Local News

This article was published in the Deerfield Review, our community’s local newspaper. In addition to this blog, the DPS109 website, Twitter, Facebook, direct email, in person communication, we value our local news sources and we are grateful that they see fit to share the news of the school system with the community! For those of you who do not currently subscribe to the Deerfield Review, I’m sharing the article as it relates to the exciting work of our District!

As we approach the start of school, the excitement is building about transforming our classrooms into a 1:1 environment. That means one device, one student; every student has a device that they will use in and out of the classroom. All students in kindergarten through second grade will receive an iPad and all students in third through eighth grade will receive a Chromebook. They’ll receive them on “Distribution Day,” the first full day of school. You’ll definitely feel the excitement if you’re in a building for “D-Day”!

Our teachers, students, and administrators and Board members are united in the belief that our students can and should learn at the highest levels possible. The 1:1 initiative, started last year with a pilot Innovation Grant program, will support our outstanding teachers with modern instructional practices so that our students can learn and grow in today’s (and tomorrow’s) world. Many of our teachers are attending 1:1 training sessions at the District Center over the summer, and will take part – either as session leaders or learners (or both) in the August 14 TechCamp NorthShore at Deerfield High School, an all-day 1:1 conference for District 106, 109, 112 and 113 staff. We are excited to collaborate with our colleagues from neighboring districts in this outstanding professional development opportunity.

We also will support parents as we move into this new world together. We will hold 1:1 Information & Celebration Nights at every school before the start of the year. Those events will provide parents with an overview of our 1:1 initiative and offer presentations by teachers who were part of the pilot last school year. There also will be plenty of time for parents to ask questions. We know that most parents are “digital immigrants,” and may not be as comfortable with technology or the online world as our students who are “digital natives.” So, in addition to the Information & Celebration Nights specific to District 109’s 1:1 initiative, the District has invited Dr. Devorah Heitner to present a program for parents on “Raising Digital Natives in a 1:1 World.” Dr. Heitner, a respected and renowned expert in raising children in the digital age, will offer parents valuable common-sense, easy-to-follow advice on navigating the digital world and on guiding their children to become positive digital citizens. This program — presented twice, on September 16 and September 30 at 7:30pm at Caruso Middle School — is so important to the parent community that it is co-sponsored by all of the parent organizations that serve the District 109 community: the parent-teacher organizations from all six District 109 schools, as well as Deerfield Parent Network and the Deerfield Education Foundation.

We are so fortunate to live in a community that values children and their education, and works together in so many ways to provide support for them. Every one of our stakeholders can be proud to be part of the success of 1:1 in 109!

Michael Lubelfeld | Deerfield Public Schools District 109 | Superintendent

Aug. 5 3:35 p.m.

From the Superintendent’s Desk: What do we do all summer?

Published in the Deerfield Review

Michael Lubelfeld | Superintendent of DPS 109
June 27 11:19 a.m.

“What do you do all summer?” This is a question that parents and community members frequently ask school leaders. In District 109, as in many school districts, administrators work all year ensuring that all loose ends are closed to the last school year and that everyone and everything is ready to start the next year. Much of the work we do is behind the scenes: teacher and administrator training, planning, budget analysis, and completing state and federal reports. We know that parent and community questions don’t stop in the summer, so we keep the lines of communication open all year. All of our work is mission centered to provide learning environments and supports so that all children learn and succeed.

In District 109 this summer, a lot of the work we are doing is very visible, centering around maintenance, cleaning, safety, and very exciting construction. From safety and security enhancements, to energy efficiency work, to power supplies, to classroom construction, to exterior construction, to air quality work, we are improving our buildings to create better environments for teaching and learning. Here is an abbreviated breakdown of the projects at each school:

Caruso Middle School: Roof and tile work as well as learning space transformations, including the construction of STEM and communication media arts (CMA) labs.

Shepard Middle School: Transforming 50-year-old science classrooms into modern science laboratories, as well as STEM/CMA lab construction.

Walden/Kipling Elementary Schools: Completing air quality and air conditioning work so that all learning spaces throughout the District will be fully air conditioned.

All Schools: Generators installed to replace battery back-up systems, as well as emergency illumination. “Green” efforts, including installation of automated lighting controls and initial LED lighting work and other environmental enhancements.

It takes a great deal of talent to plan, manage and complete this amount and level of work. We are proud that our Department of Buildings & Grounds hires extremely hard working seasonal workers each summer — about 80 percent of whom are former District 109 students! Our fearless leader of Buildings & Grounds, Steve Kenesie, is a mentor, guide, inspiration, model and supervisor of these essential personnel who help with myriad tasks and projects both large scale and small scale. Summer work is quite intense, it takes more than “work,” it’s really also a story about motivation, heart and desire.

We are proud to complete all of this work with existing funds through many years of cost-cutting, operations management and fiscally responsible leadership of the Board of Education and the administration (past and present). The District’s mission is to engage, inspire, and empower all students, and with these significant improvements in life safety, health and wellness, instruction and facility maintenance, we using every resource available – including community support – to achieve our mission and to increase student learning.

Of course, at the end of the day (or in our case summer) we remember why we do all that we do – for the students!

Superintendent Michael Lubelfeld

This is a blog from Superintendent of Schools Michael Lubelfeld Ed.D.

One-to-One in 109, originally published in the Review

What do we do all summer? … More work in progress!