“It’s your place in the world; it’s your life. Go on and do all you can with it, and make it the life you want to live. ”
– Mae Jemison , First African American female astronaut

As part of our school district’s leadership planning we take pride in sharing our messages and interacting with community members as often as possible. Annually we share our State of the District message with the Board of Education, annually we visit at the local Farmer’s Market, and annually we present to our local senior citizen organization. In addition, members of our leadership team are active in local civic and service groups like the Optimists and the Rotary. We truly believe “it takes a village to raise a child” and we take great pride in being responsible members of the Village. Together with the Park District, Village, Police and Fire Departments, Library and other school districts, we work in concert with one another on behalf of service and community.

As school district leaders we are keenly aware that we serve a community larger than our 3000 students and 400 staff. We serve the entire village and surrounding areas. We serve youth, seniors, and everyone in between. Our grandparent initiative is another example of reaching out to members of the community who have indirect relations and invaluable experiences and value. Through philanthropy, outreach, and service learning we teach our students about the value of giving and helping. Through communication efforts we spread the good words and tell our stories. We also listen – 24/7 – we have a service called Let’s Talk where people can reach out anonymously or with identification – we listen and we can respond via this service.

See the presentation we made at the Patty Turner Senior Center Men’s/Women’s Club earlier this month:

In addition to periodic visits and updates, we also partner with local agencies and groups on 24/7 initiatives like Text-a-Tip in support of youth safety and community wrap around: