edits to the W Rigby row on the assessment charts.  

-We also discussed the ESGI assessment language for those not tested in the Spring and will work on the editing of language for next year. 

-The team will be meeting on May 12th for document updates, data wall creation for next year and assessment calendar updates.