Lighthouse 112

Each year we have opportunities to reflect on the year! We get a "do-over each year." In this episode, leadership team members from District 112 share some highlights and reflections on this year! We are so proud of the students, staff, parents, and the District 112 community!! This is an episode to share our gratitude, happiness, reflections, and pride in the great professional and personal joy we receive from serving the District's children. Thank you for your support of Lighthouse 112 and District 112.

Celebrating the Month of the Military Child & Family is an honor. April is the Month of the Military Child, and we “purple up” - in this episode, we’ll learn why we purple up from our students. This episode shares the audio from the Sherwood School assembly in honor of our military students.

In Highland Park, Highwood, and the Town of Ft. Sheridan, District 112, we are proud and humbled to have the honor of educating and supporting military children. Ft. Sheridan was a US Army post established in 1887, it was first called Camp Highwood, and later it was named for Civil War hero Phillip Sheridan. Naval Station Great Lakes in North Chicago has been in use since 1911, and it is currently the Navy’s only basic training facility and the largest military installation in Illinois. We also have the North Central Army Reserve Intelligence Support Center and the Sheridan Reserve Center. 

We take great pride, and it is a source of honor for us to have families representing the multiple branches of the armed services here in District 112.

We are proud here at Sherwood School, and throughout the District, with more than 300 military children as our students in grades PK-8, to provide education and support. At the same time, our servicemen and servicewomen work to protect our nation’s great freedoms and serve our nation while stationed and living here in our community; we get to be part of the military culture, the military mystique, and the teachers and community supporters of our military children.

We are proud to partner with KidsRank; they support our military children year-round and help us recognize them as heroes. Our district motto is Inspire Innovate Engage - our military children inspire us, we find their resilience to be innovative in so many ways, and it is our great joy to engage in the Month of the Military Child honors and celebrations.

I’m so proud, as the District superintendent, to share remarks and to celebrate our heroic military kids!

In this episode, learn how an initiative and partnership called DMBreakthrough Teams implemented last year at the District 112 Dual Language elementary schools positively impacted student growth & achievement!

Over spring break, I went to New York with Oak Terrace Principal Lilli Melamed and Wayne Thomas Associate Principal Colleen Goodrich. In addition to learning at the conference, we were invited to present the results from an initiative implemented last year at both dual language schools, DMGroup Breakthrough Teams.

Having the opportunity to share, and specifically, hearing from Lilli and Colleen about the impact of last year’s DMBreakthrough teams 10-week program on multi-lingual learners in grades K-5 at their respective schools is incredible and made me very proud of our work, our students, and the District. Our session was titled “Learn how North Shore School District 112 (IL) supported their multilingual learners and achieved a higher percentage of students meeting their MAP growth goals after the Breakthrough Results experience.”

Our work with DMGroup to implement their Breakthrough Teams programs at our Dual Language schools last year was driven by that commitment to continuous improvement in learning. We are committed to creating conditions for equitable access to educational opportunities for each child every day. We are committed to creating conditions for teacher support and excellence every day. We are on a journey and proud to be focused on results.

Sharing a collection of brief updates to the Community in March 2023.

Busy, Focus, Internal Moves, Green Bay, Phase 2, Phase 3, Learning & Teaching, Board Updates, and more!

From the episode:

We’ve been busy in District 112 - this year, the 2022-2023 school year has been full of downs, ups, and successes, and change. We started very emotionally as part of the Highland Park community after the unspeakable tragedy at the parade on July 4. We pulled together as a community with multiple government, school, social services, private sector, and individual citizens stepping up in many ways to begin a healing process that will be a model for our nation.

The school district is in a positive, strong, and forward-looking position. With your overwhelming support, we passed a bond referendum with 72% “yes” votes - a remarkable vote of confidence for your future! We have been hard at work designing Ravinia School and Indian Trail School for summer construction. We also have a Central Production Kitchen in the mix; we’ll soon be able to provide quality hot lunch meals to each student at a reasonable price and with far higher quality than our current production capacity allows. Modernized repurposed schools, equitable food access, and support from the community - it’s a proud time in our elementary school district - we’re beyond grateful for your support.

Visit our website at https://www.nssd112.org/ for more links, updates, and information anytime.

North Shore School District 112 has faced aging facilities since its inception as a school district in 1993. Over the past several years, the Board has closed schools, reduced the number of employees, and focused on efficient operations while still keeping education as the #1 priority area. Surviving the recent worldwide global pandemic as well as the recent political upheavals nationally, regionally, and locally, the District keeps its eyes on addressing its present so that it may create its future for the 3900 students and the tens of thousands of residents impacted by its operations.

In this episode of Lighthouse 112, the focus is on the "why" and the "what" for the November 8 ballot - there is a referendum/ballot question for the voters to decide upon a request for $114,400,000 in bond authority to modernize, upgrade, and renovate five elementary schools and provide enhanced physical security for all campuses.

What is our Why?? Why ask the community for 100+MM?

District 112 born in 1993 with no debt service extension base

50 years of deferred maintenance

LONG time “kicking can down the road”

A major referendum in the late ’90s ---None since

New School is Oak Terrace, 25 years old - upkeep and investment are timely and NOT deferred

Northwood/Edgewood Phase 1 - brand new 2021/ 2023 with NO dedicated tax increase

12 schools to 10 schools - reduction in operating expenses and reduction in staff

NEED to upgrade and closeout deferred maintenance at SW, IT, RA, BR, WT - fix up aging schools, infrastructure, roofs, boilers, air conditioning, air quality/ventilation, windows, bricks, sidewalks, parking lots, we’ve turned over every rock (three cycles of physical and educational assessments).

North Shore School District 112 has been on a long journey of facilities improvement & modernization. The District is about to complete PHase 1 of it's multiphase long-range facilities plan. Both middle schools were modernized and improved with no dedicated tax increase. The needs of the District exceed its ability to complete this all without a dedicated tax increase, so in Phase 2, the current planned phase, the Board just approved a bond question on the November ballot, for $114,400,000 to fund upgrades, construction, modernization, ADA compliance, security/safety, and more, at 5 schools (Ravinia, Indian Trail, Sherwood, Braeside, & Wayne Thomas).

In this podcast, we clarify some recent questions about timeline, costs, and plans in Phase 3. Topics such as the future of Dual Language and the permanent home of the early childhood center are also addressed! Learn more at https://www.nssd112.org/Page/4139

Superintendent Lubelfeld was interviewed on local radio, discussing the back-to-school preparations and the focus on safety and security in District 112. In this episode of Lighthouse 112, he shares remarks, information, as well as the interview to keep the community informed. To access the WBEZ interview and related information, visit the link.

District 112 is preparing to reopen its schools late in August. In an ongoing effort to keep the community informed, superintendent Lubelfeld shares an update on security and safety in North Shore School District 112. Slides accompanying a video version of this message can be found LINKED HERE. A recent communication from the District about this topic can be found LINKED HERE. District 112 baases its security and safety efforts on research, evidence, and expert advice, like the advice in the Illinois Terrorism Task Force report, LINKED HERE.

The superintendent is sharing an abbreviated update to the community in advance of next week's school Board meeting. Slides are linked here as a backdrop to the content https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/14L6Y5xDedvYjvccARuJzVfyKTglQy-5JRmsPzEZcWco/edit?usp=sharing District 112 has an ongoing commitment to safety and security, seeking expert advice from leading specialists in the field. This year, due to local and national tragedies, a renewed focus on school safety is at the top of my mind. District 112 uses the framework recommendations from the Illinois Terrorism Task Force report to organize protocols, practices, and responses; the link to the report is https://www2.illinois.gov/ready/plan/Documents/ITTF_School_Safety_Working_Group_Recommendations.pdf

On July 4, 2022, innocence was ripped out of the hearts of Highland Park and Highwood Illinois due to a tragedy of unspeakable description. As a result, all community partners, including our local elementary and high school district, have jumped to action and heeded the call to support our first responders, the city, the community, victims, a host of social service agencies, and more.

Instinctively so many joined together to provide instant community counseling efforts on Tuesday, July 5, and those continued in multiple formats throughout the week and they will continue at the Family Assistance Center (FAC) this week. In this update, superintendent Lubelfeld shares updates, insights, plans, and reactions to how the community is uniting in counseling, prayer, and planning. The schools will open on August 24, with this 11-minute audio update, superintendent Lubelfeld acknowledged the outpouring of community support immediately after the 4th, explains the focus on reopening the schools after the summer break, focuses attention on "right now" that people are at various stages in the healing process, what is he doing about school safety and security, optional school "play dates" and next steps. For information visit hpstrong.info